FaZe rain on the decision to eliminate karrigan: ‘Now I regret it, the team should not have kicked him’

VPesports spoke to Håvard “rain” Nygaard after the team was eliminated from ESL One Cologne. Players discuss the current state of the team, substitution decisions, karrigan, and more:

How is the atmosphere in the team?

Generally good. We didn’t play to the best of our ability in Cologne, but I think the members didn’t understand each other in the game. Of course, we didn’t have much time to fix it, the team even played BLAST in LA for a few days and vacation afterwards. We hope with this break the team calms down a bit.

Is everyone on the current team feeling stressed?

We don’t quarrel. The members tried to figure out how to approach the match. But, everyone wants to play in different ways.

Can you talk about the changes after NEO joined?

Initially, NEO just wanted to see how the team played and wanted to create a way to play for the team, but now, I think FaZe is still playing like it was when AdreN. Just like the usual team play. I don’t think that works, people often make placement mistakes. NEO brings composure as an IGL. karrigan is a very energetic person, he is always loud and shouts “go, go, go!”. And Phillip is very calm.

Do you think karrigan inspiration is something the team is lacking right now?

I don’t think that is absolutely necessary. If you look at NiP, you will see when they were the best team in the world, they always played very calmly. Because when the team keeps a calm mentality, so will the communication within the team and the team will perform most effectively. But when screaming, the information is constantly repeated and the teamplay often goes down, causing glitches in the middle of the game.

He said the team still plays like when he was with AdreN. So why did the team replace AdreN?

We really need the caller, that’s all. NiKo simply doesn’t want to do that anymore. He just wants to play his game and that’s completely understandable. He needed his space in battle. From the beginning, the main factor was finding the in-game leader. That’s what we lacked when we removed Karrigan from the squad.

Do you regret that?

Have. Now everyone regrets it. Maybe not now, but in the next month after we brought in AdreN, people started to regret that decision, because the team didn’t have an IGL for 5 months. People are like “The team kicks IGL without any other IGL to replace”. This is not really a good idea.

In the group stage, the team was knocked out by karrigan’s mousesports. Can you share how you felt going into that match?

The mood was very good, we were ready to ‘destroy’ Karrigan. I’m still good friends with karrigan, but we’re not on the same team and I don’t hold a grudge against him either outside or in game. I think I will also play with karrigan in the same team, but right now, this confrontation only adds heat to the game, because everyone wants to beat their friends.

After losing, team morale went down. This is the only event of the year that I really care about. Playing in front of an audience here means something special. It feels like a Major.

Perhaps the most important question for FaZe is how long does it take for the team to return?

Right now, we need a vacation. The team has moved a lot and is getting tired. We need to relax, have time to spend with friends and family. Because right now, people see it as a job – you have to go here, you have to do this. Everyone needs to find their passion for the game again.

What are your plans for this vacation?

Bali. Two weeks with my girlfriend. We met in Cologne 4 years ago.

According to VPEsports