FaZe crush FURIA in Fort Worth to reach BLAST Rivals playoffs

FaZe crush FURIA in Fort Worth to reach BLAST Rivals playoffs

FaZe Clan kept their BLAST Rivals Fort Worth campaign alive with a commanding 2-1 victory over FURIA in the Group B lower-bracket final, sending the Brazilian-majority lineup out of the tournament in last place. The series, played on April 30, ended 13-4 on Dust2, 7-13 on Mirage, and 13-3 on Nuke, with the winner advancing to the playoff quarter-finals and the loser being eliminated. 

The result was especially significant because FaZe entered the event in a transitional phase. Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken was playing only his second match as the team’s in-game leader, while Ryan “Neityu” Aubry was standing in for Finn “karrigan” Andersen. Despite that, FaZe looked far more organized than they had in their opening loss to NAVI, particularly on Dust2 and Nuke, where Twistzz’s calling helped the team repeatedly break through FURIA’s setups. 

Dust2 immediately set the tone. FaZe picked the map and dominated from the start, taking a 9-3 lead at halftime before closing it 13-4. HLTV highlighted broky’s impact on the map, noting that his 1.48 rating made it his third-best map at an MVP-eligible event this year. frozen also looked sharper after a quiet series against NAVI, while FaZe repeatedly converted tight early rounds through clutches and recovery situations. 

FURIA briefly responded on Mirage, their own pick. Strong performances from Danil “molodoy” Golubenko and Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato helped them win 13-7, with KSCERATO also producing a key 1v3 clutch in the second half. That map gave FURIA a chance to reset the series, but it did not change the overall direction of the match. 

Nuke was the collapse point. FaZe raced to a 10-2 lead on the T side, with HLTV describing another excellent offensive performance from Twistzz both as a caller and individually. FaZe’s upper-site executions were particularly clean, while FURIA repeatedly failed to contain the pressure. A second-half pistol round quad-kill from Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski made the comeback nearly impossible, and FaZe finished the map 13-3. 

The final round added a familiar FaZe-style ending. After initially considering a save, broky and David “frozen” Čerňanský turned a 2v4 situation into a winning retake to close the series. FaZe’s coach Niclas “enkay J” Krumhorn later joked that “FaZe bullshit” was still alive, while also saying the win could help lift the team’s morale after a difficult period. 

For Twistzz, the victory carried extra weight. In an interview with Dust2.us, he said the win broke “a lot of curses,” pointing out that it was FaZe’s first playoff qualification of 2026, their first since Budapest, and his first as FaZe captain. He also credited the team’s atmosphere, effort, and chemistry, saying that some of the wild moments were classic FaZe, but others came from genuinely good team play. 

For FURIA, the defeat deepened concerns. They had already lost their opening series to GamerLegion, who reverse-swept them 2-1 after taking Nuke and Mirage. HLTV noted that FURIA came to Fort Worth looking to recover from disappointment at IEM Rio, where they had reached the semi-finals directly but failed to make the most of that position. 

Hotspawn also described FURIA as the biggest name to exit before the playoffs, noting that this was their first last-place finish since assembling their international lineup. Meanwhile, FaZe joined G2, GamerLegion, and Astralis in the quarter-finals, while Vitality and NAVI advanced directly to the semi-finals.