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Counter-Strike 2 competition is in full swing as the qualifiers for the BLAST Open Fall 2025 in London are in full swing. In the qualifying tournament, 16 teams are playing, which will play each other 6 tickets to the event.
Among the contenders for passage to the Main Event are NaVi and FaZe. They will play each other in the second group A on 29 August 2025.
Let's try to figure out who of the pair FaZe - NaVi will be stronger and will pass to the next stage of the groupstage, and who will continue to BLAST Open Fall 2025 in the lower grid.
Let's go.
How the bookie view it: FaZe favourite
Before the Long match we will sort out who is the favourite from the pair FaZe - NaVi. Here the bookies agreed: FaZe is the favourite.
The average odds for FaZe victory is 1.6. On NaVi victory they give an average of 2.2. However, I would not go ahead and confidently give FaZe the advantage, because recently they have given up a lot in terms of play.
FaZe Form
At CS Asia Championship 2024 FaZe confidently made their way to the play-offs through Group B. Having taken unquestionable TOP-1 the team went directly to the semi-finals of the tournament. Then FaZe went head-to-head: first they defeated ENCE with the score 2-1 and in the grand final they won MOUZ with the score 2-0.
Next, FaZe had a series of "failures". They finished TOP-8 at EPL Season 19, TOP-6 at IEM Dallas 2024 and BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, TOP-8 at Esports World Cup 2024 and TOP-12 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
At IEM Cologne 2024, FaZe Long Sogpeg started off with a win over Team Liquid, but went on to Ledge or Vitality in the play-offs. After falling into the bottom set of IEM Cologne 2024, FaZe outscored Falcons 2-0, and then won their best match of the tournament in a bye, comingback against Liquid from a 3-12 deficit. However, the momentum was not enough: FaZe lost to sAw and left the tournament on top-6.
Later FaZe played at BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown 2024, where they took TOP-1-2.
At ESL Pro League S20 FaZe failed in the first round of Group A, losing to Sangal Esports, and then cameback in the middle set, beating FlyQuest, NiP. However, the comeback lasted for a long time, because after the meeting with CoL FaZe Clan left the championship on 12-18 lines.
After the failure at ESL Pro League S20, FaZe took the top 4 at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2024, and then - Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 with the final top 8.
BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 met in Group A, where they played to a 1-1 score. They first lost to MOUZ, but then snatched a win from NaVi in a match for life at the tournament. However, in the play-offs Ledge and Team Spirit finished in the top 6.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, FaZe Clan beat C9 and Falcons, and then Fnatic, which put them in the Major. At the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, FaZe Clan beat Wildcard and Heroic, but lost to Heroic. Then Ledge and G2, but made it to the play-offs by shutting out FURIA in the deciding match. Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 playoffs started with a rather unexpected victory over Vitality in a difficult match. However, it got better as FaZe knocked out one of the main tournament favourites - G2 Esports - in a very tense 2-0 series. The grand final was a little short: 1-2 against Spirit.
In the 2025 season they debuted with an appearance at BLAST Bounty Season 1. There they took TOP-16.
- FaZe Clan: karrigan, rain, Frozen, broky, jcobbb.
Directly at IEM Katowice 2025 FaZe Clan Long Cogpeg from the matches of the top set of Group A, where they defeated BIG, but lost to Vitality. After getting to the second round of the lower grid they defeated G2 Esports, but the play-offs were prevented by Eternal Fire, who defeated FaZe in the last round of the lower grid.
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Long Sogpeg started the tournament with a 2-0 win over sAw. Next, defeating Eternal Fire and MOUZ and qualifying for the play-offs with a 3-0 win. The main stage of Long Sogpeggo started for FaZe with a confident victory over sAw with the score 2-0. And then there was an unforeseen loss against Falcons, which led FaZe to the top 4.
FaZe visited BLAST Open Lisbon 2025, where they were ranked TOP-12. PGL Bucharest 2025 Long started with a defeat against Astralis. Then defeated paiN, levelling the situation. In the 1-1 basket match they beat Rare Atom. In the 2-1 basket Ledge or CoL and only made it to the play-offs after beating Apogee in the 2-2 basket. In the first round of play-offs they beat 3DMax 2-0. In the next round Ledge and Falcons, which led FaZe to the match for the top 3. They won it safely against CoL.
