Full Wrap #29

After a long set of online Qualifiers, it was time to see where the chips would fall on LAN, and the odds always favor Vegas. Especially at Major 2’s.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

Major 2 Merchants

FaZe might have seemed like a longer shot than usual to win the event, coming in as the six seed after a mediocre 6-5 Qualifying, but Simp became the first of the Trio to lift the trophy since their split this offseason. This win was FaZe’s fourth consecutive Major 2 victory, dating back to the MW2 season. 

This win means Simp has continued his streak of winning with every professional teammate he’s ever had, while Abuzah and 04 both pick up their first professional event wins after four silvers last season. It also means that all of last year’s Surge outside of Nastie have picked up their first CDL victory. I’m him, don’t worry about FaZe.

FaZe opened their tournament inauspiciously against the third-seeded Los Angeles Thieves, finding themselves quickly in an 0-2 hole. Simp switched a flip in Map 3, picking up 86 kills over the last three maps en route to a 1.34 performance and a reverse sweep that sent the Thieves to the Losers’ Bracket early.

FaZe's second series of the weekend came against the Gentle Mates. The Major 1 Champs proved to be even less of a speed bump than Thieves, as Paris skipped the two map wins as they rolled out the red carpet to Championship Sunday for FaZe. Map 2 was an especially vicious 6-0 beatdown, with 04 and Drazah both totaling more kills than the entire M8s roster (6).

Next up was the Winners’ Final on Championship Sunday against the top-seeded OpTic Texas. This series was the first setback for FaZe, as they fell to the defending two-time World Champions 1-3. Their lone map win came in the SnD, led by Simp’s 13/6 performance.

FaZe rolled right into Losers’ Final, matching up with KOI for the privilege of rematching with OpTic in the Grand Final. Despite losing their first Search map of the weekend, FaZe got it done 3-1 with three respawn wins. The former Vancouver Surge duo of 04 and Abuzah led the way for Vegas with a 1.18 and 1.25, respectively. 04 slammed the door on KOI in Map 3 with a clutch pistol three-piece and score before Abuzah sent them home in Map 4 with a 6-spree to hold the last hill.

With no downtime yet again, FaZe came out hot in the Grand Final against OpTic. 04 set the tone with a 12 kill streak in Map 1, ending the map 37-21 in a 250-184 FaZe victory. 

OpTic answered back quickly with a 6-2 Map 2 victory before a contentious Map 3. FaZe jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the half, but OpTic responded with three scores of their own in the second half to force overtime. In the end, Abuzah caught Dashy in a 1v1 to clutch up and put FaZe up 2-1.

It looked to be headed back to a tie series as OpTic jumped out to a 120-41 lead, but FaZe overwhelmed them with pure slaying, coming back to win 250-207 as 04, Abuzah, and Simp dropped a combined 95 kills. 

In the deciding Map 5, OpTic led yet again, this time 5-4, before FaZe clutched up to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 04 and Abuzah again led the way, combining to go 25/14 to break their finals curse.

04 was named the tournament’s MVP after a 1.40 performance in the Grand Final.

Champs Curse is Real

OpTic entered Major 2 as the event favorites once again, and anything less than a championship would go down as a massive failure following their 10-1 record during the Qualifiers. 

The last time the CDL went to Europe, OpTic was the top seed and placed Top 8, but this iteration of the team came to play for their first series. Mercules (66/49) was the difference maker, leading the way, highlighted by his 13/2 Map 2, en route to a 3-0 victory over KOI.

It was a repeat of Major 1 in the Winners’ Semi-Final; OpTic once again coasted to another 3-0 victory, this time over G2. All of OpTic ended the series positive, while the red carpet got rolled out for G2.

Next up for OpTic was FaZe, and they finally dropped their first map in the Winners' Bracket this season, taking the series 3-1. Huke lived up to his nickname, going nuclear for 101 kills with a 1.35 K/D in just 4 maps. The play of the series went to Shotzzy in the Overload, displaying his usual trigger discipline by letting the first player run by before popping a two-piece to grab the device for an easy goal. 

Onto the Grand Finals, and it was more disappointment for the Green Wall. After running the table with a 9-1 map record in Winners’, not a single OpTic player went positive against FaZe in the Finals, losing yet again and only managing to win a single map this time. 

Shotzzy once again had a series-changing play in the Overload, but this time it went in FaZe’s favor. In a high-pressure overtime, OpTic held a 3 to 2 life advantage before Shotzzy solo-challed a player on plane heady, shifting the advantage to FaZe, who held the device and ultimately clutched up for the win.

OpTic held a 38-3 respawn record on LAN since last season's Champs entering the Major 2 Grand Final. The script was then flipped, with FaZe handing them three straight respawn losses to end their tournament. It’s been night and day between OpTic’s form in Grand Finals compared to every other series. Vanguard FaZe, is that you?

Hometown Buff

Toronto KOI entered this event as a huge question mark. They were starting in the play-in, and despite making a roster change during Qualifying, Insight’s performance still left much to be desired. To make matters more complicated, rookie Kips would be making his professional LAN debut, a huge departure from the Challengers Pit. As it would turn out, an event in England seemingly revitalized Insight, and Kips proved himself as the real deal.

Toronto’s tournament started with a play-in series against the Vancouver Surge. After losing the first map, Toronto locked in and picked up the next three maps in a row, sending Surge home early.

Their efforts were rewarded with a date with the top seed, OpTic Texas. This was Kips’ first taste of the mainstage and the Green Wall, and he seemed unprepared for the task as he turned in a 36/56 (0.64) in an 0-3 drubbing.

