FaZe have been largely absent from tier-one competition in the Fall season, making appearances at Esports World Cup and amidst a deflated pool at FISSURE Playground 3, but are finally set to return at IEM Beijing with an opening match against FURIA, fresh off their victory at PGL Masters.
Stress levels are down within FaZe with a Major spot locked in, but the team wants to make the most of its opportunity to show its worth against better teams.
"Qualifying for the Major, of course, gives us more peace in our heads," Jason "JBOEN" Boe Nielsen told HLTV on the media day in Beijing. "So I'm a bit more chill, but I still came here to win the tournament, of course. That's what we try to do all the time when we play tournaments."
The Danish sniper also spoke about his individual evolution and a team-wide effort to improve the atmosphere.
"I definitely feel like it's getting better and better with the mood," he said. "We had a good period when we had the first event. And then after EWC, we didn't have the best vibes on the team. Outside of the game, we had, like, [so] much fun and enjoyed each other. But when we played and we made mistakes, people were getting a bit into their own head and getting frustrated easily.
"I definitely think that me and Neityu are also included in trying to give a better mood, but Russ is definitely doing a way better job at trying to make the team more happy and enjoy it even more. So I feel like it's way more fun and nicer to play now."
We're here ahead of your IEM Beijing campaign. It's been a rough road for FaZe, but you finally ended this run to the Major; you have pretty much qualified. How's your mood and mentality coming into this event after all of this lead-up in this season?
Qualifying for the Major, of course, gives us more peace in our heads. So I'm a bit more chill, but I still came here to win the tournament, of course. That's what we try to do all the time when we play tournaments. Going to the Major is definitely more relaxing now. We don't have to stress about the points anymore. But we still need to win, so we're not relaxed, but we still can chill a bit more in our heads.
It's going to be your first really big tournament since EWC. You played FISSURE, but there weren't all of the best teams there, and here the competition's a little bit better. How do you feel coming into this event compared to how you started back at EWC?
I think the events are not similar, but it's the same game, so I don't really mind playing against the top teams. If you want to win the tournaments, if you want to become better, you have to beat them. So I don't feel any pressure against playing, like, it's FURIA in our first game, but it's just more exciting playing against the better teams.
You've been going through a bit of this tier-two LAN circuit grind, and you played a lot of tier-two tournaments before you came to FaZe as well. How has it been playing these events with FaZe compared to how you were progressing before with your previous teams?
Playing the events with FaZe was definitely better. It's a better team, it's a better coaching staff, everything is better. But again, it's almost the same tournament. So you're just more confident going into these two tournaments and, yeah, that's the biggest difference of all.
I mean more for your individual evolution, how do you think you've evolved as a player through these events with FaZe?
I just think that I'm getting better and better, and improving a lot and we have so much focus on me learning from the more experienced guys on the team. So I feel like I'm getting better day by day, and also think that all the events are good for me, that we play so much more together and build good vibes on the team.
The last time we talked to you was just after you started playing for FaZe, and you've had a lot more time to integrate into the team now. What's that development process been like? How has FaZe been helping you, and how have you adapted to being in a team that has that tier-one structure?
It's not easy, of course, going into a better team and high expectations of all. I don't know what to say, but it's just a lot of work, and a hard grind and many hours on the server and off the server with the coach trying to fix all the mistakes.
Something Twistzz said at Tesla Cup was that he's trying to focus on bringing the mood up in the team a little bit because he feels he and frozen kind of have that duty to the younger players. Can you tell me what the atmosphere's been like with Twistzz taking this approach and how stuff has changed over the last couple of months?
I definitely feel like it's getting better and better with the mood. We had a good period when we had the first event. And then after EWC, we didn't have the best vibes on the team. Outside of the game, we had, like, [so] much fun and enjoyed each other. But when we played and we made mistakes, people were getting a bit into their own head and getting frustrated easily.
I definitely think that me and Neityu are also included in trying to give a better mood, but Russ is definitely doing a way better job at trying to make the team more happy and enjoy it even more. So I feel like it's way more fun and nicer to play now.
How did you adapt during that period when it was a little bit more frustrating?
I had worse in the past on my team (smiles), so it was not the biggest deal for me. Of course, it's a bit annoying if you play so much and we travel so much together and the vibes are a bit down. But overall, for me, it's not that bad. It could be way worse.
Something Twistzz also said in that interview is that the team has to stop overthinking a little bit. Do you think that's been an issue, and how are you trying to resolve that?
Yeah, overthinking is still an issue as well. I think we sometimes try to play, I don't want to say perfect CS, but the smartest CS. And sometimes we just don't even play CS. It's like we just stop thinking, and then we might overthink what we do because we want to do the right thing.
We don't want to sit back and always talk about mistakes, so we're also getting better at also focusing on the positive parts of our game. And I think the biggest reason why we were a bit down with the mood is because we mainly talked about mistakes before, maybe before DraculaN. Since DraculaN we stepped up a lot with the mood.
Another topic has been Twistzz taking over in-game leadership and how his evolution as a captain has been. What can you say about that and how he's been as a leader in the game?
I still think he's a really good leader and a really good captain overall. I didn't have that experience with IGLs before, so I don't know what the other teams have with their IGL. But for me, he's a really good leader, and I have some good freedom on the server to do my things and do my role in a good way. As an AWP player, you need to have some space and some freedom to do your stuff. So I think he's really good at giving me the stuff I need and also helping me a lot as a player.
What kind of development have you seen in yourself as an AWPer in the last couple of months?
I think I'm getting smarter and smarter, and also my individual level is stepping up a bit. I feel like I'm shooting a bit harder and just moving better around the map. I just think overall everything is just getting better and better.
You come into Beijing after a third-place finish at Tesla Cup. You didn't get the win in the end, but you did make the Major. How are you approaching this event after that? What do you want out of this event?
We didn't really talk about expectations yet, so I don't really know. But I think we just take it as all other events we played so far: we go here to do our best, and if we win this tournament, it's even better because it's a tier-one tournament. But the other two tier-two events, we had to win them. So we don't have the pressure that we need to win the tournament, but we still want to do a good job here.
Your opener here is against FURIA, who are coming straight off of a win in Bucharest. Maybe they'll be a little jet-lagged, but how do you approach that matchup?
It's going to be as all the other teams we played. It's going to be the same way we do the game plan, same way we prepare for the game, and it's just another team in the same game. So I don't think anyone is feeling like, 'Oh, we have to play FURIA. They just won a tournament.' But we're just, like, 'Yeah, we play FURIA, and we will do our job and try to beat them.'
And then lastly, you are on loan to FaZe. Do you have any update as to whether that will become permanent, or if you know where your future lies going into the end of the year?
(smiles) I have no update, no.
FaZe
David 'frozen' Čerňanský
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken
Ryan 'Neityu' Aubry
Jakub 'jcobbb' Pietruszewski
Jason 'JBOEN' Boe Nielsen
Niclas 'enkay J' Krumhorn
Jason 'JBOEN' Boe NielsenPast 3 months
FURIA
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo
Yuri 'yuurih' Santos
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis
Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato
Danil 'molodoy' Golubenko
Sid 'sidde' Macedo