karrigan: "It's a bit painful that we're playing super bad and ropz is playing super good"

karrigan speaks on FaZe's struggles, criticism of broky and seeing ropz succeed after leaving for Vitality in an interview ahead of BLAST Rivals.

FaZe have just come off a tough exit from IEM Melbourne, where a 0-2 loss to GamerLegion featuring two game-deciding 1v3 clutches from Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson sent the Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen-led team home just short of the playoffs.

It was another episode in a disappointing series of performances so far this year from FaZe, one that prompted karrigan to admit it's "hard to see" everything clearly amid attempts to steer the ship in the right direction.

In an interview ahead of BLAST Rivals, where FaZe return to action this week just days after their IEM Melbourne exit, karrigan spoke more on the "unacceptable" loss to GamerLegion and the issues the team is facing.

"Staying positive is important, but seeing these games after, the emotions are hard to cope with," the in-game leader told HLTV.

"We are doing good stuff, but consistency has been the main problem. In Melbourne we won 13-1 against 3DMAX, and four hours later we're losing to GamerLegion in a really bad way. That I don't understand. That is the most frustrating part of being a leader right now."

karrigan also shared his thoughts on Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants, whose form has been a target of community criticism this year. "We are doing what we can to help broky, and I think he has it inside him," he said.

"His performance this year has been rough, but at the same time the whole team has been rough. We're still working through it, but hopefully we'll get a broky performance here, or I would gladly welcome it at the Major."

The Dane lastly spoke on Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool, who decided to leave FaZe for Vitality at the turn of the year to achieve incredible success with a run to his second ESL Grand Slam.

For karrigan, it has been bittersweet to watch his former teammate of five years. "It's a little bit painful that we're playing super bad and he's playing super good," he said. "Super happy for him — I hope it will not continue, he had a lot success already, let someone else have it now."

You can watch the interview on YouTube, listen to the audio version on Spotify, or read the full transcript below:

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It's been a few days since you came back from Melbourne. A disappointing exit there, and you said on Twitter after that it's hard to see things clearly after such a result. Have you had a bit more time to process?

Yeah, I think this whole year has been a little bit rough. The way we lost to GamerLegion is kind of unacceptable. When you talk about our team you talk about experience, you talk about that we have a high average age under these pressure moments. We have to close out 3v1s against a team like GamerLegion. It was not like there were insane shots during the game and stuff like that. I think we played tactically right, but just something collapsed.

That's why it's hard to see sometimes. I've been here many times in my career, but this time it's a little bit rougher. I knew it was gonna be tough, but I didn't expect the results we had now, that they would continue like this from day one we started.

It sounds like it's taken a mental toll, trying to find a solution and not being able to. How has that been in terms of atmosphere inside the team and trying to stay positive in finding those solutions?

In the beginning we came into the same boat, trying to steer the boat in the right direction, but I think in the past two to three events we have been on the same idea of how we wanna play. We haven't changed too much, we haven't changed positions the last two-three events, to make a consistent situation coming into the Major. I expected more results — in the end, I don't like to always look at results, but the outcome I've seen now is not good enough. It's a huge disappointment. But we are working a lot, these three events back-to-back without much practice.

Staying positive is important, but when you see these games after, the emotions are hard to cope with. That's part of being professional in any sport. You have expectations and you don't meet them yourself, you don't meet the expectations of the fans or the organization, so it's just about staying humble, staying on the road and trying to work quietly, and maybe at some point something clicks. That's the moment we're waiting for right now.

You said you'd keep working hard to try to find that solution. I know it's only been a few days and it's not been easy to sit down and figure out what's the correct step moving forward, but do you have any idea about what the next thing is to address to be able to improve?

We are end of season now and results are never controllable, I can only control what I'm doing myself, how I dictate myself in the game and how I am as a leader in front of the team. It's been tough on me, but I also know the next two to three events I need to try to be more relaxed and not feel the pressure from myself and from everywhere. We are expected to be in playoffs, I expected to somehow be a contender, and right now we are not that. It's a step back in my own expectations.

I always said we need time until the Major and then people can go ham on us, and right now I understand that the Major is around the corner. There are not many more chances. We are not gonna change too much before the Major, but the mentality could change, maybe also if we start getting a little bit of momentum, two or three games where we play really well, then maybe something clicks. That's something I'm trying to push in the right direction, but we are a team of five people, I can only do so much from my side and the guys can do so much from their side. The only thing I'm praying a little bit to now is that we need to click in-game, chemistry wise.

