FaZe win EPICENTER over Natus Vincere

FaZe have broken their title duck with a triumph over Natus Vincere in the EPICENTER 2018 grand final (2-0; Mirage 16-12, Dust2 16-3).

The grand final began on FaZe's pick, Mirage, where Natus Vincere's star duo got off to a great start as they combined for five in the pistol round, retaking the A bombsite without losing anyone.

However, the European mixture started setting a quick pace to the match from the first gunround on, converting several quick A plays, leaving little for Na`Vi as they racked up an 8-2 lead on the back of that momentum. Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko & co. finally replied with three out of the last five rounds, though they still gave up a 3v1 to Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács's fantastic AWP play in the B bombsite before sides switched.

FaZe pick up their first title since June and their first in 2018 with olofmeister in the roster

FaZe extended their lead to 12-5 with the second pistol going their way, though this time, the first gunround went the other way and Na`Vi closed the gap to four. The home favorites attempted to come back, but some individual plays, including a triple and a 1v1 from Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard and a quad-kill from Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer, helped FaZe reach 14 rounds.

After saving their guns a couple of times in a row, the European side closed things out with successful retakes on each bombsite, taking a lead in the series after a 16-12 win on the opener.

FaZe continued their momentum on Dust2, getting up to a 5-0 lead with Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and olofmeister making key plays for the squad. Natus Vincere managed to grab a couple of rounds, but they could not string them together, as they got reset by 1v2 clutches from the aforementioned Bosnian and Swede after each win.

On the back of the heroics, FaZe extended their lead to 11-2 and soon finalized the half with a 12-3 scoreline. With a second pistol round in the bag as well, it was only a matter of time until Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's squad emerged victorious at 16-3, 2-0.

EPICENTER 2018Best of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 0 2 28th October 2018 FaZe 12Mirage 16 3Dust2 16

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	35 - 30	+5	75.1	1.12
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	21 - 39	-18	59.4	0.74
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	25 - 37	-12	62.6	0.73
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	21 - 37	-16	58.8	0.70
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	20 - 33	-13	50.4	0.68

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	43 - 26	+17	99.1	1.48
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister	41 - 25	+16	92.3	1.37
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	33 - 26	+7	83.8	1.22
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsGuardiaN	29 - 19	+10	62.1	1.11
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	28 - 26	+2	70.4	1.05

EPICENTER final standings:

1. FaZe - $150,000
2. Natus Vincere - $75,000
3-4. Liquid - $20,000
3-4. AVANGAR - $20,000
5-6. Ninjas in Pyjamas - $10,000
5-6. HellRaisers - $10,000
7-8. ENCE - $5,000
7-8. Swole Patrol - $5,000

Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko Age: 31 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 1271 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.69 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács Age: 27 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1277 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.62 FaZe #6 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenOlof 'olofmeister' KajbjerLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' Nygaard Finn 'karrigan' Andersen Age: 28 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 1342 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.68 Natus Vincere #2 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov Swole Patrol #42 Braxton 'swag' PierceRyan 'freakazoid' AbadirEdgar 'MarKE' MaldonadoJordan 'Zellsis' MontemurroAustin 'Cooper' Abadir Liquid #3 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken AVANGAR #31 Bektiyar 'fitch' BahytovTimur 'buster' TulepovAidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' Ali Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Age: 26 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 1145 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.65 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard Age: 24 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 981 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.69 Ninjas in Pyjamas #8 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner ENCE #12 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaSami 'xseveN' LaasanenAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenJere 'sergej' Salo Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 21 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 955 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.67 HellRaisers #11 Kirill 'ANGE1' KarasiowVladyslav 'bondik' NechyporchukÖzgür 'woxic' EkerBence 'DeadFox' BöröczIssa 'ISSAA' Murad