Stat Check: How EliGE can be diametrically opposed to ropz, but still fit FaZe

EliGE competes with rain for positions, but his 2024 form was too good to ignore for FaZe.

Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool's departure left a gaping hole in FaZe. He was their primary lurker, their nominated closer, ever since his arrival in 2022 sparked a run of four trophy wins, including the treble of Katowice, Cologne, and a Major.

But all good things come to an end, and after a slump in 2024 (with the notable exception of ropz's crazy peak in Shanghai), the Estonian has opted to pursue a new challenge.

Like we have seen with G2 losing Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and choosing to replace him in-house with Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa, FaZe do not need to look for one-for-one replacements for ropz.

David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský was his replacement in MOUZ and he will be in FaZe too. In 2023, when he was the 12th best player of the year for MOUZ, frozen was in all the passive lurk positions that ropz embodies.

This leaves FaZe with options in terms of replacements. They were at their best with Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, a versatile rifler who is at his best in the mid-round. Able to offer an entry or a clutch, the Canadian's versatility made FaZe click.

frozen's arrival to replace Twistzz worked on a simple level, with frozen putting up even better numbers, but it did upset FaZe's balance in the mid-round with all of frozen, ropz, and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants skewing passive.

There are also options regarding Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard, who has defied Father Time this far but has now entered his 30s. Some fans have pushed for a double swap, using this as an opportunity to sign a star aggressive rifler in place of the Norwegian.

But, as we saw in Shanghai, rain's value is still obvious. You cannot replace his calmness, or experience, willy nilly. His partnership with Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen is a proven trophy-winning one even as they enter the twilight of their careers.

There's a second option: changing rain's role. The Norwegian plays in all of the key T-side spacetaking positions but is more of a soldier, happy to entry and not seeing those positions as pure star spots.

CS2, however, has changed that; playmaking is the star role on T side, where the AWP takes a back seat. Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, NiKo, Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman, and — we'll get to him — Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski are their team's most potent weapons and they are being utilized in these roles. FaZe, in that sense, are behind the meta by having their star players as their passive players.

So now EliGE, as opposite as he is to ropz, starts to make sense. frozen can move to primary lurk, and rain can take a step back in some of the semi-lurk, supportive, T side roles players like Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač and Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif used to define.

And EliGE is free to take over all of the star donk positions he has played in for Complexity, where he has perfected early-round openings and mid-round trade fragging.

Of course, they can move EliGE into an aggressive lurker role — one he has played many times in his career, including in Liquid after Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis's arrival. But it might make more sense to put your 1.20-rated rifler in the spots where he got a 1.20 rating. rain, ever the soldier, can make way.

With that in mind, here are our predicted T-side positions for FaZe in 2025, with EliGE in most of his Complexity roles.

There are two exceptions: Anubis and Nuke. EliGE plays Middle on Anubis T side (much like NiKo), whereas rain plays Canals (like donk does). The solution we've gone for is making EliGE the B lurker, and keeping karrigan and rain in position — that means that EliGE is the trade fragger for karrigan in Mid hits and can still lurk Mid on A hits. He can play it like a star rather than as a passive jump-spotter. karrigan could also become a B lurker in passive defaults with EliGE working Mid.

EliGE has always been a Boiler player on Inferno, as has rain, but we've gone with EliGE as our star and given him priority. rain also loses another iconic spot, Outside on Nuke, where we've put him on Silo to keep EliGE comfortable. On Dust2, he gets the privilege of Long. Sorry, rain.

Mirage is probably the hardest puzzle to solve. frozen is an expert on the map coming out of Underpass; rain and karrigan are great in Middle. But EliGE is too good to have lurking on A. We can see multiple options here, with the likeliest being frozen in Palace, rain in Mid, and EliGE coming out of Underpass.

Altogether, it's a clear picture: EliGE is the star opener, but rain has space to make plays and keeps some of his key spots (B on Ancient, Canals on Anubis). He will still be the bomb-site entry in most executes if he is alive with EliGE trade fragging and karrigan throwing utility.

In summary, pain for rain but comfort for EliGE and frozen, which is how it should be.

On the CT side, that picture becomes murky given that frozen is the likeliest anchor among the riflers but is far from a natural fit. This is the tough one, so instead of predicted spots we've given the current roles with the clashes in bold and italic.

EliGE has clashes on six out of seven maps, with Mirage, the hardest T-side puzzle, the only easy one here.

frozen is the likely casualty on Ancient (moving to A, where he still gets to play Middle early-round) but it's rain who's in trouble on the others if priority is rightly given to EliGE.

