FaZe have advanced to the IEM Sydney quarter-finals after clinching third place in Group A over Cloud9 (2-0; Mirage 16-9, Cache 16-6).

Group A's lower bracket final began on Mirage, where FaZe started their defense with a 5-1 lead. They wouldn't hold it for long, however, as Cloud9 strung four rounds together to equalize the score, with William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba spearheading the attack, picking up a triple-kill along the way.

The two teams went back and forth from there on, as FaZe grabbed three of the remaining five rounds for a one-round lead going into the second half. There, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač narrowly lost a 1v3 clutch, but the European squad quickly made up for it with a forcebuy win, which helped them rack up a 12-8 lead.

Cloud9 then grabbed their ninth, but that was all they could do; FaZe immediately broke the Americans' economy, storming to a 16-9 win on the opening map.

FaZe eliminated Cloud9 from the tournament

Cache kicked off with the two teams trading rounds early on until FaZe gained the upper hand on the back of Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard's 1v1 clutch in the last two seconds, which sent Cloud9 on an eco.

The European side controlled the rest of the half apart from one round, in which Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta clutched a 1v2, and switched over to Counter-Terrorists at a commanding 11-4 lead.

With rain and Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács combining for five kills during a retake scenario on A in the second pistol round, things started to look dire for Cloud9. FaZe survived the next three forcebuys to clinch match point at 15-4 and soon emerged victorious at 16-6, 2-0.

IEM Sydney 2018Best of 3 Cloud9Matchpage 0 2 3rd May 2018 FaZe 9Mirage 16 6Cache 16

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	33 - 37	-4	87.6	0.98
Pujan 'FNS' MehtaFNS	35 - 36	-1	78.8	0.98
Tarik 'tarik' Celiktarik	28 - 38	-10	68.7	0.81
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic	25 - 36	-11	73.3	0.81
Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle	20 - 35	-15	41.3	0.62

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	42 - 31	+11	105.4	1.46
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	45 - 30	+15	94.7	1.37
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	39 - 28	+11	87.3	1.30
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsGuardiaN	33 - 26	+7	70.3	1.22
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	23 - 26	-3	62.1	1.02

Pujan 'FNS' Mehta Age: 26 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 0.90 Maps played: 724 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.69 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács Age: 26 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1160 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.62 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard Age: 23 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 863 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 FaZe #4 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenRichard 'Xizt' LandströmLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' Nygaard Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 21 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 838 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.68 William 'RUSH' Wierzba Age: 23 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 798 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 Cloud9 #6 Pujan 'FNS' MehtaTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTarik 'tarik' CelikTimothy 'autimatic' Ta