Both CIS squads were knocked out in the first day of the IEM Cologne playoffs, as Astralis and FaZe stay alive.
The CIS region had an opportunity to cement their dominance on LAN in the first day of playoffs. Unfortunately for both Virtus.pro and Gambit, both fell victim to elimination in the first round. Both put up respectable performances but ultimately fell to LAN veterans in both Astralis and FaZe Clan. Though the CIS had a hot start to the year all around, only the veterans in Natus Vincere remain to represent the region.
FaZe Clan continue to impress
Perhaps the team with the biggest online to LAN performance difference, FaZe have shown incredible form thus far in IEM Cologne. Their game today against Gambit however was the veteran team’s biggest challenge yet. FaZe took an early lead on Ancient (13-16), Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken providing a cruical edge.
Gambit claimed the most contentious game on the series on Overpass (22-20). The final map, Inferno, ended with the largest deficit of the series as FaZe took the map 16-9. Helvijs “broky” Saukants has strung together several incredible performances, finding another today as he earned 74 total frags, 49 off the AWP.
‘New’ Astralis lineup cling on to IEM Cologne
It is no surprise that losing Nicolai “Device” Reedtz massively hindered the Astralis lineup. The once legendary roster has struggled to fill the AWP role. The newest member of the lineup, Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen had a strong showing as he found 19 entry frags with 83.8 ADR in the long series.
Astralis have certainly shown weakness in recent months, and even in IEM Cologne, but this performance should inspire hope in faithful Astralis fans.
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Image Credit: Astralis