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FaZe Qualifies For Blast.TV Paris Major

It was FaZe Clan vs Cloud9 at the BLAST.tv Major Europe RMR. FaZe has beaten Cloud9 2-0 in a best of 3 series to qualify for the Blast.TV Paris Major which is due next month. Thanks to the Last Chance Qualifiers, they will be showing up the Blast.TV Paris Major.

FaZe Clan vs Cloud9

Rosters

FaZe Clan

  • Håvard ‘rain‘ Nygaard
  • Helvijs ‘broky‘ Saukants
  • Russel ‘Twistzz‘ Van Dulken
  • Finn ‘karrigan‘ Andersen
  • Robin ‘ropz‘ Kool

Cloud9

  • Vladislav ‘nafany’ Gorshkov
  • Dmitriy ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov
  • Sergey ‘Ax1Le’ Rykhtorov
  • Abai ‘HObbit’ Hasenov
  • Timur ‘buster‘ Tulepov

Map Picks & Bans

  • Cloud9 removed Nuke
  • FaZe removed Vertigo
  • Cloud9 picked Mirage
  • FaZe picked Inferno
  • FaZe removed Anubis
  • Cloud9 removed Overpass
  • Ancient was left over

The Series

Map 1 (Mirage)

Cloud9 started their map pick of Mirage on defense first. And the team had started it off just the way they wanted! C9 easily picked up the first five rounds getting down a few defuses. While FaZe did show some resistance, they couldn’t for long. Cloud9 started to dominate the first half yet again. The first half ended 11-4 in favor of Cloud9. In the second half, the sides were reversed but C9 again won the first two pistol rounds. However, when they were just inches away from picking up the map, FaZe made an insane comeback. When the scoreline was 14-5 in favor of Cloud9, FaZe stepped up and kept picking up round after round barely flinching. Winning six straight rounds at the end meant it was now overtime. In overtime, FaZe won all of their four rounds to pick up the first map.

Map 2 (Inferno)

Cloud9 started on FaZe’s map pick winning the pistol rounds again. But FaZe seemed determined to see out the series on the second map. They won 8 rounds straight with some deadly frags coming from rain. The first half ended 11-4 in favor of FaZe and they were just a few rounds away from Paris Major qualification. The roles were reversed in the second half. But this time it was  FaZe that finally won a pistol round. Even though things were neck and neck in the second half, it was too little, too late for C9. FaZe picked up the series soon winning Inferno 16-9.

FaZe At Blast Paris Major 2023

FaZe Clan is off to the Blast Paris Major 2023. The tournament will begin on May 8th and end on 11th. The champion of the tournament will directly qualify for both the BLAST Premier World Final and IEM Cologne 2023. So, there’s no chance in hell that FaZe will pass up this opportunity to pick up another title.

But keeping Paris Major 2023 aside, there’s the IEM Rio Major starting from tomorrow as well. We’ll come back to you soon with action from Rio!

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100 Thieves knock the Sentinels out from NA LCQ 2022

We’re at the business end of the NA LCQ 2022 with the final few days remaining. The lower bracket quarter-finals just took place with 100 Thieves eliminating the Sentinels from NA LCQ 2022. How did the match go down? Who was at the top of his game? What awaits 100 Thieves now? We’ll cover that and much more only at Gamopo!

100 Thieves vs Sentinels

From the look of things before the match, the odds were pretty even between the Thieves and the Sentinels. The Sentinels conceded in their debut match of the tournament against The Guard and were sent to the lower bracket. Their only win came against Shopify Rebellion. 100 Thieves on the other hand won their first match of the tournament against NRG but lost to FaZe Clan. Thus, both the teams met at the lower bracket quarter-finals.

