FaZe Win Roman Imperium Cup IX, Climb to No. 16 in VRS

FaZe have taken a major step back toward the upper end of the Counter-Strike 2 rankings after winning Roman Imperium Cup IX in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

The international roster defeated NAVI Junior 2-0 in the grand final on October 10, completing an unbeaten tournament run and moving 14 places to No. 16 in the global Valve Regional Standings (VRS), according to HLTV.

More importantly for FaZe's immediate future, the victory strengthened their position in the race for a PGL Major Singapore 2026 invitation. HLTV's post-tournament projection gave FaZe a 71.8% chance of qualifying for the Major, with two additional LAN events scheduled before the November 2 invite cutoff.

The trophy also ended a lengthy LAN title drought: Roman Imperium Cup IX was FaZe's first LAN tournament victory since IEM Chengdu 2024.

Quick summary

Detail	Information
Winner	FaZe
Event	Roman Imperium Cup IX
Final opponent	NAVI Junior
Grand final score	FaZe 2-0 NAVI Junior
Final maps	Anubis 13-2, Nuke 13-2
Event dates	October 7-10, 2026
Location	Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
Format	Offline/LAN
Teams	16
Prize pool	€12,000 / approximately $13,600
FaZe prize	Approximately $6,814
Post-event VRS position	No. 16, according to HLTV's post-event report
VRS movement	+14 places
Major qualification projection	71.8%, according to HLTV at the time of the title
Next scheduled LAN	Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7
Major invite cutoff	November 2, 2026

What happened at Roman Imperium Cup IX?

FaZe entered Roman Imperium Cup IX needing more than another respectable playoff finish.

Their position in the VRS race made every LAN opportunity important ahead of the PGL Major Singapore invite cutoff, and FaZe converted their trip to Portugal into the best possible outcome: a tournament victory.

Their route through the playoffs was not as comfortable as the grand final score suggests.

FaZe opened against Sangal on October 8 and fell behind in the series before recovering for a 2-1 victory. They then beat PURE 2-0 to reach the upper-bracket final.

NAVI Junior provided the strongest resistance of FaZe's run. The academy side took the opening map of their first meeting, but FaZe recovered to win the series 2-1 and advance directly to the grand final.

NAVI Junior fought back through the bracket to earn a rematch.

The second meeting was completely different.

FaZe won Anubis 13-2 and followed with another 13-2 victory on Nuke, ending the best-of-three after only two maps. Across the entire grand final, NAVI Junior collected just four rounds.

FaZe's Roman Imperium Cup IX run

Date	Stage	Opponent	Result
October 8	Upper bracket quarter-final	Sangal	2-1 win
October 9	Upper bracket semi-final	PURE	2-0 win
October 10	Upper bracket final	NAVI Junior	2-1 win
October 10	Grand final	NAVI Junior	2-0 win

FaZe therefore completed the event without losing a series, although both Sangal and NAVI Junior managed to force them into three-map contests before the final.

FaZe dominate NAVI Junior in the grand final

The championship match was the clearest demonstration of the gap FaZe managed to create by the end of the event.

NAVI Junior had already pushed FaZe to three maps earlier in the day. In the rematch, however, the academy roster never established a foothold.

FaZe won:

• Anubis: 13-2

• Nuke: 13-2

The resulting 26-4 combined round score turned what had previously been a competitive matchup into a one-sided final.

Jakub "jcobbb" Pietruszewski produced the standout individual performance. HLTV recorded him at 34-14 with 116.1 ADR and a 2.04 Rating 3.0 across the two maps.

David "frozen" Čerňanský followed at 27-12 with a 1.68 rating, while every FaZe player finished the final with a positive kill-death differential.

FaZe player	K-D	ADR	KAST	HLTV Rating 3.0
jcobbb	34-14	116.1	86.7%	2.04
frozen	27-12	99.2	90.0%	1.68
Twistzz	25-17	88.4	86.7%	1.45
JBOEN	25-14	72.2	93.3%	1.41
Neityu	18-12	64.5	90.0%	1.35

Those numbers should be read in the context of an unusually short and dominant two-map final rather than as tournament-wide ratings.

FaZe roster at Roman Imperium Cup IX

FaZe competed in Portugal with the following five-man lineup:

Player	Country	Status at event
Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken	Canada	Active
David "frozen" Čerňanský	Slovakia	Active
Jakub "jcobbb" Pietruszewski	Poland	Active
Jason "JBOEN" Boe Nielsen	Denmark	Active
Ryan "Neityu" Aubry	France	Active
Niclas "enkay J" Krumhorn	Germany	Coach

This lineup is also listed for FaZe's upcoming Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7 matches.

Why the Roman Imperium Cup IX title matters for FaZe

The trophy itself is only part of the story.

