Falcons stayed alive at IEM Beijing after beating FaZe in a close-fought series (Ancient 13-3, Anubis 10-13, Mirage 13-7) in Group A's lower bracket.
The victory marks Finn "karrigan" Andersen's first match against his former team, which he left in April to help Falcons win the IEM Cologne Major.
Nikola "NiKo" Kovač and company now move on to face the loser of HEROIC vs. The MongolZ in their next lower bracket test.
The series began with Falcons dominating FaZe's Ancient pick from start to finish. Maksim "kyousuke" Lukin (2.08 map rating) finished on top of the board as Falcons breezed to a 13-3 victory, with Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov and René "TeSeS" Madsen not far behind.
Next up was Anubis, where Jason "JBOEN" Boe Nielsen took over with a masterful performance. The Danish AWPer put up 25 kills, 95.5 ADR and a 2.05 rating to lead FaZe to a 13-10 victory, but Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken's troops ran out of steam on the final map.
Their T side was solid and finished 6-6, but FaZe couldn't hold Falcons' offense after winning the second-half pistol. Falcons won a force-buy early on and never looked back, winning seven rounds in a row to stay alive in China.
HEROIC
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin
Linus 'nilo' Bergman
Tim 'susp' Ångström
Antonio 'MartinezSa' Martinez
Christoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard
Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer
Maksim 'kyousuke' LukinPast 3 months
Jason 'JBOEN' Boe NielsenPast 3 months
René 'TeSeS' MadsenPast 3 months
FaZe
David 'frozen' Čerňanský
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken
Ryan 'Neityu' Aubry
Jakub 'jcobbb' Pietruszewski
Jason 'JBOEN' Boe Nielsen
Niclas 'enkay J' Krumhorn
The MongolZ
Yesuntumur 'nin9' Gantulga
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren
Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold
Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch
Anarbileg 'cobrazera' Uuganbayar
Erdenedalai 'maaRaa' Bayanbat
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenPast 3 months
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačPast 3 months
Finn 'karrigan' AndersenPast 3 months
Falcons
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
Ilya 'm0NESY' OsipovPast 3 months