FaZe Clan’s early era of Counter-Strike 2 dominance has been somewhat muted following the team’s quarterfinal elimination to French outfit Team Vitality at ESL Pro League Season 19 in Malta yesterday. The loss ends FaZe’s epic run of seven LAN finals appearances dating back to the launch of CS2 last September.

FaZe came up short against Vitality on May 10 in what proved to be a rather one-sided affair thanks to star Frenchman ZywOo who continues to dominate the ESL Pro League this week. ZywOo posted an incredible 2.21 HLTV rating and 54 kills across 39 rounds, and while FaZe kept things close thanks to an eight-round T-side on Vertigo, Vitality was ultimately much too good, taking the map 13-10. For Vertigo, Vitality cooked up FaZe with a 10-2 Nuke CT half that saw ZywOo and Spinx each outscore FaZe’s lineup.

FaZe coach Filip “NEO” Kubski seemed unfazed after the match, despite the team’s departure from the ESL Pro League. “It was going to happen sooner or later, I think,” he said, adding that the team was “stuck” on Nuke but fought back despite dropping both pistol rounds on Vertigo. “It doesn’t feel good to lose, but they played better against CS today.”

All eyes were on FaZe after they claimed CS2’s first official tournament, IEM Sydney, last October, but no one expected the team to dominate the next seven months with a consistency not seen since the Astralis era. While it’s not like FaZe have reached the heights of the Danish team and their era, the international team’s eight consecutive LAN or online finals appearances will be tough to follow.