FaZe Clan wins the first Counter-Strike 2 tournament at IEM Sydney: Final results and standings

Jeremy Gan
FaZe Clan wins IEM Sydney 2023

The first Counter-Strike 2 Premier tournament was played in IEM Sydney, and FaZe Clan has made history by winning the first CS2 LAN event, here is all you need to know about it.

  • FaZe makes history with the first Premier CS2 trophy lift
  • FaZe and Complexity meet in the Grand Final
  • First major LAN tournament played on Counter-Strike 2

When Counter-Strike 2 was released in September 2023, it also meant all Counter-Strike tournaments would be switching from CSGO to the new game, which left IEM Sydney as the first major CS2 LAN event, and FaZe Clan has just made history.

With Robin “ropz” Kool as tournament MVP, FaZe won the first CS2 trophy in spectacular fashion. The team faltered in their first outing in the group stages, being sent down to the lower bracket and facing elimination on the first day against powerhouses Team Vitality.

FaZe grinded through the lower bracket in the group stages, reaching the playoffs as the third seed. In the quarterfinals, the team went up against ENCE, and won in historic fashion. In map two, FaZe pulled off the very first 13-0, live in front of an Australian crowd who was fully behind them.

In the semifinals against MOUZ, who reached the semifinals with a substitute player, they won in a convincing 2-0 with no signs of stopping. In the Grand Finals with an unlikely appearance of Complexity, the Americans won the first map. However, FaZe reversing the next two maps, and won the third map of Ancient in close fashion at overtime.

The tournament also brought several other surprises, with Team Vitality getting eliminated at last place, NAVI without s1mple winning their CS2 debut match, and Complexity, with a relatively new roster, making it all the way to the Grand Final.

Here’s everything you need to know about 2023 IEM Sydney:

IEM Sydney 2023: Final standings

PlacementTeamPrize money (USD)
1FaZe Clan$100,000
2Complexity$42,000
3-4G2
MOUZ
$20,000
5-6BetBoom
ENCE
$10,000
7-8GamerLegion
Monte
$6,000
9-12NAVI
Apeks
Fnatic
Cloud9
$5,000
13-16Team Vitality
Grayhound
VERTEX Esports
Lynn Vision Gaming
$4,000

IEM Sydney 2023: Dates, format and venues

IEM Sydney runs from October 16 through October 22, all taking place in ICC Sydney. 

The key dates are: 

  • Group Stage: October 16-19 
  • Playoffs: October 20-22

Unlike previous IEM Sydney’s where the group stage had an audience, 2023’s will only field an audience during the last three days of the Playoffs.

 Playoffs (October 20-22)

  • All six qualified teams are placed into a single elimination bracket
  • All matches are Bo3

IEM Sydney 2023: Schedule and results

Playoffs (October 20-22)

October 22

StageMatchPTETBST
FinalComplexity 1-2 FaZe12:30 AM3:30 AM8:30 AM

October 21

StageMatchPTETBST
SemifinalsG2 0-2 Complexity10:30 PM1:30 AM6:30 AM
SemifinalsMOUZ 0-2 FaZe1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM

October 20

StageMatchPTETBST
QuarterfinalsComplexity 2-0 BetBoom10:30 PM1:30 AM6:30 AM
QuarterfinalsFaZe 2-0 ENCE1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM

Group Stage (October 16-19)

Group AGroup B
VitalityENCE
BetBoomLynn Vision
FaZeCloud9
GamerLegionFnatic
NAVIMonte
ApeksComplexity
VERTEXGrayhound
MOUZG2

Day 1: October 16

StageMatchPTETBST
Upper Round 1NAVI 13-9 Apeks5 PM8 PM1 AM
Upper Round 1VERTEX 2-13 MOUZ5 PM8 PM1 AM
Upper Round 1Vitality 14-16 BetBoom6:15 PM9:15 PM2:15 AM
Upper Round 1FaZe 15-19 GamerLegion6:15 PM9:15 PM2:15 AM
Upper Round 1ENCE 13-6 Lynn Vision7:30 PM10:30 PM3:30 AM
Upper Round 1Cloud9 10-13 Fnatic7:30 PM10:30 PM3:30 AM
Upper Round 1G2 13-11 Grayhound8:45 PM11:45 PM4:45 AM
Upper Round 1Monte 9-13 Complexity8:45 PM11:45 PM4:45 AM
Upper Round 2MOUZ 2-1 NAVI10 PM1 AM6 AM
Lower Round 1VERTEX 0-2 Apeks10 PM1 AM6 AM
Upper Round 2BetBoom 2-0 GamerLegion1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM
Lower Round 1Vitality 1-2 FaZe1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM

