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FaZe Clan eliminated Team Falcons from the BLAST Premier Fall Final after a hard-fought three-map series in the Group A lower bracket.
The match, significant for Falcons’ Danish in-game leaders and their veteran Counter-Strike trio of Emil “Magisk” Reif, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, and coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen, had high stakes, as the winner would advance to play in front of the local Copenhagen crowd.
.@FaZeEsports survive for another day and book their spot at the Forum! ✅ #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/YmTTupMtcg
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) September 26, 2024
Falcons showed resilience on Nuke, recovering from a slow start on their terrorist side to force a final round.
Despite Álvaro “SunPayus” García’s solid performance, Helvijs “broky” Saukants denied Falcons the chance for overtime, giving FaZe the map win.
The battle continued on Ancient, where Falcons again pushed FaZe to the limit, leading to overtime after a late FaZe surge.
Pavle “Maden” Bošković’s heroics helped Falcons win in a triple-overtime thriller, forcing the decider on Dust2.
Dust2 saw both teams neck and neck, but Falcons faltered in the second half as FaZe dominated with a clean 7-0 run, powered by standout performances from Håvard “rain” Nygaard and broky, securing a 13-6 win and eliminating Falcons.
In a post-match interview, zonic acknowledged that the team needs changes, hinting at ongoing struggles and rumours of signing Nikola “NiKo” Kovač after the Shanghai Major.
FaZe’s win secured them a spot in the quarterfinals as the third seed, where they will face Team Liquid.
.@natusvincere continues their win streak against @G2esports and are ready for the Saturday! 💪#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/xbvsNSmXxJ
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) September 26, 2024
Meanwhile, Natus Vincere continued their impressive form, sweeping G2 Esports 2-0 to reach the semifinals.
G2, despite the loss, will face Team Spirit in the quarterfinals.
Natus Vincere’s dominance over G2, extending their head-to-head record to 9-0, continued as Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov’s AWP play turned around an 8-1 deficit on Dust2 to secure a 12-1 run.
Ancient saw Natus Vincere’s well-coordinated terrorist side overwhelm G2, though some missteps on the defensive side allowed a brief G2 comeback before Na’Vi closed out the match 13-9.
Elsewhere, Team Spirit earned a quarterfinal spot after defeating Astralis 2-1, securing victories on Dust2 (13-5) and Mirage (13-11), while Astralis managed to win Ancient (13-3).
Crazy Counter-Strike on Mirage ends with @Team__Spirit knocking @AstralisCS out of the Fall Final! ✅ #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/sQsHBazLzH
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) September 26, 2024
Spirit’s performance was far from flawless, with both teams showing signs of struggle.
Astralis, in particular, dealt with the controversy surrounding Casper “cadiaN” Møller as an emergency substitute, which may have contributed to their disjointed play.
Team Vitality locked in a top-four finish by defeating Team Liquid 2-0 (16-12 Anubis, 13-11 Nuke) in Group B’s upper bracket final.
.@TeamVitalityCS continue their Nuke streak and secure the W tonight! ✅ #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/QlCt3Z2LHy
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) September 26, 2024
Despite not relying heavily on Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Vitality saw crucial contributions from Shahar “flameZ” Shushan and Lotan “Spinx” Giladi.
Liquid, captained by Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, showed promise but faltered when it mattered most, allowing Vitality to advance directly to the semifinals while Liquid heads to face FaZe in the quarterfinals.
Friday’s quarter-final matches
- G2 Esports (-175.44) vs Team Spirit (+125) @ 4pm CEST
- FaZe Clan (+100) vs Team Liquid (-133.33) @ 7pm CEST
