frozen: "With the positions I took over in FaZe, it's in my hands how I'm going to perform"

The Slovakian rifler spoke about FaZe's loss to Spirit, adapting to his new roles, and facing G2 in the quarter-finals.

FaZe hit the ground running in Katowice, surpassing Rebels with relative ease, but a labored series against Eternal Fire to qualify for the playoffs and a loss to Spirit in the upper bracket final shows there are plenty of rough edges left to polish if the team hopes to make a run to the trophy.

"We gotta convert force-buys, especially in MR12," David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský told HLTV when asked about takeaways from the group stage. The Slovakian rifler added that keeping the intensity up in the team once playing in the arena is also a key focus, and one they will require as the match up against an experienced G2 roster in the quarter-finals.

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
09/02/2024	FaZe 16:15 G2	Match

frozen also credited his teammates for the ease with which he has gotten comfortable in his new roles, and touched on the difference in space offered to him in FaZe compared to MOUZ.

You can watch the full interview above or read the transcript below:

Let's talk about the group stage a little bit. It was an up-and-down run for you, kind of a close series against Eternal Fire, let's start there. Did you expect that to be such a tough match for the playoffs?

We expected them to come with fire. I don't think we expected to lose so many force-buys in crucial moments, maybe the games wouldn't be that close. I'm just happy we actually pulled through. I think Eternal Fire played well, there were definitely chances for both teams to close it out and I'm just happy we came out on top.

Tell me about the Spirit loss as well, obviously that comes at a point where you're already qualified to the playoffs, but does this decrease the hype especially considering how the second map went? It seemed like it was hard for you to get into that one.

In general, Mirage we started pretty well, there were definitely good rounds that we could have closed out. We need to win these 3v3s on the T side, which we unfortunately didn't.

Coming into Nuke, we had a decent start, but then... I'm not sure, I don't think we really were there honestly, on the second map, even though the first map was looking completely different I feel like. A little disappointed that it ended that way, but it's better to lose like this in this match than later in the tournament.

What did you learn from the group stage? As I said, maybe a little bit up and down, some moments that got a little scarier than perhaps they should have. What's the feeling like heading into the playoffs?

Definitely force-buys, we gotta convert those, especially in MR12. Keeping up the intensity once we get a good start, especially once we play in the arena, I think it's going to be important to keep pushing no matter what. Those would be the biggest takeaways, maybe pistol rounds too, it would be cool to win some as well to have a good start.

Tell me about G2, I know for FaZe it's a historic matchup, for you a little bit of a new one perhaps. What are the expectations?

I expect it to be a great match. Both teams I feel like are shining on stage in front of the crowd, so I'm just looking forward to it. It's going to be my first time playing in the Spodek after four years of attending Katowice, so I'm just looking forward to seeing how it is. I hope we're going to put up a great show.

How are you feeling about your individual form? I think we've seen you get a little bit more and more comfortable with every tournament you play with FaZe. What's been behind this, why do you think you've been able to get up to speed with your new roles so quickly?

The biggest reason would probably be my teammates. It's easy for me to just ask questions, demand more, demand less. I have Finn [karrigan], we're good friends, so I can always discuss scenarios with him. Maybe if I'm struggling on a map in some positions, he's always there for me to help me out, or set me up better for the round.

But at the end of the day, I feel like with the positions I have and the positions I took over in FaZe now, it is really important and basically in my hands how I am going to perform. That's what I'm working on.

Do you feel like you have enough space? In MOUZ you were the main guy who got the most space, you got all the preferred positions. Is there enough of that now?

There is less space because this is a star lineup, right? We have many stars, so there are, in some moments, moments where you need to sacrifice. If I want to do something maybe one of my other teammates needs to sacrifice something, but at the end of the day it's a healthy environment.

We all are just trying to win, so if one guy has something in mind, you have something in mind, we just try to combine it to come out on top and make the best solutions for the round.