IEM Melbourne 2025 was also visited. There FaZe failed to get out of the group stage, Ledgeiv in group A GamerLegion. According to the results of IEM Melbourne 2025 FaZe are on the 8th line.
At BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 1 FaZe Long Sogpeg started with a match against Falcons, where they expectedly lost with the score 0-2. In the match for life in the tournament they defeated FlyQuest, thus entering the play-offs. But they failed to move further than the first round, as a result - TOP-8.
FaZe visited the second CS2 Major in history - Austin Major 2025 - where they played with S1mple as a stand-ip. They managed to get to the play-offs, but to outplay MongolZ was an impossible task and as a result - TOP-8. After play-offs Austin Major 2025, they finished TOP-8 at IEM Cologne 2025 and TOP-16 at Esports World Cup 2025.
FaZe Long qualified for BLAST Open Fall 2025 with a 2-1 victory over ECSTATIC.
Which maps does FaZe pick and ban most often?
Best maps (Win Rate ≥ 60%)
- Ancient - 69.0% of wins FaZe consistently wins on this map. A landmark 28:25 win against NiP underlines their confidence on Ancient.
- Inferno - 66.7% wins One of the most reliable maps of the team. A convincing 13:4 win over Vitality is an example of their strong play.
- Nuke - 62.5% wins Frequent picks, strong map with good results, including a 13:3 win over MOUZ.
- Mirage - 61.1% wins The team is comfortable on Mirage. The 13:2 win over NAVI was a telling match.
- Vertigo - 60.0% wins Played less often, but has decent results with a limited number of matches.
Average level (Win Rate 50-59%)
- Anubis - 56.0% wins Unstable results. However, a 13-0 win over ENCE shows high potential on the card.
- Overpass - 50.0% wins Equal results - 8 wins and 8 losses. A 13:3 victory over Heroic shows that the map can work.
Worst maps (Win Rate < 50%)
- Dust2 - 47.1% of wins The weakest map is FaZe. The team often Ledgea here, e.g. 5:13 defeat by NAVI.
FaZe Clan has a distinct pool of strong maps: Ancient, Inferno, Nuke and Mirage. Anubis and Overpass show potential, but need refinement and stability. Dust2 is the weak link. The team should either pump this map or avoid it in official matches. On the whole FaZe looks like a competitive team due to confident play on key maps. This gives them an advantage in BO3 and BO5 against most top opponents.
How the bookie view it: NaVi favourite
NaVi easily took BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A and qualified for the Paris Major. Before the only Major of the season, Natus Vincere took the top 4 at the IEM Masters Rio 2023.
The Paris tournament turned out to be a failure for NaVi. Top-11 is hardly a decent result for a team of Natus Vincere's status.
Before the Long Conner IEM Cologne NaVi made a global Reshuffle, translating the roster into English. In addition to electroNic, Perfecto and npl who left, jL with Apeks, iM with GamerLegion and Aleksib, who previously played for Ninjas in Pyjamas, joined the team.
With the new lineup, NaVi made their debut at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023. "Born to Win" managed to earn a place in the autumn finals by finishing in the top 4-6.
At IEM Cologne 2023 Natus Vincere played two matches. First, they lost to MOUZ with a score of 0-2, and then defeated OG in Bo3. At the end of the top championship NaVi reached the top 8, which can be called a good result for the then renewed roster.
Then there were a number of appearances at major events with very good results. NaVi entered the top 8 at Gamers8 and took the top 2 at ESL Pro Legue Season 18.
The key tournament of the season for "yellow-black" can be called IEM Sydney 2023. There NaVi for the first time in a long time played without their main headliner S1mple, whose place was temporarily taken by coach B1ad3. Andrew tried, but NaVi could not jump above the top-12.
After S1mple left the active roster, NaVi started the game with w0nderful. He made his debut for the Yellow-Blacks at BLAST Premier: World Final 2023. Natus Vincere played him very well, reaching the top 4. In the match for the Grand Final Ledgeili future champions of the tournament and the best team in the world Vitality.
The year 2024 started with high notes - they were the best at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier A. However, further on, the performance slipped a bit and NaVi took the top-12 at ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas 2024, as well as the top-2 at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024.
Esports World Cup 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a solid 2-0 win over FURIA. Entering the play-offs, "born to win" fell to FaZe Clan in the first round. NaVi were again stronger than FaZe, but this time they won with the score 2-0. Then there was a rather difficult match against MOUZ, where NaVi lost on the first map with the score 1-13, but then they got together and made it to the grand final. In the final match they played against G2 Esports, where they won 2-1, thus winning their second prestigious tournament of the year.
