Why the ropz reunion is karrigan's endgame

After a year of struggle, Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen looks to reconnect with a former teammate to establish a new FaZe superpower in 2022 and extend his legacy.

2021 marked the first title-less year for karrigan since 2014.

The Dane's time with FaZe since he rejoined the team some ten months ago has been arduous. Nothing was working for the first few months and the team suffered five consecutive early exits, as the in-game leader had to deal with a dysfunctional roster in which there wasn't enough space to go around for everyone, with Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken having just arrived and Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David finding it difficult to fit in the new system.

Things took a turn for the better when Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer made his way back onto the lineup in June, but even with the renowned 'glue man' back in place of coldzera, FaZe stayed outside of title contention for the rest of the year.

A semi-final run at IEM Cologne a few weeks after olofmeister's arrival remains the highlight of 2021 for the European team, who at first reveled in the long-forgotten feeling of playing on LAN but never quite capitalized on that much-needed confidence boost when they then returned from the player break the following month.

Despite looking much more competitive than in the opening stages of 2021, FaZe slipped back into their old habits and suffered some close defeats over the latter half of the year that prevented them from making more deep runs and challenge for trophies, almost missing out on a spot at PGL Major Stockholm and finishing outside of the playoffs at the pinnacle event itself in the biggest disappointment of the bunch.

Throughout the failures, karrigan kept telling the world that he wouldn't let losses define him or the team. That it is all about never giving up and getting back up. That the night is darkest before the dawn, and that the dawn is coming. But you can only keep telling yourself that for so long, and the clock is ticking.

Having competed and won in multiple versions of Counter-Strike, karrigan is a true veteran at 31 years old, which is an age at which only select players have been able to stay at the top of the game. Clearly, many still consider the Dane a world-class leader and there's no denying that he remains very determined, but with his last title dating back nearly two years now, there must be some nagging thoughts in the back of his mind.

There might just be a light at the end of the tunnel, however.

As the year began to draw to a close, murmurs of a big change inside FaZe spread; the potential arrival of a player that could single-handedly turn the team from the underperforming lineup they were in 2021 to a title contender in an instant, a player that karrigan himself has won several tournaments with in the past and that is still very much at the peak of his powers — Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool.

The Estonian star has been tipped to make a move to FaZe for a while, and it's looking like now is the time for him to finally make it happen as his contract with MOUZ is nearing its end. Rumors have been linking the 22-year-old with a big decision between G2 and the American outfit, but last week it was reported that he had opted for the latter and that his transfer could be finalized during the off-season.

With the blockbuster signing, karrigan would be getting as close to a dream lineup as one could imagine at a time when it has become increasingly difficult to move big players across organizations. Adding a world's top-ten player like ropz would bolster FaZe with an incredibly reliable third star player to go alongside Twistzz and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants, and it would go a long way in helping the team deal with their inconsistency, which often stemmed from whether karrigan, olofmeister, and Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard would be able to deliver.

The change would solve a massive question mark in the indecisive Swede, who has been in and out of the team several times over the years and openly admitted to contemplating retirement when he last left. ropz would fill the gap exceptionally well as a player that would fit the roles without the need of a large-scale overhaul of the system and teammates moving all over the place to accommodate him.

Add to that the previous connection to karrigan, who certainly knows how to get the best out of ropz after they played together for two years under the MOUZ banner and won five trophies including the Danish in-game leader's latest title at ICE Challenge, and it all sounds almost too good to be true.

But everything suggests that it is true and that the addition of ropz could be FaZe's ticket back to the top, the realization of a new superpower that would aim to challenge Natus Vincere and all the other 2022 prospects such as Gambit and the new Vitality and G2 lineups to the crown. It is karrigan's chance to put the past two years behind him and extend his legacy as one of the world's best leaders.