JiJieHao beat FaZe 2-1 in a series at Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7, sending their opponents to the lower bracket. The JiJieHao roster includes Macedonian player Aleksandar "CacaNito" Kjulukoski.
FaZe took Mirage 13-6 but then lost Dust2, their own pick, 13-9. The series went to Anubis, where JiJieHao won 13-11. The final round was a 2v2 with JiJieHao leading 12-11. Jakub "jcobbb" Pietruszewski won both duels in the clutch but ran out of time to defuse the bomb.
The defeat is a setback for FaZe in their push to qualify for the PGL Major in Singapore. They sit 14th in the European VRS ranking and can still make it before the November 2 cut-off. According to HLTV's invite predictor, a top-six finish in Bucharest would raise their projection from 55% to 87%. Their next opponent is Envy.
JiJieHao, meanwhile, reached their highest VRS rank and are now 18th in Europe, momentarily holding the last invite slot. HLTV's projections give them little chance of staying there until November 2.
Next for JiJieHao in the upper bracket is SINNERS, who handed HEROIC their first loss at the event. SINNERS' roster includes Macedonian player Jordan "stressarN" Manevski, so two Macedonian players will be on opposite sides of that match. The winner of FaZe vs Envy could face HEROIC if they beat BBL in their lower-bracket series.