Image: Ubisoft/Kirill B.
FaZe Clan were crowned Sweden Major champions after defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas in Nov. 2021. Now, less than a year later, they will have the chance to become the first double Six Major champions.
Although they have been playing in Berlin, it’s been more of a Copa Elite Six run rather than an international event for FaZe. After defeating FURIA Esports yesterday, they took down w7m esports today to set up a date with Rogue tomorrow.
“We have a great map pool since it was increased,” explained Gabriel “cameram4n” Hespanhol in a post-match interview with SiegeGG. “We had some struggle in the beginning, but at the end we ended up having good map picks and map predictions against the other teams, that counts a lot.”
Cameram4n is particularly experienced with poor map picks. He and Leonardo “Astro” Luis were part of the former FaZe team that incorrectly believed the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals map veto order to be ban-ban-pick instead of ban-pick-ban.
At this Major, FaZe have possibly been the most well-prepared team to play a series of multiple maps. Since the expansion of the map pool, their results have improved steadily and their win in Sweden was followed by a top three finish at the Six Invitational.
Cameram4n also spoke about the experience he and his teammates have in the international and regional scenes.
“It helps that we have been playing since Year 1 playing and we know how to keep cool, maybe the experience that we have is a leading point for us,” he said.
For the first time in four days, FaZe Clan will be facing a team from outside their region. Few would have expected it to be Rogue, who beat G2 Esports, after the latter had destroyed FaZe in their final group stage game 7-0.
“I think our map pool is better than them, but anything can happen, we are ready for it,” concluded cameram4n.
Tomorrow, both teams will be representing their regions on the big stage. Europe is on the verge of winning an international event for the first time since the Pro League Season 10 Finals, where Natus Vincere lifted the trophy.
Meanwhile, Brazil wants to get back to the top of Siege after an incredible run in 2021 that saw three different champions -- including FaZe. North America took in 2022 with wins at the Six Invitational 2022 and Charlotte Major, but will no longer be part of the conversation here in Berlin after Rogue eliminated XSET today.
The grand-final of the Berlin Major will be played tomorrow at 5 PM CEST (UTC+2), just after the reveal of the new season, Y7S3, Operation Brutal Swarm.