
FaZe win EPICENTER 2018
If you’re a FaZe fan, we’ve got good news for you. FaZe just beat NaVi in the EPICENTER 2018 grand finals.
It has been a while since FaZe has come out of an international event with a 1st place ranking, so we’re sure FaZe clan fans across the globe are breathing a sigh of relief after the happening at EPICENTER 2018. Here is a look at how the tournament went down and FaZe’s history this year.
How FaZe beat NaVi in the EPICENTER 2018 Tournament
Before we get into the details, let’s take a quick look back at FaZe’s performance in 2018. At the end of 2017, FaZe and MiBR (then SK Gaming), were at the very top, fighting it out for the number one position in the world. But things changed after a shock performance from Cloud9 during the ELEAGUE Boston Major in January 2018. FaZe lost out to Cloud9 in the grand finals in a very close best of three series. Since then, things have been a little shaky for FaZe. They lost olofmeister temporarily, but they still pulled out a few first place finishes in 2018. Strangely, it wasn’t until olofmeister came back that FaZe saw their worst run so far in their current lineup. Most recently they’ve been getting nothing but top eight finishes.

© EPICENTER
Here’s a recap:
- FACEIT Major 2018 – 5-8th
- DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 – 5-8th
- ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018 – 7-8th
- ESL One Cologne 2018 – 3-4th
At EPICENTER 2018, we saw a completely different FaZe. It started off shaky, but they entered the playoffs with a renewed fire that was incredibly exciting to watch. In the group stage, FaZe struggled a little against ENCE, then lost against NaVi 2-0.
After taking a day off, FaZe came back with a different approach. They pulled off a fairly straightforward 2-0 victory against NiP, leading them into a semifinal match against Liquid. The first map, Mirage, went fairly easily in FaZe’s favor. On Inferno, Liquid put up more of a fight, especially in the first half, but FaZe shut them down, closing out the game 2-0. This lead FaZe to face up against NaVi for the second time this tournament. NaVi completely shut down FaZe in the group stage and had put up a very strong showing throughout the rest of the event.
For the grand final, though, FaZe kicked things off with a 10-5 lead on Mirage on the T side thanks to a huge eight rounds in a row. NaVi tried to pull it back in the second half, but without much luck.
In the second game, FaZe shut things down disgustingly quickly, getting an incredible 12 rounds in the first half, then 4 more in the second. NaVi only got 3 rounds on the board. We’re not sure what happened, but S1mple was the only man in that map to get more than 10 kills.
FaZe took home $150,000 for winning the EPICENTER 2018 grand finals and they’ll be walking home with another first place trophy to add to their collection.
Only one question remains – is the old FaZe back? Are they capable of pulling out another first place win or was this a fluke?