MOUZ outclass FaZe to set up G2 quarter-cs case free

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's side couldn't get anything going in the series and have had their run in Malta come to a bitter end.

xertioN could not be stopped in the series as he put up a 1.50 rating

FaZe weren't able to defend their ESL Pro League title and have been eliminated from competition in Malta by MOUZ, who recovered from a slow start on their map pick of Mirage and still closed things out in firm control (16-10) before completely running away with things on FaZe's pick of Inferno (16-5).

The Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek-led side have been on fire ever since losing their first match in the group stage to MIBR, and haven't dropped a map in any of their subsequent series, including in wins over HEROIC, FURIA, and now, FaZe.

The roster changes they made during the off-season seem to finally be paying off and the team is looking more comfortable in siuhy's system, something which Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman touched upon an interview with HLTV after the team's win over Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and company on Tuesday.

Read more xertioN: "I couldn't find my footing in our system with siuhy [at the beginning]"

Whether MOUZ can maintain that trajectory as they turn their attention to their upcoming quarter-final versus G2 remains to be seen, with Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and company also having hit their stride while in Malta after coasting through the group stage.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 18
29/09/2023	G219:00 MOUZ	Match

FaZe, conversely, has looked a shadow of themselves. The European supersquad has had a tumultuous few months and are struggling to return to a world-beating level, exiting IEM Rio, BLAST Spring Final, and IEM Cologne in the group stage. The team also faltered in the Legends Stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major and were immediately eliminated from Gamers8 by Virtus.pro, with their playoff exit in Malta now joining the growing list of waning results.

It wasn't a disastrous start to the series for FaZe as they recovered from a 0-3 scoreline to briefly take the lead at 7-5 while on the CT side of MOUZ's mirage pick, but that was the only time the PGL Major Antwerp champions truly seemed like they had a fighting chance in the series. From that point onward, they garnered just three more rounds while MOUZ took complete control of the proceedings, helped by stellar multi-fragging from xertioN.

The Israeli rifler continued to showcase excellence on Inferno, with FaZe's circumstances only going from bad to worse. karrigan and company started the map with a 3-0 lead in hand, but only won two more rounds from that point onward as MOUZ made them look the fool en route to a swift series victory.

ESL Pro League Season 18Best of 3 FaZe

FaZe

Matchpage 0 2 27th September 2023

MOUZ 10Mirage 16 5Inferno 16

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	30 - 32	-2	64.8	0.93
Robin 'ropz' Koolropz	29 - 33	-4	67.1	0.88
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	21 - 37	-16	55.8	0.70
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	21 - 38	-17	57.1	0.63
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	18 - 37	-19	54.5	0.56

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dorian 'xertioN' BermanxertioN	45 - 29	+16	105.6	1.50
David 'frozen' Čerňanskýfrozen	35 - 19	+16	77.0	1.35
Jimi 'Jimpphat' SaloJimpphat	38 - 21	+17	75.9	1.31
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsástorzsi	27 - 21	+6	70.2	1.20
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradeksiuhy	31 - 30	+1	78.4	1.10