The IEM Beijing semi-finals will not be seeing the world number 1 as FaZe Clan eliminates Evil Geniuses in the group stage. FaZe Clan has had quite the success story taking on Evil Geniuses in Beijing. The EU squad beat EG in two separate best of 3 series throughout the week. FaZe Clan has let the world know they are not weak against top teams, with these results proving their case. With this news, let’s look at the results and how IEM Beijing will playout for the remainder of the event.
FaZe advance, EG eliminated:
During the first round of Group B, FaZe Clan took down Evil Geniuses 2-0, with great results on both maps. FaZe took Nuke 16-7, with Dust II going their way 16-6. This is a surprise considering that EG has an 83.3% win ratio on Dust II and a 69.2% win ratio on nuke. In an article we wrote a few weeks back, we noted how EG’s domination over Dust II has wavered with NiP taking them on their map. Now we have further proof that top teams are working out how to beat them at their own game. Not only this but in our preview piece, we had EG topping the group stage. Clearly, the world is onto EG. Is their position as world #1 as cemented as it first appeared?
FaZe Clan and EG later met in the double-elimination decider to see who progressed to the semifinals. Here the series was much more competitive, with EG putting up a better fight than their previous encounter. Nuke once again was the series opener, only this time it was much closer. Teams took it in turns to take long sprees of round wins, with the score tied at 12-12. However, FaZe regained their composure and took the map 16-12.
Next on the list was Inferno, where EG took the map 16-14. A similar back and forth story took place between EG and FaZe, with fAze taking the pistol round, but EG with the successful force buy, turning it into a 5-1 lead. A quick quad kill on an eco round by Nikola “NiKo” Kovač cemented a return on the half, bringing the score to a 6-6 tie before EG won the half. The second half was much of the same, with Faze’s comeback story based on individual plays from the likes of Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer and Marcelo “coldzera” David. Although, it wasn’t quite enough for FaZe, as EG took it 16-14.
Finally, Dust II was the series closer with FaZe taking it 19-16 in overtime. EG once again took the early lead, before FaZe Clan’s double AWP strategy could get rolling. This worked well for some time, but EG took the first half 10-5. Although, the side switch allowed Faze to better control EG’s force buys and anti-eco as individual players stepped up. This denied EG the opportunities on previous maps to come back, which made the playing field much even. So much so that the map went to overtime. with both teams back to back half 10-5. Throughout the series FaZe seemed to show better control over full buy strategies, and their players were present. In overtime FaZe won 19-16. taking them to the semis in a shocking turn of expectations.
There were questions whether Faze could do it. They’ve not looked the best over the last year, but their recent attendance at the Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen showed they found renewed strength. Their ability to challenge EG speaks volumes about their capabilities. Their next matchup is against Astralis, which will once again test them in a bo3 scenario.
The bracket:
Team Vitality vs 100 Thieves
Astralis vs FaZe Clan
The semi-finals get underway tomorrow, with the finals concluding over the Sunday. There will also be a show match on Sunday with participants yet to be announced.
You can watch IEM Beijing over at twitch.tv, with the event starting at 15:00 GMT.
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