On September 17 at 20:30 EEST, FaZe Clan will face Complexity Gaming in the first round of the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs for Counter-Strike 2. The match will be played in a best-of-three format. We have analysed the statistics of both teams and provided a prediction for the match.
FaZe Clan’s Recent Performance
Over the past few months, FaZe Clan has stabilised their results in major tournaments. Their average rating at S-tier events over the last month is 6.2, indicating their readiness to compete. FaZe reached the playoffs of IEM Cologne 2024 but was eliminated by SAW, finishing in 5th-6th place. They have also qualified for BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024.
In their last five matches, FaZe secured four wins, including a victory over Sangal Esports and confident wins against OG, FlyQuest, and Ninjas in Pyjamas. Their only loss during this period was to Sangal in the opening match of ESL Pro League Season 20.
Complexity Gaming’s Recent Performance
Complexity Gaming has shown a similar level of play recently. Their average rating at S-tier events over the past month is 6.1. They finished 9th-12th at IEM Cologne 2024 and failed to qualify for BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024.
Despite some setbacks, Complexity won 4 of their last 5 matches, defeating Astralis and MOUZ twice each. Their sole loss was to BIG.
Map Preferences
FaZe Clan is likely to ban Vertigo first, as they have banned this map 28 times, with Anubis being a secondary option (26 times). For their own pick, FaZe will probably choose Nuke, where they have a 56% win rate over 25 matches. Their most successful maps include Mirage (72%), Inferno (63%), and Ancient (61%).
Complexity Gaming typically bans Mirage, having excluded it 38 times. Vertigo will likely be their pick due to their 82% win rate over 22 matches. Other strong maps for Complexity are Anubis (56% win rate) and Inferno (50%).
Previous Encounter
The last match between FaZe Clan and Complexity occurred in March 2024 at a major in Copenhagen. FaZe won decisively 2-0 on Nuke and Overpass, both with scores of 13:6. Since then, both teams have shown inconsistent results, making this upcoming match more unpredictable.
Prediction
Given FaZe Clan’s recent strong performances and their favourable map statistics, they are the likely favourites for this match. However, Complexity Gaming can be competitive and will not easily concede defeat.
Prediction: FaZe Clan to win 2-1.
ESL Pro League Season 20 runs from September 3 to 22 in Malta, with teams competing for a prize pool of $750,000.