Rain rolls back the years, claims inaugural CS2 MVP award at IEM Sydney

After a thrilling 2-1 grand finals victory over Complexity at IEM Sydney, Håvard “rain” Nygaard is your first HLTV MVP in the CS2 era for IEM Sydney. FaZe Clan looked shaky early in the tournament but rallied for a strong playoff run that featured wins over ENCE, MOUZ, and Complexity.

Rain notched a 1.20 HLTV Rating for the event, and led the server in rating and kills in a 19-16 double overtime victory in map three against Complexity to take home the hardware. He was solid throughout the course of the tournament, and his consistent above-average performance in all measurable categories propelled him to the event MVP honors. When the lights got brightest, rain performed his best: On deciding maps, he had a sterling 1.50 Rating, 100 flat ADR, and was +30 in kills to deaths.

FaZe started shaky, with an overtime loss to GamerLegion in a best-of-one. They were substantially better in best-of-three scenarios, however, tallying wins over a s1mple-less NAVI, Vitality, and a revenge match over GamerLegion in the group stage. Their playoff run was more impressive, as they did not drop a map until the grand final against Complexity, and tallied the first big event 13-0 against ENCE in CS2.

The victory and MVP honors aren’t rain’s first by a long shot: He was the MVP of the PGL Major Antwerp in 2022, winning the event over NAVI with a 2-0 grand finals bout.

As the CS2 circuit begins, FaZe Clan and rain are looking solid heading into the rest of the calendar. A jam-packed schedule includes the online Thunderpick World Championship at the end of October, which segues into the CS2 Asia Championships in early November. Finally, the remaining BLAST events—the Fall Finals and the World Final—will run in late November and mid-December, respectively.