Astralis sends FaZe out of Stake Ranked Episode 4 with comeback on Ancient

Astralis eliminated FaZe from Stake Ranked Episode 4 in Barcelona with a 2-1 victory, leaving them tied for last place. The result hits FaZe hard on the VRS rankings: the team dropped from 18th place to 24th place and now has less than a 50% chance of qualifying for PGL Major Singapore.

The match showed how Astralis managed to turn structural disadvantages into victory. FaZe did not lose a single pistol round – all six went to them – and Astralis only won three T-side rounds on both Ancient and Nuke. Yet the Danes still managed to take the series.

On Ancient, Astralis' own map pick, FaZe built a 9-3 lead in the first half and reached 11 rounds on the T-side. Astralis responded with ten consecutive rounds on the CT-side and turned the map around. JBOEN's rating collapsed from 2.24 on defense to 0.47 on attack.

Nuke went to FaZe 13-11, despite HooXi delivering 20 kills on the map. That forced a decider on Cache, where Astralis took an 8-4 lead at halftime. HooXi was sharp on the T-side in the first half, and phzy controlled the CT-side with the AWP and helped the team to a 13-9 victory. FaZe's only bright spot was a 1v2 clutch from JBOEN, which gave the team their ninth and final round on the map.

For FaZe, the Roman Imperium Cup IX awaits next week, while their VRS situation continues to worsen.