The FaZe Clan Valorant Invitational has been an interesting one already, with a few bizarre moments in the stream that has just begun; most noticeably, along with audio and visual bugs is that the stream has been stalled consistently by the casters while tech woes reared their inevitable heads. The big question tonight is precisely how FaZe can fare against more established teams, and if that could translate into the Overwatch League losing more DPS players.
FaZe Clan / China Nguyen
In FaZe Clan’s Ignition Tourney Invitational, it seemed like they would have an easy first match.
However, FaZe Clan got shredded in their first match against China Nguyen in a clean sweep; two maps and both were lost. They continue in the tournament round-robin against 100 Thieves later tonight.
These are four tried players, familiar with the competitive environment along with arduous practice schedules, and they apparently just collapsed against an unproven (and largely unknown) China Nguyen.
In one hour, teams take the virtual stage for The @FaZeClan VALORANT Invitational. Watch it live at https://t.co/ujaZn0QbWA. pic.twitter.com/1b9I80ZivV
— VALORANT (@VALORANT) August 6, 2020
It is important to note that this is the first invitational that this new FaZe Clan Valorant roster has played, and they’ve only recently begun playing together. With additional practice, it is still possible that FaZe turns into yet another dominant force as they have been in Counter-Strike.
FaZe Clan V/ 100 Thieves
FazE Clan clapped back after starting this series by dropping another map to 100 Thieves, placing them behind (0-1) to begin the comeback. Picking up the next two maps against 100 Thieves proved to be difficult, with a close tiebreaker as both former Overwatch League players, Corey and Babybay, put up impressive numbers in the tiebreaker map.
Corey excelled throughout the entirety of the best of three, with ‘Marved’ having clutch plays in defensive side of the tiebreaker.
This, combined with the fact that China Nguyen was clean-swept by the Immortals (0-2) meant that a bottom-bracket match would need to be played out between FaZe Clan and China Nguyen.
FaZe Clan / China Nguyen
After much speculation on precisely how FaZe Clan managed to lose in a clean sweep, fate decided to pit the two against each other as the rounds progressed through the night.
The Bo3 began on Bind (FaZe map pick), and FaZe put on an immaculate showing against China Nguyen, picking ten rounds in the first half with relative ease. China Nguyen started on defense and consistently walked into areas that were readily held by FaZe. In the second half, Babybay showed immense competence in the first map as he held A in tandem with Corey, both alternating between picking off China Nguyen who looked fierce and composed with every attempt, yet were simply melted immediately upon entry.
FaZe picked up the first map with ease, as though they’ve been fragging together since the dawn of time; the first map went in favor of FaZe at (13-3).
Map two was CN’s pick of Ascent, and China Nguyen made it obvious why as they took eight rounds in a row until FaZe was able to put together a defensive strategy that worked. It was a case of too little, too late however as FaZe continued to struggle on attacking, with Ascent hosting far longer rotations that meant one side losing a duel placed the remainder in peril attempting to retake China Nguyen took it easily (6-13).
The final map was Split, with China Nguyen taking first defense on the very defensive Split. Whlie China Nguyen took the first five, FaZe came back and cleaned Split easily.
Overall it was admittedly a bit shaky of a victory in the first group stage, yet the storyline is far from over after a shaky start. It’s clear that they struggle on some maps, as Ascent was difficult to watch, but the underlying theory that Overwatch League players can stand their own within competitive Valorant as the scene is currently. ‘Sinatraa’ top-fragged in their first showing of the FaZe Clan Invitational, but it’s plausible that Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won is simply a unique breed of player, rather than Overwatch becoming a theorized breeding ground for high-level competence and capability.