A lot of criticism has gone broky's way lately. Over specific games but also over the year so far it's clear he has struggled to find the form from last year. Do you think that's fair? What is happening there?

Yeah and no. First of all, last year everyone was after frozen. Okay, he wasn't our best player in the big games, but he made us go to the finals. This year it's broky. It's also been me this year, it's also been Jon this year. The only person they haven't been after is frozen. This is part of being a professional player and we're doing everything we can to make everybody comfortable in the team, but in the end it has to come from within yourself to come through the slump. We all know how ropz was last year, he wasn't feeling good, but now he's winning everything in Vitality.

We all know, with the players we have, it's inside them, but they have to bring it out of themselves as well. I think I'm doing everything I can as a leader to push everyone in the right direction, but in the end it's out of my hands and I can only be there to support my players, and I'm still there. But we need to step up, everyone in the team, because right now the way we're losing is way worse than the results we have. Results are just a piece of paper, but the way we're losing is unacceptable.

rain said back in Melbourne that broky has felt a little on edge. Why do you think that is? Is it just down to the struggles you've gone through this whole year?

I'm not sure. Obviously, broky is broky. We have been working with him for a long time, me and rain, we know how he is. There are moments where the pressure gets to you, there are moments where you're not feeling good in the game. We are doing what we can to help broky, and I think he has it inside him. Often broky has surprised us with incredibly high peaks, I remember the last Fall Finals he had a 1.30 rating and I felt kinda bad we didn't win when he played that well.

We all know broky's peaks — if he hits that level on the server, everybody starts to be scared of him and the game becomes so easy for us. We can't rely on that, and obviously his performance this year has been rough, but at the same time the whole team has been rough. We're still working through it, but hopefully we'll get a broky performance here, or I would gladly welcome it at the Major.

Do you think that's what it's going to take for the team to maybe find some confidence again, for somebody to find that extra form to push you through these games you're losing in, as you say, an unacceptable way. How can things turn around at this point, especially with the short time you have heading into this tournament?

That's the thing. We all feel like we play well as a team, we have good things, we are doing good stuff. The only things we have right now that are unacceptable are the crashes of suddenly having a really bad CT half, a really bad T side, where nothing connects at all. What can help getting out of these scenarios where it doesn't connect is a life game or a life map from a player.

And yeah, to be honest, we haven't had those from any of our players where I'm like 'Where did that come from?' That's normally how we did it in FaZe, if we didn't really click in the game, somebody found some level we haven't seen the whole game and suddenly pops off, and that made you win on a bad day.

Right now, if you wanna be the best team in the world, you have to win your games on B days, and that's what we did in FaZe in group stages in 2022. Right now our B game is non-existent, so we're not playing all good chemistry-wise and playing off each other well, we are playing really, really bad. That's the disappointing part when you're looking at the names, that we can't somehow on a bad day manage to scrape a 13-10 win. Right now we lose 13-11 and that's the worst part of being where we are right now.

We are doing good stuff, but consistency has been the main problem. In Melbourne we won 13-1 against 3DMAX, and four hours later we're losing to GamerLegion in a really bad way. That I don't understand. That is the most frustrating part of being a leader right now.

You mentioned ropz, of course a long-time teammate. He's had incredible success this year, very reminiscent of the FaZe start of 2022, perhaps even more dominant than that. What are your thoughts on his success and grabbing that second Grand Slam?

It was tough to talk to Robin when he went to Vitality. I knew they were going to be a good team. I know from the inside what he brings to a team, what consistency he brings and the way he is, and coming into Vitality I know he's gonna be super motivated to prove everyone wrong, that last year wasn't a good year for him. I worked with the guy for almost five years, so seeing him succeed, I'm super happy.

It's a little bit painful that we're playing super bad and he's playing super good, I really wanna play them just to showcase how good we are as well. But of course Vitality is dominating right now, and if you ask me they are actually creating an era. I know that if they win the Major, this is for sure one of the most dominant teams we've seen in a long time. Super happy for him — I hope it will not continue, he had a lot success already, let someone else have it now.