rain on playing with s1mple: "It's still going to be 'FaZe style.' There are going to be a lot of mistakes, but he has to get used to it"

"It's more about listening to s1mple and trying to make sure he stays happy because happy s1mple is dangerous s1mple," the Norwegian said.

FaZe ended day one of the Austin Major's Stage 3 in the 1-1 pool after an impressive 13-10 success against MOUZ, snapping their nine-game win streak on the map.

It was the second time that day that FaZe had played on an opponent's strongest map. In the first round, the decision to let Anubis through in the veto had backfired as they were hammered by Aurora 13-5.

"This tournament, we're not really focusing on the other teams' maps that much; it's more about what we feel comfortable with and what we want to play," Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard told HLTV after the game.

"The same with the Aurora game as well. It was kind of a test, you know, the final boss of Anubis, and I think they are the best team in the world on the map (laughs)."

The victory against MOUZ puts FaZe on a collision course with Legacy, who upset Vitality in the opening round. After scraping by Stage 2, FaZe are taking it one day at a time, rain said, with an eye on the playoffs.

"As long as we get into the playoffs, it's going to be a different beast because I think s1mple is going to be really fired up playing on stage. We'll see how it goes," rain said.

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Congrats, 1-1 for the day. Maybe not the 2-0 you were hoping for at the start, but how are you feeling after beating MOUZ?

It definitely feels good after beating MOUZ. We lost to them the last time we played them, so it felt good with a little bit of revenge even though it's a best-of-one.

You went into Ancient here, a map MOUZ had a nine-game win streak on. They hadn't lost since they went on that run at Cluj-Napoca. Can you tell me about picking into that map against them?

This tournament, we're not really focusing on the other teams' maps that much; it's more about what we feel comfortable with and what we want to play. The same with the Aurora game as well. It was kind of a test, you know, the final boss of Anubis, and I think they are the best team in the world on the map (laughs). It was a little bit of a test, but we learn and we take it from here.

Yeah, not really a test that worked out for you. Can you point to what was going wrong? I know you might not have had much time to reflect, but at least in general.

I had a really rough game, I had one kill on CT side and it was like, a full eco USP kill on a MAC-10 or something, so I had no impact on CT. That kind of just carried over onto the T side and they were just rolling over us. They played better in that game.

The 1-1 pool is shaping up to be pretty brutal, Vitality will be in there tomorrow. What does that mean for your tournament overall?

You have to beat all the good teams to win the tournament, right? So it doesn't really matter when we meet them. It would be preferable to play them in the playoffs, but in a best-of-one it doesn't matter either.

You missed Dallas, but you're back in the server now. What has it been like playing with s1mple? I know there's a bit of a friendship/bromance going on, you invited him to the team, so how's that been?

I wrote to him, yeah, but it was a team decision. I was closer with him than other people, so I decided to take the first step. It's been great, he's super hungry to win, and he has an insane winner's mentality. There's a lot to learn from him with how he sees the game, and it's a new way of looking at things.

Can you tell me about that relationship with him, you said you had a closer relationship with him dating back. How long has that gone on, what started it?

We first started talking one-on-one when we went out one time, at the two-on-two HTC tournament in Bucharest in 2016, 2017, whenever that was. Since then we've just been friends, so it's been a while.

I watched that interview you did with Pley where you mentioned s1mple is not toxic, he just wants to win, he has this winner's mentality, he wants to play perfect CS and you don't always do that. What has he brought to the team for you, personally, and how have you seen that develop over the last couple of weeks?

There's only so much he can bring to the team in such a short period of time. We can't fully change or revolutionize the game, so it's still going to be 'FaZe style.' There are going to be a lot of mistakes, there are going to be a lot of overpeeks, stuff like that, and he's going to scratch his head a little bit. But he just has to get used to it.

For me, it's more about listening to him because he has a very strong voice in the game, and trying to make sure that he stays happy because happy s1mple is dangerous s1mple.

Has he made a tangible difference yet, especially after some of the struggles you had with broky?

The struggles were kind of a spiral, it just went downwards. The mentality in the team was getting worse and worse, and I think all my teammates have said it as well, it wasn't broky's fault that we were doing bad. It was just that we needed a big change, and changing a rifler is maybe not a big enough change. So if you change an AWPer, you get a strong-opinionated AWPer that talks a lot and has a way he wants things to happen, then it changes a lot of the dynamics in the team. That's the main change in our team and the way we play.

This is considered a temporary situation, he's standing in until the end of the Major. Is there a chance for that to become permanent, is that a conversation you've explored at all?

Whatever happens is not up to me, it's up to the management and Finn [karrigan] and Filip [NEO]. I'm just here playing and trying to do my best, and we'll see.

In the documentary that FaZe released, karrigan mentioned that he wants to prove to s1mple that he's the best IGL he's ever played with. Have you noticed any differences in his calling at all since s1mple came in?

Yeah, in a way. It's more... I don't know if I can see that big of a change, of course Finn worked really hard up to the Major and he's been playing a lot, and I think that's a way of showing it as well. Hands down he's the hardest-working IGL because he does all the game plans, he does the most DM out of everyone, he plays the most out of everyone. It's crazy how much Finn works and plays, so he's proving it in that sense.

Heading into tomorrow, as I said, you're 1-1. How do you feel about FaZe's prospects in this Major? Last stage you went 2-0 then had to really work for it, classic FaZe bullshit seems like it's back, so what are your prospects going into tomorrow with that in mind?

We'll just take it one day at a time. Sasha [s1mple] told me, 'Now we have two more days at the Major at least,' (laughs) so it's just taking it one day at a time and seeing how we progress. As long as we get into the playoffs, it's going to be a different beast because I think s1mple is going to be really fired up playing on stage. We'll see how it goes.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
13/06/2025	Legacy 17:00 FaZe	Match

Lastly, it's a Major in America, if we think back to the last one in Boston, there is some old history for FaZe there. Is there extra motivation for you to get to the playoffs on American soil and get some redemption for that, finally?

Yeah, I think we're going to be crowd favorites with the lineup we have, so it's going to be really fun to play here. About the Boston thing, I don't really... it pops onto my feed once in a while, I see the weekly Cloud9 tweets to remind me, but I've kind of forgotten about it. I got my Major in Antwerp and now it's just about trying to build a legacy.