Stat Check: jcobbb can restore FaZe's teamplay, but it may not be enough

In a firepower era, FaZe have made a rare move that prioritises team atmosphere and in-game connection.

"When you join FaZe Clan, it's all about getting trophies."

If Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen wanted to temper expectations ahead of Jakub "⁠jcobbb⁠" Pietruszewski's arrival, he was not happy lowering the bar too much. The team, regardless of how 2025 has gone, cannot lose sight of what the logo on their chest means; even if you're a 21-year-old rookie.

But internally karrigan and FaZe know that they will need time. The aura from their 2022 near-era has all but dissipated, for all we love to wheel out the old narratives of arena FaZe on the rare occasion they do make it to a stadium playoffs.

It speaks to karrigan's tenure that FaZe got cheers as loud as anyone at the Wembley Arena, even William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman's Vitality. The team, and brand of entertaining Counter-Strike karrigan has defined, are still the neutral's favorite.

But there is a clear historical parallel with this FaZe and the team of their coach's playing career, the five legendary Poles that made up Virtus.pro.

Like FaZe, they were a fan favorite, able to come back from any scoreline, and played some of the most entertaining Counter-Strike around. But as time went on, the Plow became underdogs, stuck in their ways and falling behind the meta. After four years without roster changes, the team finally turned to youth by signing Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller, but it was too late. Their time had passed.

FaZe signing jcobbb, then, can be looked at in those terms: A final injection of youth to a team that is too far gone. The Major final in Shanghai was an anomaly. Outside of that, FaZe have been out of sorts for more than a year.

But they are not 1:1 parallels. FaZe, albeit under duress after the departures of Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken and Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool, have had to change course over the last few years. Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard has become more supportive, Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski was signed in a deliberate attempt to "refresh" the style, and David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský — signed when he was 21 — has blossomed into a top-three lurker in CS2.

There is still some juice left in this FaZe machine.

EliGE, valiant attempt though it was, did not work out in FaZe. "It's no secret that we weren't on the same page," karrigan told HLTV in London. "Obviously, the environment and the feelings in the team are better [with jcobbb]." A 1.19 T side rating couldn't save EliGE, such was the culture clash.

And this is the context we have to view the addition of jcobbb in. He had shown promise in tier two, in Betclic Apogee (where he worked with karrigan's wife Anja Suder, the team's sports psychologist), establishing himself as one of many young, flashy, aggressive riflers ready for a step up.

He's in the top 12% of aggressive riflers (2025, matches between top 50 teams) for fast multi-kills, a stat that matches the eye test of an aimstar primed for flashy double entries or CT trade denials.

"I have watched Apogee on the TV a lot," karrigan explained. "I was also in their practice room in Bucharest and talking with them. The first thing I saw in the practice against them was that he was shooting really hard, he could jump through a smoke and kill two of our players even though they're aiming at him, and for me that's very crisp aim."

But there is no doubt he is a raw talent, far from EliGE's individual level. He doesn't bother much with flashbangs or utility, his round swing for 2025 is negative, and he dies more than he frags (0.70 DPR, 0.67 KPR). He's no Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, ready to be a star upon immediate entry in tier one.

The model, or ideal endpoint, for jcobbb is a player like Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan: A soldier in the thick of trading action. He is not a star opener like EliGE was, calling his own shots and taking space solo. He's best in positions where he's first in off the back of good utility, or second in as a trade fragger.

In Betclic, jcobbb played most of the same spacetaking roles EliGE had in FaZe yet was traded (and trading) far more often. He's a pack rifler, a true entry fragger.

In many ways this suits FaZe more than EliGE. Their structure and resource allocation was always tilted towards the late-round; their peaks came with rain as a solider-like entry and three late-round stars in the form of Twistzz, ropz, and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants. This was a team built to win 4v5s and 3v3s.

EliGE came in for ropz to change that, to turn them into an early-round force as well, but the end result was a big load of nothing. FaZe lost their scare factor in the clutch, and couldn't become a well-rounded side.

Now, we have jcobbb as the clear entry, trading karrigan or rain or going ahead of frozen and broky. FaZe are once again looking to their late-round players to be their stars.

Adding jcobbb for EliGE also meant fairly simple role choices. rain got to keep Outside on Nuke, but has grown into his anchor roles and is better as a supportive piece this late in his career. frozen is rightly the star, in spots like Toilets on Overpass.

On T side, it's a pretty simple equation too. jcobbb is the pack player, rain the flex, and frozen the solo lurker.

FaZe could have gone a different direction. It's well-documented they were at least considering re-signing Twistzz in a swap deal for EliGE, which would have put rain back as the spacetaker. Signing a specialist anchor like Myroslav "⁠zont1x⁠" Plakhotia could have had the same effect without as many role headaches on CT side.

But signing a spacetaker makes sense. frozen and ropz co-existed well enough to keep FaZe's late 2023 form going but it was never an ideal solution. If rain is to be the long-term support and frozen the star lurk, this is the best solution.

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Editorial: Is it time for broky to be The Guy, and is FaZe the place?

The player we have not mentioned much of is broky, and he is the crux upon which this project depends.

It's fine to have a raw entry like jcobbb and low-output support like rain if you have both a star lurker and a star AWPer. That's the Vitality template after all, even if flameZ and mezii are elite players in their roles.

BLAST London's online group stage was a great runout for broky after a terrible twelve months, but he collapsed on stage to a 0.87 rating against G2. He is not The Guy he used to be just yet, even if there are positive signs. Until he is that star, FaZe's form will continue to flounder, regardless of the intangibles he provides that Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev supposedly couldn't.

It is a worrying sign for FaZe that frozen was linked to a move away in the summer. jcobbb is a promising talent but he is also evidence that FaZe are shopping off the bottom shelves in 2025. How long will the Slovakian be okay with being in a team around the bottom of the top 10?

2025 has taken its toll on karrigan's leadership too.
"When you have to lead a team that's not a team, I think people don't understand how hard and frustrating it is," he said at BLAST Open London.

"The past nine months have been a blur," he added "Going from Shanghai where I went through a personal loss to changing a player, changing the system, having the guy living with me — I don't think people realize how much I had going on in FaZe at that period of time."

FaZe are at their lowest ebb since they signed broky out of FPL in 2019, and karrigan is under pressure in a way he has not been since he was kicked out of FaZe in 2018.

Whether they muddle on like 2017 Virtus.pro in perpetual decline, or come out of their slump, revived by a new young talent and the turning of the page, is hard to know from here but the team is visibly happier in their new constellation.

FaZe's prime was logical, in that they had the best caller at the time, a trio of star closers, and an X-factor like rain, but it was also defiant of many of our rules for great teams.

They had no true star, but could defeat s1mple's Natus Vincere in final after final. They were seen as experienced old heads, but adapted best to CS2's launch out of everyone. It was their teamplay, the way they could predict each other's moves and act on information immediately amidst chaos, which made them the best.

It is clear that level of teamplay was never going to happen with EliGE, however. At least now with jcobbb, karrigan will be able to see the forest for the trees; he will not be so overwhelmed with the scale of change that fixes are outdated as soon as they are implemented.

That is the reset FaZe are looking for. They are returning full authority to karrigan, and trying to prove that teamplay is worth sacrificing firepower for.

It's hard to see it working, with teams like G2 hitting the ground running and outskilling FaZe at a canter. The trophies that karrigan seeks are a long way off.

But you have to give FaZe credit for trying — they may be as loved as that old Virtus.pro roster, but at least they are not as stubborn.