Anubis opened up with a blistering A-site rush from Eternal Fire, setting the tone for the match as FaZe struggled to contain the aggression. FaZe managed just a single round in the first half, but showed a glimmer of hope by securing the second pistol round. Eternal Fire allowed them only one more before shutting down their resistance with a decisive full buy. Eternal Fire wrapped up their map pick in commanding fashion, taking a swift 13-4 victory.
On Nuke, FaZe struck first with a fast-paced A-site hit, claiming pistol round, only to immediately relinquish their advantage as Eternal Fire converted their force buy. Despite an early 3-1 lead for EF, a brilliant move from karrigan and broky briefly reignited FaZe’s hopes. However, EF remained dominant, moving into the second half leading 9-3.
What began as another one-sided affair soon turned into a thrilling, highlight-filled battle, one that may go down as an early contender for map of the year. FaZe mounted a stunning comeback, pushing the game to overtime and setting the stage for a relentless back-and-forth clash. With the game stretching into a fourth overtime, it was XANTARES who proved to be the difference-maker, delivering a 1.61-rated performance that barely pushed EF over the finish line with a 25-22 victory.
Eternal Fire will now face TheMongolZ in the Quarter-finals on February 7. This marks the first time a Turkish core has made it to the Spodek Arena and the second consecutive playoff appearance for Eternal Fire, following their runner-up finish at the BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals.
What did the teams say?
“Today we didn’t do it, but I can still be proud of how we managed to respond because the comms were not good today, it was not a good day for us, but we gave everything we had. We tried everything we could, but in the end they played better than us. Sometimes you have a bad day and sometimes you have a good day,” said FaZe’s karrigan in a post-match interview..
MAJ3R praised jottAAA in his post-match interview, saying, “Sometimes we just laugh a lot because he is saying a joke. The old lineup we don’t laugh when it is 12-12 or overtime like this.”
