Can FaZe get back to winning ways at World Final?

FaZe have been in such fine form since the release of CS2 that it almost came as a surprise when Vitality toppled them to become champions of BLAST Premier Fall Final.

Prior to the Fall Final, they had won three events in a row, and a new era of FaZe dominance looked certain to be on the horizon.

However, at BLAST Premier World Final, we will see a new version of FaZe for the first time as Twistzz has departed and Slovakian superstar frozen will make his debut in a FaZe shirt.

A new player was enough to kick Vitality into gear in Copenhagen; can a new player return FaZe to winning ways in Abu Dhabi?

World Final will be FaZe's first event without Twistzz. Photo: Michal Konkol

A fine replacement

Though FaZe may have lost a truly one-of-a-kind player in Twistzz, they have a more than capable replacement in frozen.

The Slovakian was quietly one of the best players in the world last year, however, this year, and especially as MOUZ won ESL Pro League Season 18, frozen has gained many fans thanks to his impeccable lurking.

At 1.21 HLTV rating for the year, he is up on 2022's 1.17 HLTV rating and both his ADR and impact ratings have also improved too. This is even more impressive when taking into account some of the disappointing results MOUZ suffered in the first half of the year.

One thing to bear in mind is that frozen has excelled in the past two years partially thanks to the departure of ropz. frozen inherited many of the roles the Estonian vacated upon his own departure to FaZe Clan, and now that the duo are reunited, frozen will have to take up some roles that will now be unfamiliar to him.

frozen has been one of the best players in the world this year. Photo: Michal Konkol

However, there's no cause for concern there, frozen previously occupied similar roles to the ones he will now be expected to fill while playing alongside ropz in the past.

Typically more of an aggressive lurker at the time, frozen took a lot more opening kills in 2021 and 2022 than he did this year, although he was incredibly proficient at it. 2021 was his lowest opening kill ratio at 1.08, and this improved to 1.21 in 2022.

Oh, and for the sake of clarity, it's 1.30 in 2023. Impressive numbers.

Some may question frozen's decision to depart MOUZ when they're seemingly on such a high, but who could turn down a chance to be reunited with ropz and karrigan?

On FaZe's part, however, it makes perfect sense. frozen is a superstar, and he's only going to make that more clear with FaZe.

frozen has joined FaZe in a blockbuster move. Photo: Michal Konkol

A team in form

As for the usual suspects, there's plenty to be said about the form of FaZe since the release of CS2.

rain picked up the MVP award at IEM Sydney thanks to his 1.20 HLTV rating there, a huge uptick on his yearly average of 1.06. While subsequent haven't been as strong for the Norwegian, his average is still up in the last three months, and FaZe are at their most deadly when rain is in form.

broky has also been impressive in recent months, his 1.15 HLTV rating in the past three months is 0.03 higher than his year-long rating of 1.12. He hasn't picked up an MVP award in the three events FaZe have won, but he has played a key part in getting them there.

One thing to worry about for FaZe is that broky has slowed down since IEM Sydney and the CS Asia Championships, but his average level is high regardless, and it's hard to keep a player like broky down for long. A new player to reinvigorate him might be just what he needs.

rain is back to his best in CS2. Photo: Michal Konkol

As for ropz, the Estonian has arguably been the best player in the world thus far in CS2, and he doesn't look like slowing down any time soon.

With two MVP awards already to his name, ropz is back to his best in CS2, and part of that is down to is down to how willing he has been to adapt. One look at his Twitter account tells you all you need to know about how much of a brain he has for Counter-Strike, and he has been its greatest innovator since the release of CS2.

That leaves us with karrigan, the real veteran of the group. Now playing his third iteration of the game professionally, the leader knows that he's in the twilight years of his career, but that's only serving as more motivation to succeed.

A motivated karrigan is a scary prospect for any team, especially if he gets to play in front of a roaring crowd, and you can be sure he'll get that far at World Final.

karrigan has already added three trophies to his collection in CS2. Photo: Michal Konkol

Getting back to winning ways

When it comes to favourites to take home the World Final crown, there's perhaps only one team that can truly challenge FaZe right now and that's Vitality. Both teams are riding on the high that comes with integrating a new player, and both will still be keen to assert themselves as number one in the early months of CS2.

Vitality will be the main threat to FaZe, and their team is just as strong, but FaZe are as good as they've ever been right now, and their peak levels made them the last dominant team in CS:GO.

Getting back to winning ways might just be a formality for FaZe at World Final, all we know for certain is that we can't wait to see what they have in store.