Rarely does a B-Tier online tournament make the headlines. However, the FaZe Apex Legends roster’s stellar performance at the SteelSeries EMEA Invitational has catapulted a $8,000 USD (~£5,900 GBP) tournament into the spotlight.
After their disruptive Regional Finals performance landed them painfully short of qualification for the ALGS Midseason Playoffs, FaZe returned to competition with a five-game Match Point victory, finishing no lower than second in a single map.
Why is the FaZe Apex roster’s SteelSeries performance so eyecatching?
At face value, the FaZe Apex roster won a lower-tier tournament while the competitive community is waiting for the ALGS midseason playoffs next month. However, there is much more to their win than meets the eye.
The SteelSeries EMEA Invitational was held in Match Point format.
This means that instead of having a set block of games (usually six, eight, or ten), the number of games can vary wildly. Usually, there will be 6-9 games in the Match Point format.
Participating teams must achieve two goals to win at Match Point.
First, they must reach the Match Point threshold. In Apex Legends, this is typically set at 50 points. These points are accumulated via both placement points and kill points.
After reaching the 50-point threshold, a team must then win one of the following games outright to win overall.
The format is regularly praised in Apex Legends Esports for its unpredictability and high entertainment value, as shown in the clip below from the 2024 ALGS Split 2 Playoffs.
In a shockingly dominant performance, the FaZe Apex roster won the Match Point series in five games, winning four of those games outright. Even in Game 4, their only loss, they came in second place.
For a Battle Royale game with 20 teams competing in each lobby, this is incredibly rare.
SteelSeries had even committed to a minimum of six games, requiring the remaining 19 teams in the lobby to play an additional match without FaZe to determine their final standings.
Overall, FaZe still had the most points in the lobby, even with one less game played. They picked up 41 kills and 57 placement points.
Without the sixth game, FaZe would have ended the competition with more than double the points of all their competitors.
SteelSeries success vs Esports World Cup heartbreak – where do FaZe go from here?
Unfortunately, their success in the SteelSeries Invitational does little for the FaZe Apex roster in the main Apex Legends Global Series.
Their recent Regional Finals performance featured mixed results. The team consistently placed in the bottom 10 each game, including four consecutive 18th- or 19th-place finishes.
However, they won Game 10 and ended Game 11 on a dominant note with 16 kills.
Their points accumulation was too little, too late. FaZe not only narrowly missed the chance to reach the Regional Finals Match Point threshold, but they also were not able to qualify for the ALGS Midseason Playoffs, which have been merged with the Esports World Cup.
Instead, GoNext secured the Regional Finals win after an 11-game series.
Fans are now left questioning whether the FaZe roster’s stellar SteelSeries performance is enough to save them. The brutal roster-changing window will pick up pace after the Midseason Playoffs conclude.
The roster has already undergone changes in 2025, with Ali ‘Naghz’ Naghawi briefly leaving the roster for Ninjas in Pyjamas. He returned to FaZe’s active roster a month later, replacing the briefly signed Tyler ‘Tyler’ Wood.
Naghz and the current third roster member, Otso ‘Sinetic’ Himanen, are both from the original roster FaZe signed before last year’s Split 2 Pro League EMEA Regional Final, which they won.
Apex Legends is famous for its roster instability and volatile roster seasons. FaZe fans can only hope that the team is allowed to attempt replicating their SteelSeries skills in the ALGS post-Midseason.
Hannah is a writer specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports and Apex Legends, although it may never surpass her drive to passionately beat her friends in every game of Mariokart. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ESI London, EGX, Discover: Esports and many League of Legends watch parties.
