JBOEN on FaZe debut: "I went beyond my own expectations"

The young Dane is proud of the performance he has put on so far at the XSE Pro League.

Jason "⁠JBOEN⁠" Boe Nielsen was signed by FaZe on a loan from BIG Academy in the off-season, and is playing his first event with his new team at the XSE Pro League in Guangzhou, China. Not only that, he's second in the overall rating leaderboard and highest on FaZe with a 1.35 after the group stage.

We caught up with JBOEN in China ahead of the XPL's playoffs to talk about his first impressions with FaZe, his past in Astralis Talent and BIG Academy, and getting off to a hot start with the new team.

After an 0-2 start turned 3-2 finish in the Swiss group stage, FaZe are now set to face BetBoom in the tournament's quarter-finals on Friday at 13:00

How does it feel to put on a debut like this?

I'm proud of myself, honestly. I'm impressed that I put on a good show already, even though it was my first big event with the whole new team. So yeah, I'm proud, and I'm excited.

Going into the event, what were your expectations for your performance? Did you think you could dominate on the server from the get-go?

I definitely didn't expect to play this well. I was expecting to play a bit worse, to be honest — I thought I'd maybe put up an average rating or something like that. But I went beyond my own expectations, and yeah, I'm just happy.

Tell me about your journey from Astralis Talent, to a period in between with Preasy, and then BIG Academy. How did it happen that you went from an academy to no academy, then back into an academy?

I mean, there's nothing really to say. It was just the same — academy teams, trying to improve. That's basically it.

How did you part ways with Astralis Talent, and how did that lead to joining BIG Academy?

I don't know what to say, it was so long ago. But joining BIG Academy was pretty nice, finally getting back on a proper team after Talent and some more informal teams in between. But yeah, nothing much to say, to be honest.

At this point, were you already eager to get into tier one competition?

Yeah, of course. That was always my dream. Now I'm here with FaZe, and it's a really big organization. I'm really proud to be here, really happy. But yeah, I always wanted to play tier one. Of course, that was the main goal, and I'm here to do my best.

Tell me, how did FaZe approach you? What did you think of that opportunity? Did it feel like your breakthrough chance?

When FaZe approached me, I was really happy, and also a bit in shock because it's a huge step up from where I came from, from the BIG Academy team. So I was in shock, but also relieved that it finally happened — that I could take the step I needed. Really excited for the improvement, and yeah, a new chapter.

What's your impression of playing on a team with some of CS's biggest stars, like frozen and Twistzz? Does it feel different?

Yeah, it's very different compared to what I've been used to. The level is just way higher, and even the small details on the server are different from what I'm used to. Everything overall is different. The guys have so much experience. They know what to do, they know what not to do. So yeah, I'm impressed by the different level.

Obviously you're not in control of the situation, but would you be happy to continue playing in this roster long-term?

Yeah, of course, it would be nice to stay in tier one.

So what are your expectations for the playoffs? Are you looking forward to a trophy run, or are you, as they say, just happy to be alive?

I think my main goal is just to do my best with the team. Of course we need to try to go as far as possible. We didn't come here saying, "Okay, we need to win this tournament." And yeah, we just do our best.

We didn't have that much practice before the tournament, so we just hope to do a lot of damage and go far. There's no set goal for the tournament; we just need to improve as a team.

There's a stage, and a crowd. Does that play a role in your performance?

I think I actually play better with a crowd on the stage. I feel more focused, more in the game, and it just feels better when there's a crowd. I like it a lot.