Rosters

Here’s how the teams lined up:

100 Thieves

  • Brenden “stellar” McGrath (IGL)
  • Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk
  • Derrek “Derrek” Ha
  • William “Will” Cheng
  • Sean “bang” Bezerra

Sentinels

  • Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan (IGL)
  • Michael “dapr” Gulino
  • Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
  • Michael “shroud” Grzesiek
  • Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro

Map Picks & Bans

  • Sentinels ban Bind
  • 100t ban Icebox
  • SEN pick Fracture
  • 100T pick Breeze
  • SEN ban Ascent
  • 100T ban Split
  • Haven remains

The Match

Map 1 (Fracture)

100 Thieves started off strong on Sentinel’s pick winning the first 4 rounds rather easily. Things went back and forth from there but the Thieves ended the half 8-4 in their favor. The Sentinels started off the second half trying to level the score and bring the game back in their favor. The score was soon 12-9 with 100 Thieves winning but the game was not over yet. Sentinels turned it around making it 12-12 and it was now overtime. Both teams looked sharp but it was Sentinels that clinched the map in the end winning it 17-15.

Map 2 (Breeze)

100 Thieves started off Breeze strong as well winning the first 2 pistol rounds. From then on, both the teams were pretty neck and neck as the half finished 7-5 in favor of the Thieves. Despite valiant efforts showcase by the Sentinels, Thieves held them off pretty well. They didn’t take long to secure the map winning it 13-7. Sentinels really faced the wrath of 100T in the second map. The match was now 1-1 and Haven was the decider.

Map 3 (Haven)

The Thieves maintained their tradition of dominating pistol rounds with the scoreline reading 2-0 yet again. The first half ended well for 100 Thieves ending it with a scoreline of 8-4. At this point, they were pretty close to victory. They got even closer winning the pistol rounds of the second half. The Sentinels, however, showed great resistance as they won streaks of rounds barely conceding a round to 100T but it was too little, too late. 100 Thieves picked up the map 13-11 and so, they picked up the series.

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100T Nadeshot was quick to compliment the Sentinels on Twitter:

 

100 Thieves vs. Cloud9

100 Thieves will be facing Cloud9 in the semi-finals of the NA LCQ 2022 on 13th August. 100 Thieves have one only once against C9 in the last 5 matches they have faced each other. The last time the two teams met were at the VCT NA S1: Challengers where C9 won 2-0. Cloud9 has the same roster since then with Thieves having 4 player changes. With that in mind, it’s a little tough to predict who’ll win but 100 Thieves might just clinch it.

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L1NK joins Acend’s Valorant roster

Former Team Liquid player, L1NK has joined the Valorant roster of Acend. The player will serve as the final member of Acend Valorant’s LCQ roster.

Who is L1NK?

Born in the United Kingdom, Travis “L1NK” Mendoza is a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional. The 23-year old used to play for a number of Counter-Strike teams before he made the move to Valorant. Despite playing CS:GO professionally for 3 years, he couldn’t manage to win a top-tier tournament. However, he made a name for himself after he started playing Valorant. His first team was fish123 which was a British org-less team. When Valorant esports kicked off, they made waves across Europe winning 7 tournaments in the span of a month and a half. This caught the attention of a number of esports organizations but Team Liquid acted quick and picked up the entire roster.

Team Liquid bench Valorant player L1NK and add Dreamas - Dexerto

L1nk at Team Liquid Valorant

 

When Team Liquid picked up the fish123 roster in the middle of 2020, the members started afresh. They relentlessly played tournaments after tournaments at the highest level of the game. They’ve won quite a few A-tier tournaments including the VCT 2021: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier last year. Their best finishes came at the VALORANT Champions 2021 where L1nk and his Liquid teammates lost to Acend. From day one of Team Liquid Valorant, L1nk has been through thick and thin which is why the organization didn’t forget to bid him an emotional farewell.

L1nk at Acend

L1nk has just joined the Acend lineup but has to prove his worth at the VCT 2022: EMEA LCQ 2022. There is even a chance that he might cross paths against his former team some time during hte tournament. L1nk will be joining an impressive lineup having a solid chance making it out of the EMEA LCQ this year.

Acend’s Roster

  • Mehmet “cNed” Yağız İpek
  • Patryk “starxo” Kopczyński (IGL)
  • Vakaris “vakk” Bebravičius
  • Ondřej “MONSTEERR” Petrů
  • Travis “L1nk” Mendoza

With a roster like that, no wonder the new recruit had a bold statement up his sleeve:

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Will L1nk live up to his promise at the EMEA LCQ with his team? Guess only time will tell.

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