ropz: "RMRs have more pressure than the Major"

Despite feeling the pressure, ropz and FaZe managed to secure their spot in Copenhagen with relative ease.

FaZe have been the most consistently elite team in CS2, reaching the grand final of every event they have played whilst winning three of them. As such they have risen to the top spot in the world ranking, and came into the RMR as a shoo-in to secure qualification for the PGL Major Copenhagen.

A hiccup against G2 aside, FaZe delivered, securing comfortable wins against 9 Pandas and Falcons before dispatching of Eternal Fire to claim a Major berth with relative ease.

Having booked a place in Copenhagen Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool sat down for a chat with HLTV to discuss his team's win over Eternal Fire, his thoughts on why this RMR campaign was smoother than the last, and the viability of the recently-buffed Zeus.

Date	Matches
PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Europe RMR A
14/02/2024	FaZe Finished 13:6 9 Pandas	Match
14/02/2024	FaZe Finished 13:7 Falcons	Match
15/02/2024	FaZe Finished 0:2 G2	Match
16/02/2024	FaZe Finished 2:0 Eternal Fire	Match

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First things first, congratulations. How does it feel?

It feels good. It has been a stressful day so far, on Overpass for sure, so I'm really happy to get this out of the way. The RMRs have more pressure than the Major itself, these are always the hardest tournaments and the most intense. It's just always... I have to fight so much because the underdogs are always showing up here and it's tough matches every day, so I'm really happy we qualified.

I wanted to talk about that Overpass because I checked after the game, you actually had 10 opening kills on that map. Was that something that you were feeling in the game, nice and aggressive, or did it just play out that way?

I think more often than not, it is the feeling. I think towards the end I didn't have so much luck with the entries, I did go for more towards the overtime but they punished me for the attempts. But I think it's just how I feel, it depends how the opponents are playing because if I see something I can abuse, or find a gap, or just go for a wide swing somewhere, I will more often than not just take it. I like to play on confidence, so if it's going well, I'll probably keep doing it.

And like you said, Overpass was very close. What do you think allowed you to get it over the line in the end? Or was it just classic FaZe magic?

I think to be honest, we did have it in our hands from the start to the end. I think we should have closed it in the first overtime against Calyx in the 1v3, that was a very tough moment that round, but it happens. I think we had a good lead on the T-side even, but they clawed back on their CT side. We're having a rough Overpass lately, the past few months, we need to find our groove again on that map.

I think what helped today is just the pistol rounds we won, and then I think we found some solutions in the overtime itself. In the final round I was lucky to get the entry on B-side through a smoke, and then it was really back and forth because we're ending B, then running up underground to run A, and there's like 20 seconds left. Then I'm screaming "turn back to B because I have a gap on B, and now we can close the game on the B site." So yeah, just we were fortunate in the overtime there, I think.

That sounds a little bit stressful! Obviously it wasn't so stressful on Nuke. You had a really big T-side on that map, what do you think enabled you to do so well on the offense of what's normally a defensive sided map?

I think it's always simple when karrigan has good reads and calls, and this was one of the Nukes where he did have that, I think he did some good preparation. We did the right calls in terms of doing the right smoke walls, getting to secret, I think we went to secret a lot this game and we had B site quite often. Obviously, rain playing good in the entries, I think that helps.

Also, just winning the right rounds. I think in MR12 is a short game and it can be really back and forth, but if you win the key rounds where you reset the opponents and you boost your own economy, that's going to help you close out the game in the long run. So I think we were just winning the right rounds on Nuke. They did win the pistol rounds, but we bounced back with a force on CT and I think it was just a clean Nuke and a high standard for us.

Obviously, this RMR has been a much smoother ride than the last time around. Do you think there's any big differences between how you prepared or how you came into the tournament that allowed you to get the job done a lot easier this time?

I'm not sure. I think the biggest thing is just to try to stay more loose because, well, we know what happened in the last Paris Major RMR. We were up 2-0, now we went 2-0 again, so it can get into your head that it might happen again. But I think just trying to shake off the pressure, stay loose and have some fun, I think that's the biggest part. And make sure the mood is good, because I think as long as the mood is good, we always find solutions, we can fight back and come back in however many overtimes. So I think it's about the mood, and if we show up on the day, it's going to be good.

So I wanted to ask a couple more general questions, one of them about the Zeus. If it is more viable, what do you think is making it more viable, or is it just cultural impact you're going for?

There is a reason it's viable. It was never in the patch notes, the reason it's viable is because it had damage drop-off before in CS:GO and in the start of CS2. After this update where I started using the Zeus, there's no damage drop-off. So whenever you hit the player, it's a guaranteed kill, and I think that's the biggest reason it is viable, because you just need to be on the guy and close enough and you basically guarantee a kill. And that's why I think it's so OP in some of the pistol rounds we played, because if you play a set up around it, you buy a Zeus, you can drop two Dualies around it, so it's pretty OP as long as the enemy doesn't expect it. They can play around it somehow and expect it, but you just need to be on the guy and you have a guaranteed kill.

Do you think it's going to be more of a gimmick or occasional thing rather than every pistol round you're going to be buying a Zeus?

Yeah, it's going to be occasional for sure, because you're going to get hard cleared in these close corners at some point, so you need to have the surprise factor always. When you think the enemy is not seeing it coming, I think that's the right moment to do it, you just have to have a good read into it.

Also, question about the PCs: PGL made some changes. Did you guys feel the difference?

Today has been a huge performance boost. I don't know if it's the update or the PCs, I think it's definitely both, that's for sure. I think it was more than a 50% increase in FPS at some point. We played the aim maps here, just where you're alone on the server with some bots, and I think we had 400 FPS prior, a few days ago. Now we're getting 600 FPS in the aim map, so a 200 FPS increase just in the aim map is really good. Before the game, everyone was noticing the FPS boost, so I think it's a good thing they did.

So good job, PGL. Last question and I'll let you go: Looking forward now to the major itself, do you see yourselves as serious contenders? And how do you feel about perhaps your biggest rival for the title, someone like Spirit?

Team Spirit definitely are the biggest rival, even maybe the number one team, because even though we are number one ranked right now, I think our form comes and goes at times. It really depends on the tournament. Spirit definitely have better form right now, but if we tune up I think we can definitely contend for the title. Vitality, G2, Spirit, I think are the biggest names to go for it right now. But we just need to take it step by step and not overthink anything.