2022 is the year of FaZe Clan. This roster of international players has won a Major, later becoming the champion of ESL Pro League XV, and the largest IEM tournaments in Katowice and Cologne. Even the failure in Rio de Janeiro won’t affect FaZe’s top-1 position in any way.
At the same time, FaZe Clan players are absent from the individual leaderboards. Ignoring the overall figures for the year in matches against the world’s top 20 (FaZe Clan played 125 maps, and only Astralis had more), Twistzz has a very high percentage of headshots, Rain does numerous successful entry frags, and Broky blossoms with his AWP plays. At the same time, according to the HLTV rating, the Latvian takes only 10th place, being the highest-positioned player in the strongest team in the world.
What is the secret of FaZe Clan? Why does this team show phenomenal results? The CS.MONEY Blog will try to provide answers to these difficult questions.
By the way, we have a new section CS.MONEY Market. Come in and sell your skins easier than ever!
No Superstars? Delegate.
FaZe Clan has an unusual rating distribution among its players. For example, Natus Vincere or Team Vitality: s1mple and ZywOo are ahead of their teammates by a significant margin (1.29 and 1.25 versus 1.10 for electronic and 1.05 for Spinx, accordingly).
Cloud9 has two leaders, sh1ro and Ax1Le, with ratings of 1.21 and 1.19; however, HObbit’s average rating of 1.04 stays pretty close. Two other players, most of the time, have below one.
In FaZe Clan, only Karrigan sits in the red zone, while the fourth-rated player of the team, Rain, has an impressive 1.08! At the same time, those who think that Faze lacks stars are sharply mistaken: three players made it into the HLTV’s top 20 in 2021 at once, while Rain placed 4th in 2017. The star captain Karrigan is a recognised veteran and authority, and has been assigned four decent CS players capable of competing with the best of the best in all individual metrics. First part of the promo code for GameChanger Hub: JC2.
Therefore, it’s safe to say that even without a clear fragging leader, the duties are simply very well distributed among the entire team.
Stats Don’t Lie
If you look at the stats of both pure team skill and teamwork indicators, FaZe Clan are peaking. See for yourself: before the start of the Rio Major, against the top 20 teams, they had the following numbers for 2022:
- 51,6% open frags (top-3)
- 0,81 multikills per round (top-3)
- 30,9% 4v5 clutches won (top-3)
- 73,5% 5v4 situations won (top-5)
- 19,4% of deaths were exchanges (top-5)
Here, let’s honour Rain’s talent for open frags: he shares 2-4 lines from above with the best players in the world, s1mple and ZywOo, and is only slightly behind NiKo.
But the main secret is excellent communication. The best of the best are revealed in situations where frags have already been made during a map. A round’s structure gives way to improvisation, and the ability to convey information correctly and make the right decisions becomes the key to success.
Non-twisting Twitstzz
Another critical factor for a superstar team is its stability. Best squads are separated from good by the ability to win even on the worst days. Here’s where the Canadian comes ahead, being the foundation of FaZe Clan.
Twistzz is one of the top three players in the world in terms of the smallest rating spread in matches. Add to this his average rating of 1.11: he’s a player who will give you the power you need without any misfires.
Another impressive feature is that he plays very well in both attack and defence. If you look at his teammates’ stats, there’s a noticeable difference in the average ratings for T and CT:
- karrigan: 0,83 & 1,02
- rain: 0,94 & 1,26
- ropz: 1,01 & 1,23
- broky: 1,07 & 1,24
Can you guess what Twistzz’s numbers are? 1.07 and 1.15. Russell is a strong, versatile player who will cement any holes in the team’s game, which is a must-have piece to add to the puzzle. Second part of the promo code for GameChanger Hub: S9F.
EXP
Finally, another vital factor for FaZe Clan’s success is experience. It’s not just about Karrigan, who got into HLTV’s top 20 back when it was dedicated only to CS 1.6. Rain has been playing competitively for over ten years, Twistzz and Ropz started their paths in serious teams in 2016-2017, and broky has been in FaZe Clan for over three years. At the same time, ropz, Twistzz and broky are pretty young (each is not older than 22 years old), which motivates their older comrades to clutch.
This year, we saw Rain’s reborn, while the team captain also boosted his combat skills, in the meantime building a powerful core where the players trust each other. As a result, it turns out that each player knows how to act strictly according to the scenario and improvise if the round’s beginning turns out unsuccessful.
At IEM Rio Major, FaZe Clan were one of the main favourites. They had every chance to finish 2022 as the back-to-back champions and the best team in the world to write down their names in the CS:GO history. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Still, Karrigan and his gang have already changed the game, and you can do it too.
Do you like getting CS:GO news in our vibe?
What are you waiting for? Hit subscribe!
