FaZe Clan have pulled their very famous “FaZe magic” in the opening round of the StarLadder Budapest Major Stage 3 to send Vitality to the 0-1 pool on December 4th, and ruin even more Pick’Ems.
Vitality were huge favorites coming into the match, having won plenty of tournaments this year and being the reigning Major champions, but they’ve shown signs of rustiness. FaZe have been playing since Stage 1, while Vitality only joined the StarLadder Budapest Major in Stage 3.
Finn “karrigan” Andersen and co. nearly left the tournament in Stage 1 after some dismal performances, but they picked up the pace since then, having gone through Stage 2 with a 3-0 record, and now, defeated Vitality in the first round of Stage 3.
FaZe enjoyed a good start on Nuke, as they converted the first pistol and the following two rounds. However, they’ve played their best in the second half after switching to the CT-side. They put on a nearly impeccable defense and almost won five in a row to leave Vitality with their backs against the wall.
Vitality never got the ball rolling, and FaZe closed it out 13-7, off the back of impressive performances from the superstar David “frozen” Čerňanský (21 kills) and their rookie Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski (19 kills).
After the match, karrigan threw his infamous ambulance taunt at Vitality.
Frozen keeps putting great numbers for FaZe. Credit: Sebastian Pandelache | © PGL
The StarLadder Budapest Major stage host, James Banks, interviewed frozen after FaZe took down Vitality, and asked him what they have changed since the struggles in Stage 1.
The games went on and we tried to improve on different things. The 3-0 in Stage 2 was kind of healthy, you could say. We’re riding on the confident wave at the moment and beating Vitality in the first game today… I was personally looking forward to it.
You could feel it in the practice room that the games are getting a little bit more important and we’re going to face better teams. Personally, I’m not trying to put too much emphasis on it, and I just treat them as any other opponent.
This upset will have major implications throughout Stage 3, as Vitality will be in the 1-1 pool tomorrow, or even the 0-2 pool, if they lose another best-of-one today. They were meant to finish Stage 3 with a 3-0 record, but now, they’ll have to work more to secure a spot in the playoffs.
Feature image credit: © StarLadder
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