FaZe Clan demolish North America's last hope and move on to the grand finals.
Cloud9 vs. 
FaZe Clan - 0-2 (5:16, 15:19)
de_Overpass - 5:16 (4:11, 1:5)
The star-studded teams of Cloud9 and FaZe Clan kicked off the third day of ECS Season 3 Finals. Starting on the T side, Cloud9 quickly pushed the B site but Nikola "NiKo" Kovac shut it down with two kills as he waited in Canal. Though Mike "shroud" Grzesiek found two of his own and a bomb plant, it was too late and FaZe ran away with the pistol. However, because Cloud9 got a plant out of the pistol, they were able to buy into the third round. Jake "Stewie2k" Yip opened up the A site with a quick frag and ultimately three kills overall for the round. Cloud9 got their first on the board. Again, Cloud9 attacked the B site, with Jake "Stewie2k" Yip leading the charge. He successfully opened up the site for his teammates and Cloud9 quickly planted the bomb. However, they failed to check Jungle where Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey was located in. The French player lead the retake and soon, FaZe got their third round in the bag. The pattern of FaZe's dominance continued until the score was 1:7. In the eighth round, the North American players stepped up, all but Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham picking off FaZe players one by one. At the risk of getting reset, Cloud9 started the follow-up round horribly, as Aleksi "allu" Jalli grabbed the first frag. But they compensated the bad start in their explosive A site push. Nikola "NiKo" Kovac was stuck in a 1v2 but he didn't live to even attempt at clutching and Cloud9 broke FaZe's economy. At 4:7, C9 attempted yet another B side push but it was shut down by three insane defensive frags by none other than the brain of FaZe, Finn "karrigan" Andersen. Cloud9 were completely crushed and weren't able to get more rounds on the board afterward. FaZe ended the half with a dominant score of 4:11.
Now, FaZe were on the offensive, T side. After showing little aggression in the early round, FaZe burst into the A site. All of sudden, Mike "shroud" Grzesiek was stuck in a 1v3, which was too tall of a task for the Canadian player. FaZe picked up the second pistol. In the subsequent anti-eco, things looked grim for Cloud9 but Timothy "autimatic" Ta got three exit frags, putting a dent in FaZe's economy. Now, C9 were finally able to get a reasonable buy in the round. After constant trade frags between the two teams, the round came down to Timothy "autimatic" Ta vs. Finn "karrigan" Andersen. The Danish player bested the American player and FaZe looked like they've got the map in the bag, as C9's economy would be in complete shambles in the next round. FaZe quickly reached mappoint, 4:15. Cloud9 were able to snatch one round, due to FaZe running down the clock too long before committing to a site. Masters of the pistols, FaZe force-bought into the next round and C9 could not respond. Thus, FaZe finished the map off in style, showcasing their pistol prowess.
de_Mirage - 15:19 (12:3, 3:12, OT1 0:4)
FaZe started the second game of the series on the CT site. Cloud9 were off to a horrible start on their map choice, such as Jake "Stewie2k" Yip's embarrassing whiff on a clueless FaZe player in Jungle. However in the anti-eco, Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert had a meaty, Juan Deag onto a FaZe Player in Connector. Capitalizing off the player advantage, C9 took the anti-eco. But their glimmer of hope was cut short by Finn "karrigan" Andersen clutching and bringing the control back to FaZe. Cloud9 weren't ready to bend over and they immediately forced into the next. Mike "shroud" Grzesiek had miraculous four kills with the Deagle and clutched a 1v1 against the hero of the previous round, Finn "karrigan" Andersen. Though FaZe forced into the next round again, trying to strike back, Cloud9 denied it and got the first consecutive rounds of the map. With the score at 4:2, Havard "rain" Nygaard aggressively pushed into Apartments and got the first frag onto Mike "shroud" Grzesiek. Retracting back to the site, he hid and let the C9 players swarm over the A site and plant. But his sneaky play didn't pay off and Nikola "NiKo" Kovac stepped up in his place, baiting out the post-plant C9 players one by one and erasing them off the server. Though it was a close call, he was able to defuse, thanks to a defuse kit he picked up from a dead teammate. C9 exploded into the B site this time and was successful. From then on, the North American eagles went on a streak of wins, finishing the first half 12:3.
Cloud9 continued their godly form onto the defensive side. Though FaZe took the pistol, as soon as C9 were able to buy, they defended the two bomb sites like no other, reaching map point. With their backs against the wall, FaZe showed a glimmer of hope that went unseen throughout the map. They took the B site with two quick entry kills. Cloud9 immediately backed off to save their rifles onto the next round. C9 successfully did so but they halted the FaZe players attempt to save their rifles, as they got four exit frags. With the score now at 15:9, Havard "rain" Nygaard grabbed two very crucial kills for his team, continuing his teams journey to comeback. When FaZe were only two rounds away from overtime, Cloud9 had their final full-buy. Jake "Stewie2k" Yip started it well with a quick AWP pick in Mid and another in the B site, after FaZe pushed into it. C9 had the player advantage, but Havard "rain" Nygaard stepped once again as he got two impact kills from Connector onto the CT players attempting to retake the B site from Short. C9 were able to scratch out an okay buy, thanks to their maximum loss bonus but that wasn't enough against the fully equipped FaZe players. Thus, FaZe forced overtime, coming back from 15:6.
The OT started in favour of FaZe, for they picked up the first round. C9 didn't show much promise on the second round too, as all the early advantages went the way of FaZe. Mike "shroud" Grzesiek and Jake "Stewie2k" Yip attempted to save what they have to the next as their economy would be in complete shambles in the last round of the first half. But Mike "shroud" Grzesiek got caught in Cat and Havard "rain" Nygaard caught Jake "Stewie2k" Yip through the B Apartments wall. With no money to buy in, C9 gave up another round and FaZe clean swept C9 in the first half of OT. The second half didn't start so bright for the NA team too and FaZe grabbed the spot in the grand finals after coming back from 15:6 to 15:19.
Image courtesy of FaZe Clan
