rain: "Vitality look really strong but I don't see them dominating for the rest of the season"
They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but rain is proving that statement to be very wrong since EliGE's arrival on FaZe.
The veteran Norwegian has stepped into new roles to make room for his new American teammate, and he says that those changes have given him "a whole new way of looking at the game."
Ahead of BLAST Open Lisbon, we spoke to rain about his new roles, third-place decider matches, and the future of Counter-Strike.
Photo: Stephanie Lindgren"The rankings fluctuate so much and it's a little bit strange"
We're a few months into the year now, how are you finding it?
It's been pretty good, it hasn't been that stressful, but I know it'll get more hectic as the season goes on, the coming months have a lot of travelling. I'm looking forward to it.
It's also been your first couple months with EliGE, how has that been? What's he bringing to the team so far?
EliGE brings a lot of cool ideas, a new way of looking at the game. He likes to have more protocols than we're used to, and although that's going to take some time to implement, in the long run it's definitely going to help shorten communication and give people a better overview of the rounds.
His arrival meant that they were some role changes in the team, how have you found those changes and the adaptations you've had to make?
I've actually had a lot of fun, I know I've lost some positions that I've had for a long time, but overall I've been enjoying it. Re-figuring out the way to play CS in different positions, it's been eight years since I've played in some of these spots, so I've developed a whole new way of looking at the game. It makes for a more refreshing year as well.
As one of the more experienced players in the scene, are these role changes the kind of things you need to stay hungry and motivated?
For sure, it really helps a lot. I also think that being able to adapt to meta changes is also very important, and I think I've done a good job at that over the years. I think that's why I'm still here and playing even though I'm getting older.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenLet's talk about the third-place decider at PGL Cluj-Napoca, we spoke to cadiaN about it and he said he thought those matches were good because of the VRS system, what are your thoughts on third-place matches?
I think they're great. Even though you've lost, it brings something to play for in the next day.
Of course, it was very weird because you know you can't win the event and everyone in our team got a little down because of that, we didn't reset as much as we would've hoped, but as more and more tournaments implement it, it'll be a great change for the system, especially with the VRS points.
How are you finding the VRS system?
I don't know, I think the rankings fluctuate so much and it's a little bit strange. Hopefully they fine-tune it a littler bit and give out more information as to how it actually works.
Would you say the fluctuation is bad? Does it make the rankings inaccurate?
I don't think it's a bad thing, it puts more pressure on the teams to perform at every event. If you have a bad event and you lose to a team ranked 20 places behind you, you lose a shit tonne of points. It's very unforgiving, but to be the best in CS, you shouldn't lose to these teams.
In terms of FaZe's current place within tier one, people would put NAVI, Spirit, and Vitality as the top three in the world right now, so how big of a gap do you think there is between you and them?
I think that nowadays the gap between the top ten teams isn't as high as it used to be. Before, you used to have Astralis, NAVI, other big names that dominated for a long time, I find it hard to see that happening again in the future. Vitality look really strong, but I don't see them dominating for the rest of the season.
If we show up on a good day, and we play the CS we want to, we can beat any of those teams for sure.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenDo you think that the existence of players like m0NESY, donk, and ZywOo is the reason why we don't see that kind of dominance anymore?
I think that even if those three players were on the same team, you don't know 100% if it would all work out. Of course, they're really skilled on the teams they're on now, but there also has to be room for them to be skilled, right? I don't know if there would be room for them on the same team at the same time.
But, to have them on different teams, it creates storylines and it's great to have the generational talents spread across the board, so it's fun to watch them play.
Is this the most competitive era you've played in?
I'm not sure, it could be, but that's hard to say. Back in the day, CS was played differently, but it was still very competitive. The top teams back then were pretty dominant.
But, I think the kids coming up nowadays grow up with CS instead of other games or sports, it'll be a new era in the coming years with more of these kids coming up who are probably more individually skilled than we saw with the old legends. It'll be fun to see how it progresses.
You're about to play BLAST Open Lisbon, you'll be facing Virtus.pro in your opening match, how are you feeling about that game and the tournament as a whole?
We're feeling pretty good. There's still a lot to implement and work on, but we're getting better day by day. I have a good feeling about it all.
As for VP, I think they're also on an upwards trajectory. FL4MUS brings a lot more firepower than what they had before, which is good considering the AWP isn't as viable as it was before. They've upgraded their roster.
Spirit
Spirit
Eternal Fire
