JBOEN: "FaZe is a playoffs team"
JBOEN is a revelation.
The young AWPer joined FaZe on loan from BIG Academy over the player break, and has swiftly gained a lotg of fans thanks to his flashy playstyle and ridiculously fast flicks.
Now in his second playoffs in as many events on his new team, we sat down with the Dane to discuss his step up to FaZe, his future following the loan spell, and how he will prevent himself from falling into the same rut that many other young AWPers fall into.
“My own expectations were that maybe it would be a bit harder than it has been at the start”
You're pretty new to FaZe and tier one as a whole, so how are you feeling about it all so far?
I'm excited for playoffs. I like that it's on LAN, and I'm happy to be back with the boys again.
Did you expect to have made playoffs both times in your first two events?
I think FaZe is a playoffs team, and maybe I thought we'd need to practice a bit more to get to playoffs, but I'm happy we're already here.
You've been a big factor in making these playoffs. Did you expect to hit the ground running in the way you have?
My own expectations were that maybe it would be a bit harder than it has been at the start; maybe I thought I'd struggle compared to when I was on BIG Academy, but I think I've fit into the team pretty well, and the way I can play is almost the same. I can play my way and make my calls.
In the long run, a lot of AWPers in your position have struggled after a couple of months. Are you already doing things to try and prevent that?
I just try not to think too much about the future; I try to be in the moment and play my game. Of course, we have good staff here that I can talk to if I do face some issues, but I don't feel pressure from the outside, so I don't think I'll start to fully underperform or anything like that.
Have you not placed any long-term expectations on yourself if you're not concerned about the future?
If we're talking about it that way, then I definitely want to be on a top team and going to Majors, competing at the highest level possible. But I don't say that we need to win things; that's a team issue, and I don't want to force it individually in case it doesn't happen.
A lot of people are forgetting this is only a loan deal; how do you think that might affect you in a few months time?
I'm not so sure, to be honest.
How are you viewing it in the present?
It's definitely a good opportunity for me to show myself to FaZe and to the whole scene. I also have six months to learn, get experience, travel, and do all these things that people dream about. I just need to take it all in.
What would you say you've learned so far?
A lot of things. The main thing is that, back in the day, I was a bit more cold-hearted in some scenarios where I would just go in and destroy people, but now I have to think a bit more and be a bit more calculated.
In the academy, I could abuse my playstyle and take risks more, but now people will abuse that, so I have to balance it more.
There's been a lot of change in FaZe in the last few months. Does it feel like a team that's gone through a lot of change or is there already a togetherness within the team?
I don't feel like there have been any changes, to be honest. Well, of course me coming in felt like a change; the team chemistry needed to improve a bit, but it feels like I've been playing with the guys for half a year already. We're all really good friends; we vibe well, we have good talks, and we enjoy spending time together.
Do you think it's important to be friends with teammates rather than just be people who play the game together?
I definitely think it's better to have teammates you enjoy spending time with. We practice so much, spend so much time together; we've been away for like three weeks already, and if I didn't like the guys it would be horrific, you know? It's really nice that we enjoy each other's company, and it'll make us a better team that we stay positive when we play because of it.
Once you've had some more time together and have turned this togetherness into a deep stratbook, do you feel like this team will be in a position to make playoffs consistently?
It's definitely my goal, even if we haven't had the time to set out the full-on team goals yet. I hope that we can be a consistent playoff team, and that's where we also need to be. We have really good players and opportunities to be a really good team. It just comes down to how much we practice and improve, and if we all step up, we can do it.
