Considering FaZe's struggles with consistency, it was almost impossible to predict that they would become the dominant force in the opening months of CS2.
Or was it?
We asked our in-house analyst Pimp ahead of BLAST Premier Fall Final.
FaZe have always been buffed by their levels of motivation, and given the amount of time ropz has spent streaming the new game and sharing things he has learned, it's not hard to see why Pimp says they have been "reignited" by CS2's release.
"CS2 has reignited FaZe once more, and it was much needed. The last year in CS:GO was not successful and you could almost feel they were tired and waiting for CS2.
Once it was released, Faze regained motivation, and if anything forgot how great they are when that happens," Pimp told BLAST.tv.
Despite a shaky start to IEM Sydney with a 19-15 loss to GamerLegion, their level since has been unmatched.
Now on a fifteen-game winning streak that saw them claim first place at Sydney, the Thunderpick World Championships, and the CS Asia Championships, as Pimp says, it's almost like they forgot how great they are themselves.
If we look at the stats, all four of FaZe's stars currently play in peak form.
At Sydney, broky topped the charts for FaZe with a 1.24. HLTV rating across 17 maps, ropz and rain were close behind with 1.19 and 1.20 HLTV ratings, respectively.
Twistzz came in fourth with a respectable 1.08 HLTV, still equal to ENCE stars SunPayus and dycha and marginally ahead of GH2's NiKo.
Thunderpick was much of the same. ropz ascended to a 1.31 HLTV rating, and broky also improved to record a 1.26 HLTV rating. On a more positive note, considering how their playstyle relies on the performances of their more passive trio, Twistzz also put up an impressive 1.19 HLTV rating.
Things start to get concerning when you look at the CS Asia championships. ropz remained firm on a 1.22 HLTV rating, both Twistzz and rain fell to 1.01 and 1.02, respectively. broky fell even further; he was FaZe's lowest-rated player with a 0.95.
This is where Pimp begins to worry about the future of FaZe:
"I don’t expect them to dominate for much longer. More teams will catch up, especially when rostermania is over," Pimp told BLAST.tv.
Rostermania is now mostly over. Some teams are still expected to announce changes, but NIP has rebuilt their team, and NAVI, Cloud9, and Vitality have also made a change. All of these lineups will be refreshed and ready to compete.
Considering the rumours around FaZe, it's impressive they have managed to be dominant.
One of their stars, Twistzz, is heavily linked with a move to Liquid, and rumours like these would typically be a team's downfall.
But not FaZe.
Instead, FaZe have risen to every challenge sent their way, and just as they were the last team to truly dominant CS:GO, they became the first team to dominate CS2.
Changes might be on their way in the future, and their momentum may be slowing down, but that won't matter to FaZe.
FaZe is a unique team whose main stars are a trio of more passive players, who, despite any number disadvantages, will always have a chance of winning a round.
When every team around them is still figuring out the chinks in their armour and getting new signings up to speed, FaZe will be ready to pounce. FaZe thrive off mistakes, and new teams make plenty of them.
It was hard to predict that FaZe would be so good in the opening months of CS2, but now, three months in, it's hard to predict any other outcome than FaZe winning their fourth event in a row at Fall Final.
That is the magic of FaZe Clan.
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