NEO: "[TaZ] has all the abilities needed to become a great coach"

NEO's first couple of months as the coach of FaZe Clan may have been disappointing, but since the release of CS2, the trophies have been free-flowing.

Now playing their first event with frozen, we caught up with NEO following FaZe's win int heir opening game against Heroic.

A strong 2-0 start for the new lineup, how are you feeling straight afterwards?

It feels great to win, it's always amazing. It got rough at the end of the game but it's Ancient, with us that always means overtime.

David [frozen] showed really good performances during the games which was nice. He fits the team perfectly so everything feels smooth. It's a lineup change but it's still the same structure, small adjustments had to be made but he's doing an amazing job and everyone stepped up at points. It was a nice game.

Were you surprised by the level shown by Heroic considering their stand-in situation?

It's always really difficult to predict, you know these players can shoot really well and you can get caught off guard with MR12 because the matches are much faster, the comebacks feel extremely fast and even though you have an advantage, it takes a couple of minutes and then they are back.

We knew they can play, so it wasn't unexpected. You always want to win but you always need to be aware that something can happen. We always show persistence and confidence in these situations and we have some great, experienced players on the team so we came out on top.

How has it been integrating frozen into the team?

Well, he played with ropz and karrigan before in MOUZ so he knows them pretty well and he's really positive, a really nice guy. It's really nice to have him around and the vibes are really good, we have so much fun together.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

What about yourself? You're still quite new to coaching, are you surprised by how well it's been going?

In the beginning, we didn't have great results, but we had close matches, we lost at two or three tournaments, but that was the strange time when people were waiting for CS2 to come out and waiting for that moment it felt like.

Then we had extra energy after the game came out and now with the lineup change, there's a lot of new motivation for the guys. There's new stuff we can come up with and that's what we've been doing and grinding a lot. These guys connect so well, so I'm happy to be here.

You said you're playing with the same structure as before, does that mean you think you're already close to the peak levels?

It's really hard to say, it's just the first game of the tournament. frozen, even though he's young is really experienced already, he's been out there for a while. Twistzz had a very specific set of skills that he brought to the table, so there obviously has to be some adjustments, small changes here and there. Everyone brings something to the table so even a small change changes a lot in terms of even communication sometimes. There's so much more inside a team than just the statistics that people base their opinions on. He fits the team, the structure is the same but some adjustments have been made. It's still the same FaZe Clan and we're having fun while playing.

Finally then, your former teammate TaZ has just been announced as the new coach of G2, how do you think that will go for him?

TaZ has been a captain for many years and he knows how to handle pressure and motivate people. I think he has all the abilities needed to become a great coach and G2 is also in a strange place I feel like, so maybe TaZ is what they needed. He's a high-energy person and I feel like when he can bring it to the players, it can work. I'm really looking forward to seeing him be the coach and how he manages.

Will it be weird being on opposite sides?

I wouldn't say weird, we competed against each other before we played together. But we played together for 14 years so I'm just happy to see him be here, it's really nice.