ropz has been one of the best players in the world so far in CS2, but he remains humble despite adding three trophies to his ever-growing collection.
Now reunited with his old one-two combo frozen, we sat down with ropz at World Final to discuss the change in the team, the role changes it might cause, and whether or not he has been the best player in CS2 thus far.
Are you the best player in CS2?
I don't think so, no. I think ZywOo takes that title.
Even though you've had such a strong start? Would you say instead, per the amount of tournaments played, you're the most consistent player in CS2?
I'm definitely up there, in the top three or five, but even if the numbers don't show it, it's still ZywOo. It's only been two months though, so you can't make a truly rational decision on it.
In terms of the title of 'best player in the world', the last time that title went to someone who wasn't an AWPer was coldzera in 2017, do you think it's possible in the current meta for a rifler to be awarded the title of 'best player in the world'?
I'm not sure. I think we'll see with time and how CS2 goes with roles, but the way most teams are set up, especially the types of teams where s1mple and ZywOo are playing, those teams are setting up those players to perform, so I think the AWPers will always be up there. You might see an outlier, you always see NiKo playing extremely well and getting high in the rankings, you've had Ax1Le for a few years too. I think it's possible, but it's extremely hard because you don't have the best environment to do it.
Looking at CS2, why have you individually adapted so well to the game?
I don't think there's one reason for definite, it's a combination of things. I think some of it is the fact that I played quite a bit before the game was released, streaming and having fun just figuring out things back when CS:GO tournaments were still going on. I had some time back then and I've just been looking into the game a lot, figuring out the most optimal peeks, pushes, and timings and everything to do with the grenades.
But I think it's also a mentality thing, staying positive and trying not to worry too much about the changes and the differences between the two games because there are quite a few, it's not the same game definitely.
Also, there's a little bit of luck involved. Luck always goes a long way whenever you're performing well, you need to be in a good setting team-wise, you need to get good results, make playoffs, maybe even win events, and we've had some of that going our way and that's been very beneficial for my own performances.
You mentioned optimal peeks and timings, has that changed a lot from CS:GO?
What I mean by that is that there are some changes on the maps, Inferno is a big one. All of the new grenades and open skyboxes is shifting the meta a bit, you can throw fast smokes that creates a new scenario which didn't exist in CS:GO and just from that you can make new moves or peeks that weren't there before. So you have certain timings that are different, and certain ones that weren't even there before.
Outside of the game and with the team, how does it feel to be playing with frozen again?
It feels great, definitely. I think it's been a long time coming, ever since I got back with karrigan it's been a thing out there that he should come here some day, and now he's finally here and we'll have to see. It's been going good so far, we've practised now for a week and he's obviously an excellent player who has improved a lot with MOUZ so I'm really excited to play with him.
When you knew Twistzz was leaving, was there anyone else who was ever considered or was it always frozen?
Yeah, most of it was frozen, we didn't really have other options.
In the long run, how does he replace Twistzz? Will there have to be stylistic changes to accommodate him?
There are some role overlaps in the team now that he's joined, but most of it is with rain and karrigan so they're swapping around a few roles. But overall, the picture stays the same. frozen does take over a lot of Twistzz's because some of the maps are perfect fits and some of them aren't so there will be some changes, but the idea of how we will play will stay the same, it's just about moving people around and making them comfortable in their new spots.
It's been two years since you last played together and since then he adopted some of your old roles, how has he changed both as a player and a person in that time?
I think he's become a more well-rounded player. He was always a mature guy and level-headed, and he's extremely talented as well. There's a lot of good things to say for his age, he's one of those players you look towards because he's a complete player and he could do anything for a team, and that's the sort of player we were looking for. He takes more initiative now, he's more confident in what he wants to do, he's developed this way of playing and knows what works for him.
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