Day 2: October 17

StageMatchPTETBST
Lower Round 1Grayhound 0-2 Monte7:30 PM10:30 PM3:30 AM
Upper Round 2G2 2-0 Complexity7:30 PM10:30 PM3:30 AM
Lower Round 1Lynn Vision 0-2 Cloud910:30 PM1:30 AM6:30 AM
Upper Round 2ENCE 2-1 Fnatic10:30 PM1:30 AM6:30 AM
Lower Round 2Apeks 0-2 GamerLegion1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM
Lower Round 2NAVI 1-2 FaZe1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM

Day 3: October 18

StageMatchPTETBST
Lower Round 2Complexity 2-1 Cloud97:30 PM10:30 PM3:30 AM
Lower Round 2Fnatic 1-2 Monte7:30 PM10:30 PM3:30 AM
Upper FinalBetBoom 1-2 MOUZ10:30 PM1:30 AM6:30 AM
Lower FinalFaZe 2-1 GamerLegion10:30 PM1:30 AM6:30 AM
Upper FinalENCE 0-2 G21:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM
Upper FinalComplexity 2-0 Monte1:30 AM4:30 AM9:30 AM

IEM Sydney 2023: Stream & VODs

The tournament was streamed live on ESL’s official CS Twitch channel. It was also available on their YouTube channel. 

If you would like to rewatch a match, you can check out the ESL CS YouTube channel for all the VODs, we have embedded the Grand Finals below for your convenience.

In addition to the official English stream, there were various other streams in other languages. 

IEM Sydney 2023: Teams and rosters

Six of the 17 teams were invited as ESL Partnered teams, with Grayhound getting a Local Hero Invite. The rest of the teams qualified either through their place in the ESL World Ranking or through regional qualifiers. 

No team has direct qualification to the playoffs, meaning everyone will need to earn their place through the group stages. 

TeamQualified fromPlayers
ENCEESL Partner TeamSnappi, dycha, maden, SunPayus, NertZ
FaZeESL Partner Teamrain, broky, Twistzz, karrigan, ropz
G2 EsportsESL Partner TeamhuNter-, NiKo, m0NESY, jks, HooXi
MOUZESL Partner Teamfrozen, torzsi, xertioN, siuhy, Nexius
NAVIESL Partner TeamB1ad3, b1t, Aleksib, jL, iM
Vitality ESL Partner TeamapEX, ZywOo, Magisk, Spinx, flameZ
Cloud9 ESL World Rankingsh1ro, Ax1Le, HObbit, electroNic, Perfecto
GamerLegionESL World Rankingisak, acoR, Keoz, volt, Snax
MonteESL World RankingWoro2k, DemQQ, kRaSnaL, sdy, br0
FnaticESL World RankingKRIMZ, mezii, roeJ, afro, dexter
Grayhound Local Hero InviteSico, INS, aliStair, Liazz, Vexite
ApeksEuropean Qualifiernawwk, jkaem, kyxsan, CacaNito, sense
BetBoomEuropean Qualifiernafany, KaiR0N-, s1ren, zorte, danistzz
Complexity North American QualiferJT, floppy, Grim, hallzerk, EliGE
Lynn Vision GamingAsian Qualifierwestmelon, z4kr, Starry, EmiliaQAQ, Jee
VERTEX EsportsOceanic Qualifierpz, BRACE, malta, ADDICT, HaZR
  • NAVI’s s1mple will not be attending due to visa issues, being replaced by their head coach B1ad3.
  • MOUZ’s Jimpphat will not be attending due to visa issues, being substituted by Nexius
  • Vitality’s head coach XTQZZZ will not be attending due to visa issues, with assistant coach MaT standing in.
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