The debut of Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev with FaZe Clan at IEM Dallas ended in relatively short order, but how could such a stacked roster wash out of this event so quickly?
s1mple coming out of retirement was set to be a huge story regardless of how it happened. It couldn’t get much bigger than s1mple joining FaZe Clan, replacing Helvijs “broky” Saukants, and lining himself up to play in the BLAST Austin Major, though. While the major is a big tournament, the new FaZe roster was set to get some “practice” in at another prominent event; IEM Dallas.
The lineup of opponents in Texas was stiff by any measure, including top-ranked teams Vitality, Team Falcons, MOUZ, and more. It wasn’t any of those elite squads that took out FaZe Clan though, and that has fans of both the GOAT and the organization a bit worried.
FaZe Clan was eliminated from the IEM Dallas group stage with a 1-2 record at the tournament.
The team started with a dramatic match against Team Liquid. s1mple and Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski famously had beef while playing under the Liquid banner, and there was serious intrigue in them teaming up to face their old organization. While s1mple looked strong individually in the match, Liquid came out on top.
This put FaZe in an awkward position where it would need to win three in a row to earn a playoffs spot.
That journey started with a match against BC.Game Esports, a staple of Europe’s tier-two scene that underwent a roster change shortly before the tournament. s1mple once again looked exceptional during the match, but teammates EliGE and Finn “karrigan” Andersen also posted great efforts. This allowed FaZe to take a decisive 2-0 victory to stay alive in the tournament.
The team got a tougher draw in Heroic in the next round, but opened as a slight betting favorite for the match. Despite dazzling in the first two matches, s1mple struggled mightily against Heroic. Karrigan and David “frozen” Čerňanský combined to get several key clutches and eco round wins, but the team ultimately fell to Heroic 2-1.
s1mple showed that he remains a deadly AWPer in IEM Dallas, despite having a dreadful showing against Heroic.
Despite his skills and legacy, s1mple was the lowest-rated player on either team in FaZe’s match against Heroic. Still, he managed to hit more than a few highlight reel shots in the first two matches. The match against Heroic was undeniably a bad one for the star player, but it does come with a few asterisks.
FaZe Clan’s new roster is still gelling around s1mple. It got thrown into the deep end in matches against a top-10-caliber team in Team Liquid and a Heroic that was coming off back-to-back first-place finishes in tier-two tournaments.
It’s also worth noting that FaZe Clan was playing shorthanded in addition to dealing with s1mple joining shortly beforehand. Håvard “rain” Nygaard bowed out of the tournament after the birth of his second child and was replaced with Furia’s Felipe “skullz” Medeiros.
The full roster will have time to boot camp and scrim in the two weeks before the BLAST Austin Major. Though FaZe Clan would face a steep climb when it comes to winning the major under the best of circumstances with Vitality and Team Falcons both looking deadly, a deep run is still very possible.
What comes after is anyone’s guess, though.
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