Dropping into the Losers’ Bracket, KOI had to prepare for a seemingly tough matchup against a Riyadh Falcons team that handed OpTic their only loss during the Qualifiers. It turns out, LAN is a far cry from online, and the Falcons crumbled under the pressure for a second straight event. Kips bounced back with a 1.11 while JoeDeceives carved up the Falcons with a 1.63 as Toronto clipped the Falcons' wings in a 3-0 Doordash.

Next up for KOI was a matchup with the Major 1 Champions, the Paris Gentle Mates. Kips continued to prove that his LAN jitters were a thing of the past as he led the team in kills and damage in a 3-1 victory, leading Toronto to their first Champs Sunday of the season.

KOI played LAT in the first series on Sunday. What was shaping up to be yet another tough matchup ended up being another 3-0 beatdown. For a second straight series, Kips led the team in kills and damage, dropping 70/55 (1.27) against perennial MVP candidates HyDra and Scrap.

Toronto’s run ended in the Losers’ Final with a 1-3 loss to FaZe. They managed to be the first team to take a Search map off FaZe all weekend and put themselves in a position to win both Hardpoints, but ultimately choked both away.

It was a successful weekend for the KOI after a top 12 finish at Major 1, as they’ve again established themselves as a threat to the top teams in the league.

Imposter Thieves

Thieves came into Major 2 looking to silence the critics after a slow start to the season, and they came out hot, taking an early 2-0 lead over FaZe. The momentum was quickly halted, and Thieves found themselves in Losers’ Round 1, getting reverse swept despite Scrap’s series-leading 111 kills, which led all players by 18.

Facing elimination on day one against the second-seeded Heretics, LAT had no plans of going home already. They outslayed Miami by 48 in a 3-0 sweep, led by aBeZy (1.40) and Scrap (1.30).

Thieves kept it rolling in their next series vs G2, once again dominating in the slaying department, ending +50 over four maps, with their only map loss coming in a Round 11. Scrap (80) and HyDra (84) were the only players to break the 80-kill mark, while Nium led the series with a 1.26 K/D.

Entering Champs Sunday, Thieves looked like they had caught fire and were looking for their superstar talent and experience to cover up the early season woes and lead them to a championship. Unfortunately, they were a no-show. Scrap (0.76) and HyDra (0.87) were nowhere close to their regular form, and KOI sent them home in a convincing 3-0 fashion.

The fourth place finish was an improvement upon their Top 6 at Major 1 but still below expectations for the star-studded LAT roster, who has been more inconsistent than anybody.

Problems in Paris

An extremely underwhelming 4-7 record during Stage 2 Qualifying put the reigning Champs at risk in the one-and-done play-in. It got scary early on, dropping Map 1 to Ravens, before rallying off three straight to take the series 3-1 to avoid a Top 10 placing. Envoy put his online struggles behind him, leading the series in kills (93) and K/D (1.12) while posting a 13/6 Map 2 performance to tie the series up 1-1.

Gentle Mates' reward was the Heretics, who besides OpTic, looked like they could be the toughest out. That wasn’t the case, and Paris sneaked out a 3-1 victory despite being outslayed in all four maps, with RenKoR finishing with a 100-kill 1.37 in the series. Ghosty hit his early-season MVP-level form, finishing as the only positive player for M8s, with 96 kills and a 1.22 K/D.

Finding themselves in a Winners’ Semi-Final, all the online losses seemed to have been forgotten, but those problems came back to the forefront over their next two series. FaZe sent them to Losers’ in a dominant 3-0, where every M8s player ended negative. KOI then handed them a similar defeat, taking all three respawns to win 3-1.

Heretics Clock Ticking

Dark horse candidates in many brackets, the Heretics flamed out of Major 2 in ignominious fashion, winning just a single map in their two series. Being relegated to the Bravo stream may have saved Miami a little bit of embarrassment, but it was an underwhelming performance from the two-seed.

TOP PERFORMERS

04: Named the event MVP after the Grand Final, 04 was finally able to break through in this Major. His 1.08 K/D was good for fifth overall at the event, while his 96.72 slayer rating was the second best mark. His background as an SnD kid shined through as he had a 1.19 in the mode and led the entire tournament with 15 First Bloods.

04 dropped a 1.40 against OpTic in the Grand Final with a 1.64 in Hardpoint, totalling 72 kills in two maps. In the decisive Map 5, he dropped 14 to end the series. The 0-4 meme has been put to rest.

Dashy: Often overshadowed by his teammates, Dashy once again showed why he’s one of the best ARs in the game. He finished the event with the second best K/D (1.12), highlighted by his 1.28 in SnD and 1.30 in Overload. His unselfish, objective-focused playstyle was ever present, accruing the most hill time per ten minutes (104.25) and eighth most goals per ten (1.36).

Simp: Simp continued his MVP campaign with another outstanding event; his 1.11 K/D was the third-best mark while he was also fourth overall in slayer rating (95.78). His best mode was Hardpoint, where he boasted a 1.14 K/D on the event. In the Grand Final, he dropped a 1.22, including a 1.49 in Hardpoint, with the most damage in the lobby as the FaZe sub duo carved OpTic.

JoeDeceives: The KOI hard carry got some help this weekend, but he was still their standout, catapulting them to a third-place finish while posting the fourth-best K/D (1.11) at the event. Joe was also 10th in SnD K/D (1.18) while displaying his objective prowess, leading the Major with 11 bomb plants. His 90.99 slayer rating was also good for ninth overall.