At the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a confident victory over BIG. But against Liquid "born to win" did not fare well, losing in a dramatic situation without defuse kits on the 3rd map. In the re-match with BIG they were stronger again, confidently shutting down the German club with a score of 2-0. However, they failed to move further into the top 6 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
At the ESL Pro League Season 20 NAVI became the winners of Group A, passing Lynn Vision, NiP and Eternal Fire without any problems. NaVi started the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs with a victory over their principal rival - Team Spirit - and a confident 2-0 win. Next, they defeated G2 Esports (2-1) and defeated Eternal Fire in the EPL S20 final with a score of 3-2.
At IEM Rio 2024 NaVi qualified from Group A in second place, Ledgeiv Furia. In the play-offs, they beat Vp (2-0) and Heroic (2-1) in turn. And in the grand finals NaVi defeated MOUZ (3-1), thus becoming the champion of a major tournament for the 4th time in a season.
However, NaVi did not manage to be the best everywhere and everywhere. For example, at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where "Born to Win" failed to qualify for the play-offs.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, NaVi won two matches, beating Fnatic and Sinners, but then lost to MOUZ in the match to qualify for the Major. However, they managed to reach the Elimination Stage at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 at the second attempt, beating sAw 2-0.
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Elimination Stage Natus Vincere Long They started with a victory over Liquid, and then lost to MIBR and Spirit. They knocked GamerLegion out of the tournament, but fell short against Heroic, leaving the World Championship one step away from the play-offs.
BLAST Bounty Season 1 Long They started off with a win over Imperial Female and then defeated Astralis. In play-offs they played against paiN and it was a very difficult match for the Ukrainian team, but still they won. And then - Spirit, losing 1-2 and TOP-4 in the end.
NaVi got to IEM Katowice 2025 by direct invitation, they started the group stage with a confident victory over FURIA with the score 2-0. Then a key 2-1 win over Spirit and an easy win against MongolZ in the match for seeding in the play-offs. However, after getting straight into the second round of play-offs, NaVi failed to cope with their eternal rival Spirit and ended up in the top 4.
At ESL Pro League Season 21 NaVi Long Sogpeg started with an unexpected defeat by sAw, but then, albeit with difficulty, managed to take the series against TYLOO and paiN. In the play-offs match they beat G2, and they beat them 2-0. But at the actual Long Segment play-offs - a 0-2 loss to MongolZ and a final top-8 finish.
At BLAST Lisbon 2025 NaVi Long Sogpeg started with a match against FURIA. They won with the score 2-0. Then won a crucial match against MongolZ (2-1). In the match for seeding in play-offs Ledge and Eternal Fire. The play-offs did not last long: "Born to Win" lost in the first round against Team Spirit, taking the top 6.
They started IEM Melbourne 2025 with a tough win over MIBR (2-1). In the match to qualify for the play-offs on the top grid Ledge and Falcons with a 1-2 score. Finding themselves in the last chance grid, they defeated FlyQuest in a very tough match. In the match for the play-offs they lost to Liquid, thus taking the top 8 at IEM Melbourne 2025.
At PGL Astana 2025 NaVi Long Competitors started with a confident victory over M80 and then defeated BIG. However, they failed to beat MongolZ in a 2-0 match, which led them to a 2-1 basket. Entering the play-offs, NaVi lost in their first match against Astralis, finishing in the top 8 at PGL Astana 2025. Then they played at PGL Austin Major 2025, where they were ranked Top-8, after which they made roster changes. NaVi also played at Esports World Cup 2025 as the reigning champion: they took TOP-16, completely failing one of the most important events of the season.
NaVi Mappool
NaVi's best map for 3 months is Inferno. The team played there 5 times with a win rate of 60 per cent.
On Mirage and Anubis NaVi has 50% wins. On Ancient and Nuke the team played 4 matches each, on the others - 2.
Vertigo is not playing.
Head to Head: NaVi edging it
The teams played each other twice in the 2025 season. Both matches were won by NaVi.
Predicted result of the match between NaVi and FaZe at BLAST Open Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier
Taking into account the shaky form of the clubs in the season 2025 I will not give the victory to any of the clubs. In my opinion, the most logical option here is a full-fledged Bo3.
Bottom line: total +2.5.
