FaZe win Intel Grand Slam Season 4

Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken has become the first player to win the prestigious title twice.

FaZe have secured the $1,000,000 awarded to the Intel Grand Slam winners, a prize given to the first team to win four Big Events organized by ESL during a period of ten consecutive events that must include one of IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, or an ESL CS:GO Major, after their 3-1 grand final victory over Cloud9 at ESL Pro League Season 17.

The international squad has become only one of four teams to have completed the grueling task after the most dominant team in CS:GO, Astralis, did it in 2018, followed by Liquid in a spectacular 63-day run during 2019, and Natus Vincere during their team of the year effort in 2021. They are also the first international squad with players from countries that do not share a language to earn the title.

FaZe are the fourth team to win the Intel Grand Slam

FaZe completed the deed after becoming the best team of 2022, a year during which they won three of their four titles, IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League Season 15 and IEM Cologne, before concluding their run in 2023 by lifting the trophy in Malta at ESL Pro League Season 17 over a year after their first victory at the ESL Championship-level event in Poland.

This was not FaZe's last chance to cash in on the $1 million cheque, as they started their run by winning three out of four tournaments in 2022 before blanking in their following three qualifying events, which gave them this ESL Pro League and two more opportunities to win it, but as Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool said before the grand final: "this is where we need to do it and it's not going to get better than this."

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ropz on Intel Grand Slam: "This is where we need to do it and it's not going to get better than this"

This ESL Pro League Season 17 final victory over Cloud9 gives Twistzz the particular honor of becoming the first ever player to win the title twice, as he collected his part of the Intel Grand Slam Season 2 earnings in 2019 alongside his Liquid teammates before transferring to the international side in 2021. He was also crucial in getting FaZe across the line in the fourth and last map of the grand final, Ancient — not only as the top-rated player, but with a back-breaking ace that got his team on match point.

In their quest for the IGS Season 4 prize FaZe left Cloud9, Vitality, Outsiders and G2 in the rear view mirror, as all four teams only had one tally to their name by the time the squad led by Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen put an end to the season.

Below is a list with winners of Intel Grand Slam Season 4 events:

IEM Winter 2021 - Vitality (discounted due to loss of core roster)
IEM Katowice 2022 * - FaZe
ESL Pro League Season 15 - FaZe
IEM Dallas 2022 - Cloud9
IEM Cologne 2022 * - FaZe
ESL Pro League Season 16 - Vitality
IEM Rio Major * - Outsiders
IEM Katowice 2023 * - G2
ESL Pro League Season 17 - FaZe

An asterisk denotes a championship-level event

Intel Grand Slam winners:

Season 1: Astralis
Season 2: Liquid
Season 3: Natus Vincere
Season 4: FaZe