FaZe Turn to Belgrade for One More Shot at Saving Their Cologne Dream

FaZe are down to one last shot at keeping their Cologne hopes alive after a rough DraculaN Season 6 exit sent them to HLC Belgrade PRO. This is the story of how one bad run changed everything and why Belgrade now feels like their final clutch. Keep reading to see what happens next.

How the DraculaN losses changed FaZe’s path to Major qualification

FaZe came into DraculaN Season 6 really needing additional VRS points, with the April 6 Valve Regional Standings cutoff for IEM Cologne getting closer fast. Instead of building momentum, the event pushed them even closer to the edge.

Their run started with a win over aimclub, but that ended up being the only bright moment. From there, the path got much tougher:

• FaZe lost 2 - 1 to Passion UA in the upper bracket.
• Passion UA won Anubis 13 - 10.
• FaZe answered on Nuke with a 16 - 12 win.
• The series slipped away on Dust2, where Passion UA closed it 16 - 14.
• David “frozen” Čerňanský was FaZe’s best player in that match with a 67 - 58 K-D and a 1.46 rating.
• Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold led the other side with a 70 - 51 K-D overall and 37 kills on Dust2.

The lower bracket did not give FaZe a reset. fnatic shut the door with a 2 - 0 win, taking Anubis 13 - 6 and Overpass 13 - 5. Rodion “fEAR” Smyk was the standout player in that series at 34 - 17, with 96.6 ADR and a 1.58 rating. frozen still put up a fight with a 29 - 28 K-D and a 1.38 rating.

For a team that reached the StarLadder Budapest Major final, this kind of crash leaves almost no margin for error. After 16 straight Major appearances, FaZe suddenly look like a team fighting for survival.

Why HLC Belgrade became the team’s emergency route back into the race

Belgrade quickly turned into FaZe’s backup plan after the DraculaN losses left them short on room to breathe in the Cologne race. HLC Belgrade PRO lands at exactly the right time, running from April 3 to April 5 and ending one day before the April 6 VRS cutoff. For a team chasing points, that timing is massive.

The event was first planned for Cyprus, but security concerns forced the move to Belgrade without changing its place on the schedule. That kept it alive as one last chance for bubble teams.

FaZe’s registration was submitted on March 9, so this option had been sitting there before the DraculaN run fell apart. After that stumble, Belgrade stopped being a side event and became their last real clutch chance.

How Belgrade appearance could create a direct conflict with PGL Bucharest

Belgrade gave FaZe one more route back into the Cologne race, but it also created a serious scheduling mess. PGL Bucharest is set for April 4 to April 11 in Romania, offers a $1,250,000 prize pool, and still has FaZe listed among its 16 teams. HLC Belgrade PRO runs at the same time on April 4 and April 5, so the overlap is real and immediate.

FaZe are now stuck between a major PGL event and a smaller ranked LAN that could still keep their Cologne hopes alive. After the fnatic loss, staying on the original path and going only to Bucharest would have left them outside the Major race. Belgrade changed that math, but it also forced the team into a risky decision with almost no space left for mistakes.

For FaZe Clan, this is not a normal schedule shuffle. It is a pressure move at the worst possible moment, and one more bad step could end the run.

Who FaZe will face in Belgrade, from their group draw to the wider tournament lineup

FaZe’s road in Belgrade is clear enough on paper, but it is not an easy one. They landed in Group A alongside Drama, BEE, and Re’di, which gives them a workable start. The rest of the event still has enough firepower to make things messy fast, especially with other teams also chasing late VRS gains.

The group draw looks like this:

• Group A: FaZe, Drama, BEE, Re’di
• Group B: illwill, ex-Zero Tenacity, Deorum
• Group C: BIG, Betclic, Luminous
• Group D: magic, CYBERSHOKE, PIVOSQUAD

BIG stand out right away because they are fighting for Cologne points too, while Betclic could be a real trap team with hades on the server.

The bigger picture around Belgrade is even busier. The registration sheet also showed interest from Liquid, Natus Vincere, Aurora, Monte, 100 Thieves, Alliance, SINNERS, Passion UA, Team Spirit, Falcons, and Partizan, although that did not automatically lock them into the event.

For FaZe, the confirmed groups are what matter most. After DraculaN, this is not just another stop. It is the event standing between them and the end of their Cologne push.