EliGE: "[At] Katowice there simply wasn't enough time"

EliGE highlighted the structural overhauls that FaZe had to endure after ropz's departure.

One of the most eye-catching moves of the recent off-season saw Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski step up to FaZe to fill the gap left behind by Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool's exit from the team.

Now playing his third event with the team at PGL Cluj-Napoca, EliGE and the rest of FaZe have their sights set on their first playoff outing with this iteration of the roster, now only a single series win away from the arena after bagging wins over SAW and Eternal Fire.

Shortly after his team's win over Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli's men, EliGE spoke to HLTV to discuss the series against Eternal Fire, the significant changes FaZe have made in the wake of his addition to the team, and his evaluation of their start to the season.

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Congrats on the win. You beat EF, got revenge for Katowice, and you're just one win away from the playoffs. That must feel good, right?

It feels really good, especially getting revenge for Katowice. We had some time to get some pracs down and fix some things in between now and then, and I think that we played a really strong game.

This time you opted to pick Dust2 instead of Nuke. Is that down to the fact that you lost Nuke last time, or is it just figuring out your map pool?

I would say it's probably a mix of both. I think that Dust2 is a strong map for us, we play it very well. We're on the same page with everything that we should be doing, and Nuke has just been a little bit weaker. I have not been playing super well on it, so I think all those factors contributed to the pick, and it worked out super well. Even the Anubis map went much better than how Katowice did.

You said Nuke isn't the best map for you currently after switching spots. Is that something that you guys are looking to maybe switch around at some point?

100%, yeah, we're definitely looking at it. I'm definitely trying everything possible. I looked at a bunch of different things that I could be adding to my game and different structures of how I can be playing it better, but it's also just a matter of how you're feeling in the game and making sure that you're not really thinking that much. I think as soon as you're thinking, that's when you're probably dying, that's pretty much just how it is in CS. It's a work in progress, and we're going to have it fixed.

karrigan said that FaZe are completely revamping their playbook, which you have a big input on. How much are you enjoying being in a new environment in a new team after last year, which probably wasn't according to your expectations?

It's been a lot of fun. karrigan is obviously an amazing IGL, he is really good with people, with tactics, his communication is great, and he also has a lot of impact individually as an IGL. I even thought that last year he was having so many big impact rounds, and you're seeing that here.

It's definitely a different structure with me on the team instead of ropz because he's a lurker, which means we have more aggressive players, so it's going to take a little bit longer for us to fully adapt compared to other teams. It's just such a big structural change, and we're also playing a little bit outside of our comforts. But overall, I'm pretty happy with how it's been going, I think that we've been on a very steady improvement.

It's just hard. Katowice, a big tournament, started so soon after, there simply wasn't enough time. But I think that we have a really good chance this tournament, and we're already playing at a way higher level.

Talking about this tournament. You're the second-highest ranked team in both rankings, HLTV's and Valve's. Is this the event where you can get your first trophy in FaZe?

That would definitely be amazing. I'm taking it one step at a time, as always. I'm just focusing on what I need to improve on, making sure that my mechanics feel good, and making sure that I can feel the game as much as I can. The team is just doing great around me, everyone is playing really well, and frozen's having a great tournament.

A couple of guys are sick, but they're still playing super well. Everything is still as you expect it to be, and I think that's amazing. Our floor has to be high as a team if we want to win trophies, and I think that our floor is increasing a lot.

You mentioned your teammates being very skilled individually. Do you have less pressure on your shoulders than in Complexity? Because there it felt like you were the win condition, and here, you have many teammates that can do the same.

For sure, and I think that just everybody having individual moves that they like doing makes it a little bit easier. The games where it's more of a struggle and you're having to try to figure out things and end up forcing things, those are the games that are really tough. So instead of it being on my shoulders and me having to figure things out, everyone's going to have an idea. We're all going to try and think of things for us to get into the game. We have our reads, so it's definitely a bit easier.

You haven't been in FaZe for a long time, but it feels like you've played a lot of games already. How would you rate your start to the year? Are the early struggles something you expected?

I think that we expected it as a team. It's just very hard to completely change the structure, play a bunch of different spots, and stuff like that for everybody on the team. Considering that, I think that we're on the trajectory of what was expected. So for this year, we're at an 8 or 9 out of 10 for how well we are playing overall and in this tournament after getting some more practice in between Katowice and now. So overall, I think that we're starting the year off pretty well.