Virtus.pro outmaneuver FaZe

Virtus.pro win their Group D opening match against FaZe with a score of 16-8 on Train at DreamHack Masters Malmö.

The first match of Group D at the $250,000 DreamHack Masters Malmö event paired together Virtus.pro and FaZe, currently the #5 and #15 ranked teams in the world respectively.

With both sides having last met offline in a group decider best-of-one match at IEM Katowice that went the way of the Poles (16-13 on Mirage), the showdown in Malmö instead took place on Train. The game was also Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey's debut for FaZe after being signed to the team earlier this week.

It was Virtus.pro who got the ball rolling with an aggressive A-site take on their T pistolround that worked, which moved the team ahead to a 3-0 scoreline. The first gunround meanwhile went the way of FaZe who used conventional and proven defensive tactics to stop VP's aggression.

VP continue to revenge upon the FaZe core following last year's infamous defeats when the latter were G2

Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski jumped ahead early in the game as the impact player and, led by his fragging, Virtus.pro stopped FaZe's momentum and moved ahead to a 6-1 lead. Strong positional play by Ricardo "⁠fox⁠" Pacheco meanwhile put FaZe back on the board in the next round as he won a crucial one versus one against Paweł "⁠byali⁠" Bieliński.

Buoyed by this clutch, and by the defensive plays of Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup (including a one versus two win), FaZe managed to garner a few more rounds in the first half although reckless pushes by Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard later in the half allowed VP to get their foot through the door again and in the end the Poles finished the half up 10-5.

An extreme push by Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas and Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski dismantled FaZe outside of the B-site on the second pistolround, with the former player being boosted behind the European team and allowing him to pincer them and shut down their T-side execute.

This loss created a domino effect for FaZe as they lost the subsequent eco rounds and the first second-half gunround; with the score at 15-5, FaZe finally executed successfully onto the A-site which gave Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad and team some breathing room.

This breathing room came too little, too late and a defensive on B-site by TaZ and crew ultimately shut down FaZe and gave the Polish team the map 16-8.

DreamHack Masters Malmö 2016Best of 1 Virtus.proMatchpage 16 8 12th April 2016 FaZe 16Train 8

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Janusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiSnax	27 - 13	+14	100.5	1.77
Paweł 'byali' Bielińskibyali	23 - 17	+6	119.3	1.52
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	18 - 15	+3	85.5	1.18
Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasTaZ	16 - 18	-2	67.7	1.04
Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps	10 - 21	-11	47.4	0.59

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ricardo 'fox' Pachecofox	26 - 17	+9	110.9	1.63
Philip 'aizy' Aistrupaizy	22 - 20	+2	100.0	1.26
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	12 - 18	-6	63.4	0.82
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostadjkaem	11 - 20	-9	52.7	0.68
Fabien 'kioShiMa' FieykioShiMa	12 - 19	-7	52.2	0.66

The final match of the day is Group D's second game which will be a duel between Tempo Storm and Envy, with the Brazilian team having last won against Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt & co. 16-7 on Mirage at IEM Katowice.

stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter

Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt Age: 21 Team: Envy Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 894 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.65 Virtus.pro #5 Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasFilip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiJanusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiPaweł 'byali' Bieliński Wiktor 'TaZ' Wojtas Age: 29 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 948 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 Filip 'NEO' Kubski Age: 28 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 949 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 Paweł 'byali' Bieliński Age: 21 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 786 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.65 Ricardo 'fox' Pacheco Age: 29 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 402 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.69 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard Age: 21 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 322 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.71 Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad Age: 22 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 254 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.71 Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski Age: 22 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 763 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.65 Tempo Storm #13 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesLucas 'LUCAS1' TelesRicardo 'boltz' PrassJoão 'felps' VasconcellosGustavo 'SHOOWTiME' Gonçalves Envy #6 Kenny 'kennyS' SchrubNathan 'NBK-' SchmittDan 'apEX' MadesclaireVincent 'Happy' SchopenhauerTimothée 'DEVIL' Démolon FaZe #15 Ricardo 'fox' PachecoFabien 'kioShiMa' FieyPhilip 'aizy' AistrupHåvard 'rain' NygaardJoakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad Philip 'aizy' Aistrup Age: 19 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 483 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.68 Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey Age: 21 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 675 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.63