A new era for Competitive Counter-Strike 2 as FaZe reigns supreme in Sydney, beating Complexity in a nail-biting Grand Final
IEM Sydney returns after a 4-year break and has the honor of crowning the first Tier-1 champion in Counter-Strike 2. The event started with 16 teams in a group stage format, with 6 teams moving into the playoffs.
Both FaZe Clan and Complexity had to fight their way through the lower brackets of the group stages. The Playoffs saw both of them dominating their opponents, with the FaZe clan dealing the first 13-0 in a Tier-1 event to ENCE in the Quarter Final. The Grand Final was set to be a massive slugfest between two in-form teams.
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FaZe Wins Sydney after a Grueling Affair
The North American outfit got off to a dreamy start on the first map, Overpass. Complexity’s map pick was challenged to the very end by the European Superteam. In a heroic performance from JT and NA’s own rock, Elige saw Complexity slightly edge out FaZe on their defense, where they got 8 rounds to win 13-11.
Map 2 was Nuke, and the first half was closely contested. However, once the sides swapped, FaZe was under a lot of pressure, and it felt like Complexity could take it home in two. A force-buy round with a scout and some pistols pulled a round back for FaZe. Complexity’s fate was sealed after a failed upper rush shifted the momentum to the defense, and FaZe closed it in 10.
The final map took us to Ancient. The map showed its previous CT bias as FaZe went up 9-3. NA’s last hope seemed lost once they also lost the pistol afterward. From 10-3 down, Elige took matters into his own hands, with Hallzerk securing an ace on A site with the rifle. This propelled the team to a 6-round streak to bring it back to a 1-round game.
Complexity took clutch after clutch and finally pushed it into overtime. The first overtime was as close as the final stretch of regulation. It took a flawless CT side from FaZe on the second overtime that finally broke Complexity’s resolve. FaZe finally closed it out 19–16.
With the end of the first Counter-Strike 2 event down under, the competition seems tighter than ever at the top as teams keep improving on the changing landscape of the game.
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