Bringing in jcobbb helped to bring the team back on track and gave karrigan a fresh look as captain.
karrigan and FaZe had a tough time in 2025. But after bringing back broky and replacing EliGE with youngster jcobbb , they managed to reach the knockout stage of the BLAST London Open.
Whether they've truly turned things around remains to be seen, but the win over Natus Vincere certainly felt more like the old FaZe than we've seen in a while.
For a team so accustomed to success, the inability to find a solution until now weighed heavily on karrigan , with frustration evident in FaZe's vlogs as the team's results failed to improve.
"The last nine months have been a blur," karrigan told HLTV at BLAST's media day. "From my personal loss in Shanghai, to switching roster members, changing systems, having new players living with me—I don't think people realize how much I had to deal with during that time at FaZe."
Bringing in jcobbb was a reset, returning FaZe to a period of greater tactical coherence. broky , fresh off a break, is having his best tournament performance since the 2024 BLAST Fall Finals, currently boasting a 1.32 rating. The sun is finally breaking through the clouds.
It's been a while since we've seen that FaZe magic, but who's to say it won't return in London ?
Q: First of all, how does it feel to be back here, back in the offline venue, back to the place where you love to compete the most?
A: It feels good. Obviously, it's a little strange playing a live event straight after an online tournament, but it feels good. We haven't played many live events this year, and the ones we've played have been really good, so I'm looking forward to playing. I've played at this venue a few times, and it's really loud.
Q: This is our first time speaking with you since EliGE left the team. What are your initial thoughts on this change and how it's working out?
A: I think it was hard to say at first, but the atmosphere and feeling within the team is definitely better. It's no secret that we weren't on the same page before. We did everything we could to resolve the situation, and everyone made sacrifices. EliGE sacrificed, I sacrificed, and everyone else did something to try to make the philosophy and vision work.
Ultimately, we tried a lot of different things. We also tried adding s1mple to see what kind of chemistry we would have, but ultimately, we had to come to a consensus. It feels really good right now, like a fresh start, and hopefully we can build on that. This is a very inexperienced player, so we need to have a different team mentality and try to learn and accumulate from every game.
Q: rain mentioned before that everyone on the server has a lot of different ideas. Is this the reasoning behind this roster change, to give you more control over how the team plays?
I always had control, but I liked to listen to the players—what they thought, what they were good at, what they liked to do on the server—and try to find a balance where everyone had a map that felt right for them, or a sense of having a little more control. But ultimately, for example, EliGE had really good T-side stats, played really well, and had a huge impact on the server, but we couldn't translate that into winning rounds. Some rounds ended up feeling unnatural relative to how we started. That was hard for the team to adjust to. Believe me, we tried everything.
One of the reasons we brought in EliGE was to refresh our desired playstyle, but ultimately everyone on the team had to be happy, and that didn't happen. The results were somewhat decent, but we kept getting inexplicable server crashes. As for the idea, I think there was a bit of that, but I wouldn't say it was complete chaos. We had a vision and tried to keep pushing forward, but ultimately it was difficult to track progress and keep moving in the right direction instead of just going in circles most of the time.
Q: Tell me about the thinking behind bringing in jcobbb . You have a lot of options in the rifler market, and you could have let rain take on more of the space creation role, but jcobbb is also a pretty aggressive player, just like EliGE . What was the thinking behind bringing in another aggressive player and having rain tone down a bit?
A: I've spoken with rain , and he's feeling good about his new roles. He's spent a few months learning them, and he's enjoying some of them. Some maps are a little harder, some are a little different, but with JCobb, we can now give him some roles. I won't sit here and specifically say what position he'll play, but he's a newcomer and can play everything. He has his strengths, and we're trying to leverage them on some maps, but we also have many other strong points on the team.
Frozen can do some map control, but so can rain , and maybe me. You could say we're trying to mix and match these star roles, but we'll use JCobb as an aggressive player, a slasher, or a second-in-comer in certain strategies. On Nuke, in particular, I've seen him penetrate the yellow room really well, which is exactly what Twistzz was so good at on the old team. He's really good at certain specific things in certain areas. It's up to me to figure out what JCobb is most comfortable with and where we can put him in those comfortable roles without disrupting the team dynamic.
Q: What's his personality like? You got some inside information from your wife (who was jcobbb 's sports psychologist when he was on Apogee ) - how important is it to know him beforehand when scouting a player, especially a young player like him?
My wife didn't tell me much; there are things they can't talk about. I watched a lot of Apogee games on TV, and I also went to their practice room in Bucharest to talk to them. We practiced with them a lot, and the first thing I noticed when we were training with them was how aggressive his shooting was. He was able to jump through a smoke grenade and kill two of our players, even though our players were aiming at him. To me, that was a very clean shot. That's the first thing. He was a very aggressive shooter.
Having known him and seen his performance in offline tournaments, he's a relatively quiet person. I think broky was like that when he first joined the team, as he was developing in his own way. Regardless of his personality, he always fits easily into our team to some extent.
We'll adapt, we'll take steps, and make adjustments. If he's quieter, more people will need to take on more responsibility and take a more dominant role within the team. This is something I've discussed with rain and frozen. They need to be very strong in their mindset and feel for the game. Hopefully, this dynamic will work, and we'll see how he develops over time. This was his first lan match with us, and we saw that he was still a little shy, but that comes primarily from the pressure of being in FaZe. Even when I told him not to think about it, it was hard. When you join FaZe, it's all about winning championships.
