On September 17, FaZe Clan will continue their participation in ESL Pro League Season 20 for Counter-Strike 2. In the first round of the playoffs, the team will face Complexity Gaming. The match is scheduled for 20:30 EEST and will be played in a best-of-3 format. We have analyzed the statistics of both teams and made a prediction for the outcome of the upcoming match.

Current Form

Over the past few months, FaZe Clan has somewhat stabilized their results at major tournaments. The team's average rating at S-tier events over the last month was 6.2, which confirms the squad's readiness to compete. FaZe participated in IEM Cologne 2024, where, despite problems, they reached the playoffs but lost to SAW and finished in 5th-6th place.

Moreover, FaZe Clan successfully qualified for BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024. In their last five matches, the team secured four victories, including a revenge win over Sangal Esports, as well as confident wins against OG, FlyQuest, and Ninjas in Pyjamas. The only loss during this period was to Sangal in the opening match of ESL Pro League Season 20.

Complexity Gaming has recently been demonstrating a similar level of play. The team's average rating over the last month at S-tier championships is 6.1. They also participated in IEM Cologne 2024 but finished in 9th-12th place. Their attempt to qualify for BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024 was unsuccessful.

Despite recent setbacks, Complexity won 4 out of their last 5 matches, defeating Astralis and MOUZ twice each. The only loss in their last five matches was to BIG.

Map Pool

Considering FaZe Clan's preferences, their first ban will most likely be Vertigo, as the team has banned this map 28 times. An alternative could be Anubis, which they have banned 26 times. For their own pick, FaZe Clan will probably choose Nuke, on which they have played 25 times with a win rate of 56%. Among the maps with the highest win rates, Mirage (72%), Inferno (63%), and Ancient (61%) stand out, making them prime candidates to try to leave them for the decider.

Complexity Gaming usually bans Mirage—they have excluded this map 38 times. Accordingly, Vertigo will be their likely choice, considering their high win rate on this map—82% over 22 matches played. The most successful maps for Complexity, besides Vertigo, are Anubis (win rate 56%) and Inferno (win rate 50%). Given FaZe's strength on Mirage, this map is almost guaranteed to be banned by Complexity, and Vertigo will remain their priority pick if the opponent allows.

Head-to-Head

The last time FaZe Clan and Complexity met was in March 2024 at the major in Copenhagen. Back then, FaZe confidently won with a score of 2:0 on the maps Nuke and Overpass, both with identical results of 13:6. However, since then, both teams have been showing inconsistent results, and their form at tournaments has become less predictable. This makes their upcoming meeting more intriguing and difficult for an accurate prediction.

Prediction from Bo3.gg

Considering the current form of both teams and their statistics, FaZe Clan appear to be the favorites in the matchup. Their results in recent major tournaments are much better than those of Complexity. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that the North American team can put up a fight and won't give up easily.

PREDICTION: 2:1 in favor of FaZe Clan

ESL Pro League Season 20 is taking place from September 3 to 22 in Malta. Teams are competing for a prize pool of $750,000. You can follow the schedule and results of the championship at the link.