fox: "I will keep playing"

The Portuguese veteran is currently without a team after being left out of FaZe's starting roster as the US-based organisation signed Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli from ENCE.

Ricardo "⁠fox⁠" Pacheco was one of the original members of the team, which was created in May 2015 under Kinguin, and during his time on the roster he often came under scrutiny for his performances.

Read on as we asked the 29-year-old about his departure from FaZe, the team's slump in form since DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca and his plans for the future.

What was the reason that the team gave you to remove you from the roster?

The reason was just that the results were not good enough and that changes were needed. But since this "excuse" had been the same during every tournament that we had lost, it was not a surprise.

Did you expect this outcome? What was the atmosphere inside the team during the last tournaments like?

I kind of expected and did not expect it at the same time. We could feel some division among the players, we were no longer as united as before.

The team reached the semi-finals of a Major but ended up stagnating and never really reached the same heights that it once did. What do you think that happened?

We stagnated because of many things that are easy to notice. Since dennis left, the team has never been able to get good results. I am not saying that aizy is a bad player, because he is a very good one, but dennis’ unique 'yolo' style made a lot more difference on a team like ours.

How would you rate your own performances over the last year? Are you happy with the way you performed and dealt with criticism?

After DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca everything changed, we were pretty much inactive for three-four months, we barely practiced and only played individually because we were negotiating our transfer from G2 to FaZe. After that, the team was never the same. My level dropped, but anyone who understands the game well can tell that it was not just me, the level of the entire team dropped considerably. My opinion, and I am also including myself here, is that we may all be good players, but we all are very inconsistent, except rain.

What are your future plans?

I will take a break for two-three weeks, because since Kinguin’s team was formed, rain and I have not had a vacation, it has been almost 18 months without a break. I will rest for a bit, think about what I am going to do and wait for some offers. I will keep playing because I really enjoy playing. A lot of people say that I am too old to play, but I do not feel this. I also feel that I can perform better, but I need to figure out this inconsistency problem. If some day I can become more consistent, I can be of great use to a team.