How FaZe beat Vitality after a T-side masterclass from karrigan – StarLadder Budapest Major analysis

In CS2, there’s a pattern we’ve all grown used to: analysis piles up against them, logic does its neat little dance, and common sense points in the opposite direction, only for FaZe Clan to show up and turn all of it inside out. And there was equable reasoning for that, because FaZe has not beaten Vitality even once this year. Not me, though, and as a fan, it feels genuinely good to see them play this well after what has been a really tough year.

The map of Nuke, in my opinion, was not FaZe’s strongest going into the game. Don’t get me wrong, it is the map where they have the highest win percentage, and also three wins in the last three games to top it off. But I was simply not sold on karrigan’s transition to yard, which is typically played by the more aim-centric players on the team. Even in the last three games, his personal rating has been 0.84, 0.38, and 0.68, and I expected a better team like Vitality to punish FaZe for it.

But as time has taught us interminably, you can never count out FaZe. However, you can count on me to break down just how they made this 13-7 win possible, courtesy of one of the best T-sides we have seen called by the legend we are all familiar with.

FaZe’s simple T-side gameplan

What has changed for FaZe that they are suddenly so good on the T-sides? In this game, for example, a 2.35 rating from frozen could very well be the answer. Shooting heads is a part of it, but if you look beyond numbers, the game style has changed markedly for FaZe in the last few games compared to before. As the team is getting more rep time, they are able to master the art of temporising and getting one of the players into a genuinely round-changing spot. And all you need to get a whiff of it is the pistol round.

So to start off, we see karrigan first make contact outside. Armed with the P250, it has been very common for karrigan to lurk outside. And it usually has been with a buddy. karrigan neither dies nor gets a kill. And then FaZe hit ramp backed with utility. Again, this is a common tactic to split lower. They go one for one, but this is where the inflection is. Even though FaZe gets a kill, they don’t try to force the issue, which allows frozen to sneak out of the single door and help FaZe secure the pistol on the back of three kills.

This is how FaZe played most of the rounds, and even after Vitality tied the game at 3-3, they were able to get to 5-3. And in all those rounds, you would see how disoriented Vitality were about FaZe’s next move, and how many times they were scared of a player lurking somewhere. It was almost as if Vitality were playing against five karrigans, four of whom had better aim (sorry my legend). Now, the key round I want to point out is round 9, which FaZe actually lost.

What separates karrigan from other IGLs

In round 9, FaZe lose Twistzz very early. That’s a heavy blow already to the T-side. With about a minute left, karrigan tries to fake outside, leaving FaZe with two smokes. Now, in the minds of most ordinary IGLs, teams would usually group up and hit either the top site, or ramp, or drop down vents if they were feeling ambitious. Vitality, fully prepared for this, have two players guarding ramp and three players on the top site. They even smoke out single door so late in the round. But what does karrigan do? With 39 seconds on the clock, frozen fakes ramp, and all of FaZe walk outside to enter the top site through main.

Now, it doesn’t work out because, well, ZywOo gets going. But having a crafty IGL is one thing, and being able to be on the same page with your IGL to a degree where you can execute late rounds with such synchronicity is another. That not only speaks volumes about Twistzz’s secondary calling, but also the rest of the team being so well attuned. And this is a result of the rep time we are talking about. This is what makes FaZe so interesting to watch. You may see new individual plays every game, but as a team, a lot of the tactics become so recurrent in the current meta that it gets too boring to watch. But this, this is fun.

In the remaining rounds on the T-side, you will see how FaZe were simply outpositioning Vitality. Their simple plan of mixing things up to induce chaos and be the ones in the driver’s seat helped them completely outmanoeuvre Vitality. And on the CT-side, it was simply jcobbb flaunting his mechanical skills. I am still a bit skeptical of FaZe letting karrigan play outside, but if it means that the top site and ramp become near impenetrable, well, hey, it might just work out.