FaZe ended a LAN title drought dating back to 2024

According to HLTV, Roman Imperium Cup IX was FaZe's first LAN tournament victory since IEM Chengdu 2024.

That makes frozen the only member of the current five-man roster who was also part of the lineup that won the Chinese event.

FaZe had reached another LAN final earlier in 2026 at HLC Belgrade PRO, but lost to BIG. That defeat had much larger consequences than simply missing another trophy: it contributed to FaZe missing out on the IEM Cologne Major.

Winning in Portugal therefore represented both a competitive reset and an important result in the team's attempt to avoid another Major absence.

FaZe jumped 14 places in the VRS

HLTV reported that the Roman Imperium Cup IX victory moved FaZe up 14 positions to No. 16 in the global VRS immediately after the tournament.

That put them one position away from the global top 15.

The distinction between ranking systems is important. HLTV's own world ranking and Valve's VRS are separate systems, so an HLTV ranking position should not be treated as interchangeable with a VRS position.

For FaZe's Singapore Major ambitions, the VRS is the more consequential metric.

Their Major chances improved — but qualification was not secured

HLTV's projection following the tournament estimated FaZe's chance of reaching PGL Major Singapore at 71.8%.

That number was a simulation-based projection, not an official invitation.

FaZe still had two scheduled LAN tournaments before the November 2 cutoff:

Event	Dates	Location
Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7	October 19-23	Bucharest, Romania
RLG Tesla Cup 2026	October 27-29	Belgrade, Serbia

Those events leave room for FaZe to improve their position, but also mean the competitive environment around the invite line can continue changing.

Ranking and tournament impact

Roman Imperium Cup IX was a comparatively small LAN, but its strategic value to FaZe was much greater than its prize pool might suggest.

The tournament featured 16 teams and a €12,000 prize pool, with FaZe earning approximately $6,814 for first place.

For an organization accustomed to competing at Counter-Strike's biggest international events, that financial reward is modest.

The VRS implications are more significant.

With the Singapore Major invitation deadline approaching, accumulating favorable LAN results can affect a team's position relative to other organizations competing around the cutoff.

FaZe did exactly what they needed in Portugal: they won the tournament rather than merely collecting another playoff finish.

The +14-place movement reported immediately afterward demonstrates how consequential the result was to their ranking position at that moment.

Tactical and performance takeaways

Roman Imperium Cup IX does not by itself establish that FaZe have solved every issue against elite opposition.

The field was substantially different from a top-tier international championship, and NAVI Junior entered the final far below FaZe in HLTV's team ranking.

Still, several aspects of the run are encouraging.

First, FaZe survived adversity. They recovered after dropping opening maps against both Sangal and NAVI Junior.

Second, the team converted the final emphatically. Winning 13-2 on consecutive maps after previously needing three maps against NAVI Junior suggests FaZe adapted effectively between the two series, although the available results alone are not sufficient to attribute that improvement to a specific tactical change.

Third, production was distributed throughout the lineup in the final. jcobbb was clearly the statistical leader, but all five FaZe players posted positive K-D records and HLTV Rating 3.0 figures above 1.30.

The more difficult test will be whether those patterns remain visible against stronger opposition.

Historical context: from IEM Chengdu to Vila Nova de Gaia

FaZe's previous LAN title came at IEM Chengdu in 2024.

By October 2026, frozen was the only player from that championship lineup still playing for FaZe at Roman Imperium Cup IX.

That turnover gives the Portugal victory additional significance. It was not simply another trophy for the organization; it was the first LAN championship for this substantially rebuilt version of FaZe.

Their previous LAN final had ended very differently.

FaZe reached the HLC Belgrade PRO 2026 final but lost to BIG, a result that ultimately hurt their attempt to reach the IEM Cologne Major.

Roman Imperium Cup IX gave them another opportunity to convert a smaller LAN into meaningful ranking progress — and this time they finished the job.

Timeline: FaZe's road back toward the Major

Date	Development	Significance
2024	FaZe win IEM Chengdu	Previous LAN title before Roman Imperium Cup IX
April 2026	FaZe lose HLC Belgrade PRO final to BIG	Major qualification ambitions suffer
October 1-4, 2026	FaZe compete at Stake Ranked Episode 4	Another pre-cutoff VRS opportunity
October 8, 2026	FaZe beat Sangal 2-1	Roman Imperium Cup IX run begins
October 9, 2026	FaZe beat PURE 2-0	FaZe reach upper-bracket final
October 10, 2026	FaZe beat NAVI Junior 2-1	Grand-final berth secured
October 10, 2026	FaZe beat NAVI Junior 2-0	Roman Imperium Cup IX title secured
Post-event	FaZe rise 14 VRS places to No. 16	Team approaches global top 15
October 19-23	DraculaN Season 7	Next scheduled LAN
October 27-29	RLG Tesla Cup 2026	Final listed LAN before cutoff
November 2	Major invite cutoff	Singapore invitation picture determined

Impact analysis

Immediate impact: positive

FaZe left Portugal with the maximum tournament result available to them.

