FaZe in trouble after riveting second day in Budapest

FaZe now face two elimination BO3s in the first stage of the Major, once more asking questions of their decision making in the last few months.

Controversial moves like benching and reinstating broky, kicking fan favourite rain for the untested jcobbb and arguably even keeping on karrigan, who seems to have lost his touch, have left FaZe in a difficult position. They needed some fast results to justify these decisions, but losing to NIP now has them on the brink of elimination at the Major.

jcobbb once more struggled, and the chasm between him and his fellow Polish rookie xKacpersky on the other side was very apparent, and now FaZe must win two in a row to survive.

The real big teams

FlyQuest completed the 3-0 by trampling Fluxo and washed away their BO3 demons from previous Majors. This was an absolute paddling, with Fluxo getting just four rounds in the BO3 and no Brazilian getting over 20 kills. As routine as it gets.

Similarly, M80 ran over NRG, who seemed to be running out of steam with daps in instead of nitr0. They had been impressive in the BO1s, but a BO3 win might be a bit far without their experienced leader, and they slip into the 2-1 bracket.

M80, on the other hand, looked professional and composed, and deservedly went 3-0.

First flight home

Lynn Vision capitulated to lose against fellow Asian team The Huns - a result that they would have banked on even when they struggled against the Europeans.

An 0-3 here is a bitterly disappointing result for a team whom we have seen go toe-to-toe with some big teams and come out on top against in recent history, and especially going out to a team who they beat domestically quite often.

At least they won't be alone on their flight back to China; Rare Atom lost to GamerLegion in slightly less embarrassing fashion, though the result is the same.

The 'soup' in the middle

fnatic handily dispatched of Imperial, to the dismay of many a hatewatcher, and B8 came out on top narrowly against PARIVISION. That's despite xiELO being the second highest rated player at the event, which you might have guessed if you'd read our article on PARIVISION.

Kid's good.

Legacy, unsurprisingly, came out on top against RED Canids, and look set to at least go through easily even if their 3-0 dreams were crushed immediately.

Tomorrow's games

We're into all BO3s now, and we kick off with Fluxo vs NIP and B8 vs Legacy. All four are 2-1 teams, so nobody is going home there, but a loss puts you in a precarious position with FaZe potentially waiting for you in a 2-2 game.

One would expect an NIP win over Fluxo, who looked awful against FlyQuest, but B8 have a decent shot against Legacy. We'd still expect Legacy to win, but it won't be plain sailing.

FaZe get tossed a lifeline as they match-up against RED Canids in their first elimination game, who, despite being better than maybe expected, are still one of the lowest ranked teams at the event.

Just imagine, though. Let yourself dream.

If you don't want to watch that, you can watch blameF drop 45 kills against NRG in what will almost certainly be a fnatic win. Yes, we know NRG have picked up two big scalps in the BO1s, but fnatic are a capable team and BO3s are where your weaknesses get exploited.

Finally, we end the day with a pair of elimination games. PARIVISION haven't set the world alight, but have looked generally more convincing than GamerLegion, and this looks like a good litmus test for both teams.

Imperial and The Huns also close out the day, and one would not expect more heroics from The Huns - though stranger things have happened.