Now, it doesn't have to be rain who takes the hit; it's easy to see a triangle of changes where EliGE displaces rain, rain displaces frozen, and frozen takes ropz's anchor roles on many maps.

Increasingly, the best passive T-side lurkers have also become dedicated anchors on the CT side. Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy, Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo, and ropz have all taken this path in recent years and it makes sense that frozen would follow.

It's a similar problem to when G2 added malbsMd, and their solution was to put Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski in the key anchor positions. rain, like huNter-, adds too many intangibles as a rotator to turn into a full-time anchor. But with karrigan being a worse fragger than Snax, frozen should be the one to step up into a similar role as the one Nikita "⁠HeavyGod⁠" Martynenko will take in G2.

In combination, we have prioritized EliGE on both sides, moved rain to some Lurk roles on T side, and flipped frozen into a full-time anchor. That's a lot of changes for a lot of experienced players who are used to playing in their spots.

So why are we so positive on the change? Let's dive into EliGE himself.

His output in 2024, even as Complexity made just one notable playoff all year at EPL19, was staggering.

Out of riflers who are not in-game leading, EliGE is in the 98th percentile for damage, 99th for kills, and 97th for multi-kills in matches between top 50 teams last year. Displaying this level of production in such a weak team is legendary stuff, befitting a player who, remember, was the best player in Liquid when they won an Intel Grand Slam.

We've mentioned that FaZe sometimes looked too passive in 2024, with frozen and ropz stepping on each other's toes in late-round scenarios at times. EliGE, who is in the top 13% of riflers when it comes to opening attempts, solves that issue. FaZe are now perfectly balanced with the aggression of rain and EliGE against the clutch factor of broky and frozen.

The roles are a struggle but the aggression fit is arguably much more natural. frozen has the ability to become a strong CT side anchor, and will have an easier time adapting than someone like malbsMd did.

At 27, EliGE knows his peak will not last forever. This FaZe move is designed to extract the last few years of his time in the sun. He will spend the vast majority of his time in Europe, leaving his family and friends behind, and for that sacrifice to be worth it trophies must arrive.

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Top 20 players of 2024: EliGE (19)

Only Twistzz has made the move from NA to EU work before, but he was 21 and had a European girlfriend. There have been rumors in the past that EliGE was unwilling to make this leap before, ones he denied on an HLTV Confirmed episode, but the truth is that this move is a different proposition for EliGE than it was for his Canadian ex-teammate.

But the chance to work with karrigan, the ultimate leader and one with a reputation for making new recruits comfortable, is not one he could pass on. Despite all the personal turmoil he had to suffer through, karrigan was the best in-game leader in Shanghai. With ropz activated once again and the firepower present, karrigan was free to make the mid-rounds he is famous for.

Get ready to see karrigan or rain entry round a corner and EliGE instantly trade, much like Michael "⁠Grim⁠" Wince or Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou did for the American in Complexity. FaZe must play to his strengths.

But EliGE's signing is far more exciting than if FaZe had replaced ropz one-for-one with a passive lurk. The position swaps will not be easy for anyone, but they can light a fire under a player, re-igniting motivation as they learn all the new tricks for a spot.

With karrigan, FaZe can always rely on their caller. And in EliGE, they have a deadly early-round weapon they have arguably lacked ever since NiKo's departure. In rain's best tournaments — Antwerp, Sydney 2023 — FaZe often had what it takes to win. EliGE will provide that week in week out, and that is what makes the new lineup such an intriguing proposition.

It's right that FaZe rebranded for 2025. Signing EliGE is a change to the late-round emphasis FaZe have had since 2022. We've got used to 'FaZe bullshit,' the 3v5s and 2v4s, but we saw the struggles in the middle of 2024 when that was absent. EliGE offers a sustainable route to easy round wins, an early double on CT side or key bomb-site trade on T to secure a quick 4v4 post-plant.

The 'bullshit' will still be present with broky around, but frozen and EliGE are a vibe shift from the Grand Slam core and more about repeatable routes to success. karrigan's calling is about controlled chaos, and the 2025 team will still be able to do that, but it's easier to win tournaments if you are as dominant in the early round as the late.

The competition will be fierce. Natus Vincere ran out of gas in 2024 but will return rested after the winter break. Vitality have more firepower than ever with ropz. G2 will be young and dangerous, and Spirit's confidence was boosted after winning their first Major last season. Dark horses like Liquid with Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz or Falcons with NiKo could also pose a threat.

Signing EliGE is a great bet for FaZe to remain inside that group.