The Grand Final was everything a neutral CSGO fan could have hoped for at BLAST Fall Finals.
The final day of any tournament has a certain aura to it; there’s a visceral nervous excitement in the air, and the bittersweet thought of a much-awaited event reaching its end — even if it’s a crescendo of a climax. Unlike what happened in the IEM Rio Major, the Grand Final of the BLAST Fall Finals didn’t betray its buildup.
Look at this beauty 😍 pic.twitter.com/REKDusAVy1
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) November 27, 2022
Every single Playoff match had gone all three games, but the Grand Final was something else. The series went all three maps, and every single game was hotly contested. Sure, things could have been even closer, but we were treated to some excellent Counter-Strike. If you missed out, here’s what happened.
Grand Final – Faze Clan vs Heroic
After trouncing Heroic in the last map, they played back in the groups — and coming away with a 2-0 sweep in the series — FaZe were understandably confident about winning. They had come back from what looked like a certain defeat against Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Semifinals, and they crushed their opponents in the last map as something of an announcement to the world that they were ready to win some silverware again.
Heroic had taken a more difficult route. No other team has played as many top-level competitive games as the Danish quintet in the last 8 weeks or so, pinballing between winning the BLAST Fall Showdown to reaching the Grand Final of the Rio Major before going all the way at this very event. They didn’t exactly have any trophies to show for it, but one couldn’t fault them as far as sheer effort goes. They deserved to be in the final as much as any team ever has, and only FaZe lay between Heroic and glory.
Map 1 – Overpass
As has been the case in many matches in this meta, Heroic’s pick Overpass showed all signs of being the CT-sided hellhole it can so often be in the early rounds of the first game. FaZe were off to a flying start, but Heroic quickly brought them back to earth with five straight rounds of their own. Back-and-forth fights continued, and the Danes emerged ahead by the barest of margins at the end of the half.
On the defense, Heroic was in even better form. They took the first three rounds, and despite losing the next two, bounced back with four on the trot. FaZe showed some signs of life by taking two rounds with their opponents at match point, but it was all in vain. Casper “cadiaN” Møller was on fire with his AWP, and although Robin “ropz” Kool had more kills, cadiaN’s impact got them through to a 16-11 win.
Map 2 – Inferno
Down but far from out, FaZe were considerably dangerous on the T-side of their Inferno pick. With three rounds near the start, Heroic seemed to have their number when they led 8-3 at the start of the 12th round, but the superteam fought tooth and nail to have a respectable 8-7 half.
After the switch, FaZe showed not just composure, but dominance. It’s not like Heroic didn’t win rounds, but FaZe simply wouldn’t let them string rounds together. Both ropz and Helvijs “broky” Saukants were absolutely devastating, and created many a round for their team as FaZe closed the map 16-12.
Map 3 – Mirage
In the end, it all came down to where it usually comes down to — Mirage. Starting on the CT side, Heroic bounced back from a lost Pistol Round to take an imperious 9-2 lead nearing the end of the first half. FaZe managed to snatch a couple of rounds, but Heroic were equal to the task and finished the half needing just five rounds to win.
Those five rounds would prove to be elusive, because FaZe’s defense was impeccable. Both teams made plenty of tactical mistakes and the game could easily have gone one way or another long before it actually ended, but just when it looked like Heroic were running away with it, FaZe managed to win the last round to take the game to Overtime.
Taking two rounds in Overtime on Mirage is usually decisive, and it was exactly that on this occasion as Heroic finally managed to conquer FaZe, conquer their LAN silverware curse, and become the first Danish team to win an S-Tier tournament in Denmark. BLAST Fall Finals 2022 belonged to the hometown heroes, Heroic. Martin “stavn” Lund and Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard were the main men for their team.
Your winners. pic.twitter.com/KsVAX7bjAa
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) November 27, 2022
Aftermath
With this win, Heroic secured not only $200,000, and a guaranteed presence in the BLAST World Final in December. FaZe’s ego will no doubt be bruised, but they will be there to contest the 8 of the best teams in the world for that World Final trophy. Meanwhile, FaZe’s broky was adjudged the MVP of the tournament.
C H A M P I O N S pic.twitter.com/uxgvx1R9Bi
— HEROIC (@heroicgg) November 27, 2022
That’s it for our coverage of the Fall Finals, but feel free to check out all the other CSGO stuff we write.
