The 2021 IEM Cologne play-in stage has seen its first upset of the day. FaZe Clan swept Complexity today 2-0 (16-13 on Dust II and 16-6 on Nuke) to qualify for the main event of the first CS:GO LAN tournament since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Even though FaZe rebuilt its CS:GO roster with the additions of the Danish tactician Finn “karrigan” Andersen and the powerful Canadian rifler Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken earlier this year, the international powerhouse has been struggling pretty much all season long. The team even recently saw Brazilian star Marcelo “coldzera” David move himself to the bench, which prompted Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer’s return in June.
FaZe’s results didn’t get much better in their first tournaments with olofmeister, but it was expected that they’d bounce back from their slump sometime. That’s what happened today at the first LAN tournament of the year, the perfect scenario for someone like karrigan. On top of beating Complexity, FaZe also beat Evil Geniuses, a team that’s on the same level as FaZe, in the opening round of the IEM Cologne play-in stage. Twistzz was their best player in this stage, averaging a 1.26 rating after three maps. But everyone on the team contributed.
With a spot in the main event guaranteed, FaZe will have the chance to build on today’s performance and carry the momentum over to the big stage where some of the best CS:GO teams in the world await. As for Complexity, they’ll have another chance to qualify for the IEM Cologne main event tomorrow against LDLC at 9:45am CT.
