FaZe Clan and Intel Extreme Masters Championships Do Not Mix Well

Intel Extreme Masters events are some of the most prestigious tournaments in the world of professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and their championships are some of the most sought after achievements in the scene. Unfortunately, FaZe Clan has not been able to capture one of these IEM championships, as Reddit user Hzrk  has found that FaZe has finished 2nd at four straight IEM events. 

This string of second place finishes began with their 2-1 loss against Astralis, who at the time were the defending ELEAGUE Major champions, at the IEM XI World Championship in early 2017. FaZe's next second place finish would occur at IEM Sydney 2017 where they would be defeated by SK Gaming. After this loss, FaZe made two blockbuster roster moves, as they added the talents of superstar players Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács of Natus Vincere and Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer of Fnatic. With these two changes, many saw FaZe as a "superteam" who would dominate the professional scene without too much trouble. Even with the roster changes, FaZe would still continue to fall short at IEM events, as they would lose to Ninjas in Pyjamas 3-2 at IEM Oakland 2017. Fnatic would add on to FaZe's IEM misery yesterday, as they defeated FaZe 3-2 in a grueling five game series to prevent FaZe from hoisting the championship trophy for IEM Katowice 2018. 

While FaZe has become a team that consistenly makes it to the grand finals of events, they have a troubling habit of not being able to close the deal. This problem has not only plagued FaZe at IEM events, as they have also finished 2nd at the ELEAGUE Major: Boston, the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals and the Esports Championship Series Season 3 Finals. Many would point to FaZe clan underperforming in the grand finals of these events as the main reason for their inability to finish 1st. While this is true, it can also be said that some of the teams that FaZe has lost too have often played to an exceptional level, which we had not seen from them in a significant amount of time. 

With such a talented and experienced roster, it is only a matter of time before FaZe figures out how to consistently close out their championship runs. 

(cover photo courtesy of Copyright: ESL | Helena Kristiansson)