I have to ask, Temperr talked about this a little bit on one of the Cybershoke podcasts - he mentioned Twistzz and the rumors about his return. Is there anything you can say about that?
A: There's not much to say, because I think everything has been uncertain over the past few months—how we want to develop, how the market and various situations will change. I think some of what Temperr said... I don't manage the team, so let's be honest. They ask for my opinion, how I see things, and what the future holds for the team.
I'll present my vision, but I also told FaZe last year that every time they wanted to make a change, they should talk to each player. They also have a good vision for how things should develop, and then they can make the decision. This is the way we're going to go about it, and that's how we see it, and I'm excited to show what we can do by finding a young player, just like broky proved himself at FaZe all those years ago.
Q: How does it compare to those very large organizations that have huge teams and countless staff members for each event? I know you said you don't control all the decisions, but is there any difference compared to those types of organizations?
A: For me, it's great. I enjoy controlling the vision and scheduling practices and tournaments. What I love most is that FaZe trusts me with many aspects of the team, but the final decision is theirs. It's great to have full control of the team, but I also believe our roster has a lot of experience. rain , NEO , and I all have our own opinions on how to deal with burnout, tournaments, and when to push harder and when not to push in the long term.
I just feel very welcome and comfortable at Faze. I can express my opinions without them ever being taken in a negative light, or completely disagreeing, but they'll challenge me in certain areas. I think it's a very healthy relationship. In the past, in 2017, yes, we were a bit left alone, but now we have eddie with us, and he manages a lot of things, helps out a lot, and takes care of the schedule. The rumors about them not caring about Counter-Strike are completely and utterly false. Maybe that was true 10 years ago, but now they're working hard to help us play at the highest level.
Q: How tough was 2025 for you? We saw some frustration in your vlogs – how difficult was this period on a personal level?
A: Oh, it was tough. I think there were a lot of things this season that I didn't understand why they weren't working. I looked at myself, but there were also things that I don't think people understand how hard and frustrating it is when you have to lead a team that's not really a team. You envision something, you dive in and work on it together, and then we change it, and then we change something else, and then we change positions, and then we change certain communication systems... There were so many changes this season that it was hard to focus on the one thing we were trying to do well. I also had a really bad time, and when the vlogs came out in March and April, we saw a different perspective on me as a leader, and that wasn't who I had been in the past few years.
There have been mental struggles due to pressure and other factors. The past nine months have been a blur, from my personal loss at the Shanghai event to the roster changes, system changes, and having new players living with me—I don't think people realize how much I had to deal with at FaZe during that time. Now that I see this new guy coming in, wanting to learn and adapt, it's going to be refreshing for me as a leader, because I have a huge responsibility to help this young man. He listens to me a lot, which makes working with him very easy. Hopefully, we can help him succeed as well. He's done a great job for the team so far, and that's my main initial goal. His other career achievements will naturally follow.
You've talked a bit about broky coming back, but is this also about trying to get FaZe back to its old vibe? We know from voicemail and video chats that he's very important to communication, is this part of that process?
broky also went through a rough patch. We lost ropz , who I considered a truly close friend. After we joined, everything was changing. The leadership and the call-making were very chaotic. And when you're in a slump and things aren't going your way... after he came back, he had a very positive impact on the team and brought a lot of positive energy. I think we all did some things wrong over the past nine months.
We tried to see what the dynamic would be, but it just wouldn't work without broky because he's been the face of FaZe over the past few years. That energy, when the game starts, he's trying to play, he's going for freedom. That's why it's so natural for him to come back, and it's also a fresh start. He needs to be the veteran on the team, and he needs to show jcobbb how to be a pro and how to develop into a good player. He recently went through what jcobbb is going through now as a rookie, which is why it's great to have him on the team.
Q: We saw some glimpses of the old FaZe again during this group stage. Does it feel like you've turned things around, or is it too early to tell?
I think we showed a level of mentality that we haven't shown in the last nine months. I think there were so many rounds against Vitality where I was like, 'Damn, this is FaZe, losing a 3v1, then winning a powerplay, losing another powerplay, and then we have a 2v2 where we firebomb someone on the second floor...' I thought, that was fun and exciting.
In a way, I think the style of Counter-Strike we're playing reminds me of high-stakes, explosive games where you never know what's going to happen. We've got some of that DNA back. Will it lead to a championship? I don't know, but just feeling like we're playing in a certain way, with everyone on the same page, is a start for any team, any caller, any coaching staff, to see everyone following something and buying into it. Some of the old FaZe DNA is back, but it's hard to pinpoint what it is; we haven't seen it in a long time.
Q: This is your third time playing in a lan arena this year, but is it the first time that that gene has returned to your system? Can this rekindle the team's energy that we've seen so many times in the past?
I think we can make a difference. On paper, our knockout draw looks good, but this is a very dangerous region. G2 has really stepped up. The way they beat Spirit was amazing; you don't just beat Donk or sh1ro like that . FURIA Esports has been really, really good. I think they're a dark horse team for the Major. In my opinion, now is the perfect time to play against these teams, as we're on the rise and they've been on the rise over the past month, so I'm excited to play.
We'll play our own CS and learn from it. We'll see how jcobbb performs on stage. I'm trying to share some experiences and talk to him, so we're setting ourselves up for the best possible success. But ultimately, let's have some fun. That's what FaZe has always been about: smiles, energy, little comebacks, little mistakes, and so on. So, let's have some explosive CS on stage.
