Heroic defeat FaZe at BLAST Fall Final to win first Big Event trophy

Heroic survived a trip to overtime in the final map to win the $425,000 LAN event on home soil.

Heroic bested FaZe in a three-map series to be crowned champions of the BLAST Premier Fall Final. The Danish lineup, who now have their hands on their first silverware at a Big Event as well as being the first all-Danish roster to win a tournament in the Royal Arena, reigned supreme after moving past the international roster on Overpass (16-11), conceding a back-and-forth Inferno (12-16), before closing things out with after a hotly-contested overtime affair on Mirage (19-16).

FaZe will be disappointed by this second-place finish. The team around Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen appeared to be rejuvenated in their first outing since exiting the IEM Rio Major winless, dropping just one map on their way to a grand final appearance in Denmark. Alas, the European mixture couldn't go all the way in their title-deciding matchup versus Heroic and will now have to wait until their run through the upcoming BLAST Premier World Final to have a shot at winning another trophy.

Nonetheless, the matchup was inconsequential with regard to the two teams qualifying for the BLAST Premier World Final in December. FaZe already booked their place at the end-of-year spectacle thanks to their first-place finish at ESL Pro League Season 15 back in April. Heroic, meanwhile, secured a spot at the $1,000,000 event in Abu Dhabi prior to the start of the grand final because of their placement on the BLAST leaderboard.

FaZe hit the ground running on their opponents' pick of Overpass, mounting an impregnable defensive wall on both bombsites to surge ahead to an early lead, 5-0. A Tec-9-armed Heroic eventually got on the board in the sixth, the side using this shift in momentum to pull the scoreline back to a 5-5 stand-off. This impasse remained in place by the time the first half of the grand final drew to a close; FaZe won two additional rounds, but Heroic answered right back with three of their own, courtesy of a stellar 2vs5 by Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard in the 13th and a 1vs2 by Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund in the 14th.

Heroic pressed home their new-found advantage at the onset of the second half, with the Danish quintet, characterised on the defense by unrelenting aggression, conceding just two rounds en route to securing map point, 15-9. A short-lived two-round spree by FaZe showed signs of life for the European mix, but a well-calculated information play and 3k by René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen was enough to stop FaZe in their tracks and win Heroic their map choice 16-11.

The series made its way to Inferno for the second map of the best-of-three. FaZe got off to the ideal start by overturning Heroic's pistol-round victory with a three-round spree of their own. cadiaN's troops shored up their defensive line from this point, though, putting seven rounds onto their tally while only allowing two bomb plants in that time to get back into the driver's seat, 8-4. FaZe weren't out for the count despite the hefty deficit and, once again, the Baltic duo of Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants joined forces to fend off total annihilation, with FaZe trailing by just one round at the swap.

Déjà vu graced viewers' screens once play resumed following the break, FaZe again picking up the second-round force-buy win to keep the game neck-and-neck. FaZe prevailed in the ensuing skirmish between the two sides thanks to expert marksmanship from Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard and his Desert Eagle. This newly-attained economic freedom in favour of FaZe proved key in keeping Heroic at bay, the international contingent's advantage in firepower and utility being the deciding factor in forcing a third-map showdown on Mirage, 16-12.

Heroic went up 6-2 to initiate the Danish squad's time on the CT-side of Mirage, made possible by Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck, who sat firmly at the top of the scoreboard with 13 kills. It took until the 12th round for FaZe to patch up their sinking ship, twice successfully executing onto the A site to go some way as to prevent a total blowout, 4-9. Regardless, cadiaN and company maintained their dominant posture in the server and read FaZe effortlessly to clinch the two remaining rounds of the half and sport a healthy 11-4 lead by the switch.

FaZe went on an unblemished five-round streak to kickstart their CT-side comeback, consistent fragging from broky providing his team with a platform from which to bring the game to within two, 9-11. FaZe strung together another five rounds in response to Heroic's three to bring the map to a 14-14 stalemate and force it to go the distance. Heroic's newest recruit, jabbi, rose to the occasion and clutched a 1vs1 in the 29th to send the Royal Arena into a raucous frenzy, but FaZe replied in kind with a 2vs2 the round after to send the grand finalists to overtime to settle things.

Heroic embraced the support of the Danish crowd once in extra rounds. The hometown favourites nabbed two on the T-side to be up 17-16 by the side swap, and then doubled down by adding another two rounds on the defense to lock in a 19-16 victory and win the BLAST Premier Fall Final.