Throughout the history of CS:GO, it became commonplace that European stars would join North American teams in order to take them to new heights.
cadiaN led Rogue to a Major, s1mple carried Team Liquid to a Major final, and years later, YEKINDAR helped Liquid regain relevancy on the international stage.
What hasn't been so common, however, is players going the opposite way.
That is, except for Twistzz.
By 2020, Twistzz was already a superstar. Although he was yet to win a Major in CS:GO, he had been part of the Liquid team that speed-ran the second season of the Intel Grand Slam.
All that mattered for little though; COVID had thrown Counter-Strike into it's online era, and Liquid were far from their 2019 heyday.
As Twistzz's contract was nearing it's expiration date, he wasn't dead set on leaving, although as he revealed in an interview with Sadokist for Dexerto, it turned out there was no other option.
"I think people were way too stubborn for change and I guess they didn't really respect Jason (moses) either. For him to command people or enforce changes. Anything that was said got shut down." - Twistzz, via Dexerto
This wasn't the only issue in Liquid at the time as there were also issues with roles and the overall atmosphere within the team.
Tiwstzz wanted a change, whether that was in the form of a player or with the team relocating to Europe to play against higher levels of opposition, and when it became clear neither of those things would happen, he made the decision to leave.
Fortunately for the Canadian, it wasn't long before his destination became clear. FaZe Clan had just lost their Bosnian superstar NiKo to rivals G2, and you can only replace a talent like NiKo with a similar talent such as Twistzz.
The FaZe Clan Twistzz joined then was a very different outfit to the one he has just departed. karrigan had not yet been signed from MOUZ, and olofmeister was in his penultimate spell with the team.
rain and broky were both part of the team, although the former had not yet enjoyed his Antwerp redemption and the latter was hardly the finished article.
The team was rounded out by coldzera, or, the shadow of him at least.
It would be another year before they would be ready to take over the world.
First, karrigan was signed from MOUZ, just over two weeks after the arrival of Twistzz. Then, just under a year after Twistzz was signed and without a trophy in that time, FaZe signed karrigan's former MOUZ teammate ropz, and now Twistzz had a team that would allow him to make history.
The arrival of ropz would bring about the last period of dominance we would see from a team in CS:GO.
In the first half of 2022, FaZe would win IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League Season 15, and IEM Cologne, a tournament in which Twistzz had perhaps the highlight of his career to turn the tide in the favour of his team.
Our former weatherman mahone made an excellent video explaining why that play was so great.
Despite that play, the crowning moment of the early 2022 run was the PGL Antwerp Major. At the event, which FaZe won with relative ease, Twistzz became the sixth North American player to ever win a Major, a feat he previously failed to do with Team Liquid.
While the rest of 2022 would be largely disappointing for FaZe, Twistzz would make history early in 2023 as he would become the first player to win two Intel Grand Slams as FaZe defeated Cloud9 in the final of ESL Pro League Season 17.
That wouldn't be the end to the history that Twistzz would help write with FaZe Clan.
As CS2 was released, FaZe began the new game with a new era of dominance.
Although their loss in the final of BLAST Premier Fall Final meant that Twistzz would leave FaZe without a victory in his final game, the three events prior to Fall FInal would see FaZe lift three trophies, including one in the very first CS2 tournament, IEM Sydney.
The truth is, Twistzz may never get the appreciation he deserves for FaZe's success in the past two years.
They may go on to do great things with frozen - the Slovakian is a special player - but that doesn't mean that he could have done what Twistzz has been able to do in the past couple of years.
A lot is said about how FaZe have found success through the strength of their three passive stars, but while ropz and broky have often received the most plaudits for those clutches, they were only able to pull those clutches off thanks to Twistzz.
The Canadian is one of the most versatile players in the world, and when FaZe were in those 3vX situations, that's when he truly came to life. A player capable of being the aggressor, the supportive element, or the best clutcher of the three, his one-of-a-kind skillset made FaZe's unique playstyle possible.
Many players become known for one playstyle. GeT_RiGhT was known for his lurks, apEX for his entries, FalleN for his AWPing, Twistzz will be remembered for his versatility.
A special talent, Twistzz will make his next team an instant contender, and at just 24-years-old we're excited to watch him continue to write history well into CS2.
BLAST ApS., Hauser Plads 1, 3., 1127 Copenhagen