FaZe Clan’s Counter-Strike 2 team is back together and back in action in IEM Cologne with BIG set to welcome them.
| Match | IEM Cologne Play-In Stage |
|---|---|
| Kick-off | July 23, 2025 at 6 am ET |
| Top pick | FaZe Clan wins 2-1 |
| Best price | GG.BET live odds |
| Betting favorite | FaZe Clan |
The Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev experiment was a failure for FaZe Clan. This means that Helvijs “broky” Saukants is back in the roster and s1mple is back on NaVi’s bench. While it’s unclear why FaZe decided to add s1mple in the first place, the return of broky raises some questions about where the team is at interpersonally and emotionally. Still, BIG is one of the best draws the team could’ve asked for.
Betting tip: FaZe Clan’s motivation and cohesion might be in question after bringing back broky, but the team should be able to get through BIG regardless
My FaZe Clan vs BIG pick: FaZe Clan wins 2-1 (3.20 at GG.BET)
FaZe Clan’s run in the BLAST Austin Major was an unqualified success. While every team wants to make the finals and hoist the trophy, the team flippantly plugged s1mple into its lineup on fairly short notice, dealt with substitution issues in its first tournament with him, and still made it to the major’s playoffs.
But the question now is what the team looks like moving on from s1mple.
broky, one of FaZe Clan’s longest-tenured players, was benched in favor of s1mple. It’s not entirely clear why the organization made this call, but the explanation it gave on social media was that he was “recharging and refreshing.” A major is hardly the best time for this, which raises some questions about how much faith the team has in him, or whether he’s dealing with other issues that could impact his play.
Short of things turning truly toxic within FaZe Clan however, BIG isn’t really positioned to take advantage of any weakness.
Though BIG is an organization with a long history in Counter-Strike, 2025 isn’t a good time for the team. The team has largely been grinding in regional leagues, with its occasional foray into larger tournaments typically ending quickly. While BIG’s occasional wins over the likes of Heroic, B8, or OG look good in retrospect, beating FaZe Clan is another matter entirely.
| FaZe Clan | BIG |
|---|---|
| rain | tabseN |
| broky | Krimbo |
| karrigan (IGL) | JDC |
| frozen | kyuubii |
| EliGE | hyped |
| Metric | FaZe Clan | BIG | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pistol round win% | 53.3% | 51.6% | FaZe Clan |
| Top-rated player | frozen (1.13) | JDC (1.09) | FaZe Clan |
| Map win-loss | 48-43 | 58-70 | FaZe Clan |
Stats include all maps played by both teams in 2025 so far.
FaZe Clan and BIG have a lot of history, just not recent history. FaZe beat BIG 2-1 at IEM Katowice 2025 in February but their last match prior to that came all the way back in 2022, where they played each other twice at the 2022 Roobet Cup. BIG won both matches, but those have minimal relevance to this showdown.
FaZe Clan was eliminated from the BLAST Austin Major playoffs by The MongolZ after clearing two group stages, which included a win over The MongolZ just days prior.
BIG took a group stage elimination in Fissure Playground 1, which was preceded by a third-place finish in the European Esports Championship. BIG competed as Team Germany during the event and took a surprise loss from an all-Lithuanian stack that kept them out of the finals.
| Market | Odds |
|---|---|
| FaZe Clan to win | 1.28 |
| BIG to win | 3.61 |
| Over 2.5 maps | 2.22 |
Lines pulled from GG.BET at 3:15 pm MT on July 19, 2025.
WINNER TO PLAYOFFS! BIG vs Complexity | FISSURE PLAYGROUND 1 CS HIGHLIGHTS
FaZe Clan is billed as a big favorite in the GG.BET live odds. A case can be made that FaZe is too big a favorite, but regardless, fans shouldn’t really put too much thought into BIG’s chances here. Still, there are some decent opportunities here in regards to BIG making things interesting.
Our pick: FaZe Clan as the match winner at 2-1 at 3.20 odds at GG.BET
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