They won every series, secured the championship, and improved their VRS position substantially according to HLTV's post-event calculation.

For a team operating around an important Major qualification boundary, there was little more they could have extracted from the tournament.

Medium-term impact: still uncertain

The 71.8% Major qualification probability reported after Roman Imperium Cup IX is encouraging, but it should not be interpreted as a 71.8% guarantee.

VRS qualification is relative.

FaZe's final position depends not only on their own performances but also on results produced by teams around them before the cutoff.

Long-term impact: dependent on stronger events

Roman Imperium Cup IX demonstrated that FaZe can win a LAN with their current roster.

It did not establish where that roster sits against the world's strongest teams.

That distinction matters when evaluating the championship as evidence of a broader competitive recovery.

The upcoming schedule provides further opportunities to answer that question.

What changes now for FaZe?

The immediate objective changes from chasing points after poor results to protecting and strengthening a much healthier position.

FaZe do not need to treat Roman Imperium Cup IX as an endpoint.

Their schedule before the November 2 cutoff gives them further opportunities to build their VRS case, beginning with Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7 in Bucharest.

HLTV currently lists FaZe's opening DraculaN playoff match for October 20, with their opponent still TBD at the time of verification.

After Bucharest comes the RLG Tesla Cup in Belgrade.

That tournament features eight teams and a $50,000 prize pool, with FaZe listed alongside B8, Envy, Luminosity, Alliance, HEROIC, HOTU and K27.

What to watch next

The central question is no longer whether Roman Imperium Cup IX helped FaZe. It clearly did.

The question is whether they can preserve that progress through the remaining pre-cutoff schedule.

Three developments deserve particular attention.

FaZe's performance at DraculaN Season 7: Their next LAN begins October 19. Another deep run would provide evidence that Portugal was part of a sustained recovery rather than an isolated result.

RLG Tesla Cup: Scheduled for October 27-29, this is FaZe's last currently listed LAN before the November 2 Major invitation cutoff and therefore carries obvious VRS importance.

The moving Major qualification line: FaZe's ranking cannot be evaluated in isolation. Results from competing European teams can alter the effective threshold even when FaZe themselves are not playing.

Related teams, players and events

FaZe: The Roman Imperium Cup IX champions and the central team in the story. The rebuilt lineup is attempting to return the organization to the Major after missing the previous one.

NAVI Junior: FaZe's opponent in both the upper-bracket final and grand final. The academy roster pushed FaZe to three maps in their first meeting before losing the rematch 0-2.

Sangal: FaZe's first opponent of the event. Sangal took the opening map before FaZe completed a 2-1 comeback.

PURE: FaZe's upper-bracket semi-final opponent. FaZe won the series 2-0.

Twistzz: The Canadian veteran is part of the current FaZe lineup navigating the Singapore Major qualification race.

frozen: The only member of FaZe's Roman Imperium Cup IX roster who was also present for the organization's previous LAN championship at IEM Chengdu 2024.

jcobbb: The statistical standout of the grand final, posting a 2.04 HLTV Rating 3.0 in the 2-0 victory over NAVI Junior.

PGL Major Singapore 2026: The major competitive objective behind FaZe's late-season VRS push. The event is scheduled for November 24-December 13 in Singapore.

Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7: FaZe's next scheduled LAN after winning Roman Imperium Cup IX.

RLG Tesla Cup 2026: Another pre-cutoff LAN and a potentially important final opportunity to influence FaZe's VRS position.

FAQ

Did FaZe win Roman Imperium Cup IX?

Yes. FaZe defeated NAVI Junior 2-0 in the grand final on October 10, 2026, winning Anubis 13-2 and Nuke 13-2.

What was FaZe's VRS ranking after Roman Imperium Cup IX?

According to HLTV's report published immediately after the final, FaZe climbed 14 places to No. 16 in the global VRS.

Ranking positions can change as additional matches are played, so No. 16 should be understood as FaZe's reported post-Roman Imperium Cup IX position rather than a permanent ranking.

Did FaZe qualify for PGL Major Singapore by winning the tournament?

No. Winning Roman Imperium Cup IX did not automatically qualify FaZe for the Major.

HLTV's post-event simulation estimated their qualification probability at 71.8%, but that was a projection rather than confirmation of an invitation.

Who played for FaZe at Roman Imperium Cup IX?

FaZe fielded Twistzz, frozen, jcobbb, JBOEN and Neityu, with enkay J listed as coach.

What is FaZe's next tournament?

FaZe are scheduled to compete at Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7 in Bucharest from October 19-23, followed by RLG Tesla Cup 2026 in Belgrade from October 27-29.