Karrigan\u2019s CSGO legacy hinges on FaZe success: \u201cWe\u2019ll finish with a Major\u201d ELEAGUEEveryday, Finn \u2018Karrigan\u2019 Andersen wakes up to 14-hour days of CSGO. Now in his second stint with FaZe Clan, the veteran IGL has unfinished business with the org, and is determined to capture lasting glory. Karrigan\u2019s hoisted more silverware than some orgs have to their name. Trophies are the goal, no matter where the Dane goes. However, he\u2019s convinced a lasting legacy will only be supplemented with one thing: a Major. It\u2019s, admittedly, a dream shared by many. But at this point in his 14-year career, he\u2019s setting his sights on the \u201cend goal as a player,\u201d as he puts it; and it\u2019s why he\u2019s back in FaZe. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be here if I didn\u2019t think we could be the best team in the world,\u201d he told Dexerto, confidently. FaZe has a wealth of talent already on the team but they need a good IGL to take them to the top \u2014 a situation that\u2019s all too familiar. An awkward FaZe CSGO fans could look at this FaZe makeup and draw comparisons between now and the last time Karrigan wore the black-and-red shirt. At the time, in 2017, the team was packed with legends of the game. When they won, it looked great and the FaZe Army marched to multiple top-2 finishes. But when the team lost, it looked awkward. Set plays would be off, clutches ran dry, and rounds would start to mount against them. Voices on their team were loud and plenty. \u201cIn my first time with FaZe, I was too much of a \u2018democracy-leader,\u2019\u201d he said. The team had its troubles, and it was even more apparent after Karrigan left. Read more: Na\u2019Vi\u2019s biggest flaw exposed again – Regardless, the lineup with Olof \u2018olofmeister\u2019 Gustafsson and Ladislav \u2018GuardiaN\u2019 Kov\u00e1cs was incredibly strong. They practically lived in the Grand Finals throughout 2017 and took home plenty of hardware to boot. If it wasn\u2019t the unstoppable force of two-time Major winner olof\u2019s rifle, then it was the immovable object of GuardiaN\u2019s AWP that would shut teams down. FaZe\u2019s success was remarkable, but it was just short of legendary. \u201cI feel like I built a boat. I came over to cross the ocean, and right as we have to go into the harbor we fell down and drowned,\u201d Karrigan said, proudly remembering the trophies with FaZe, but clearly thinking of one he doesn\u2019t have: The 2018 Boston Major. GuardiaN and Nikola \u2018NiKo\u2019 Kova\u010d didn\u2019t maintain their form when FaZe needed it the most. Olof was making a strong case for best player at the event until the final, and H\u00e5vard \u2018Rain\u2019 Nygaard was the highest rated player in the first two maps \u2014 that\u2019s not a good thing considering the other names mentioned. As for tactics, well Jake \u2018Stewie2k\u2019 Yip was bolstering C9 in a uniquely NA brand of CS. The soon-to-be-crowned MVP Tarik Celik and the rest of the rambunctious Americans would knock down any kind of sophisticated set up Karrigan & Co. made. Watch now: FaZe Clan\u2019s Failed Era The Turkish-American\u2019s 1.43 rating fueled C9 in Game 3. The frag on FaZe\u2019s IGL sealed Tarik\u2019s 4K in the 27th round and sparked the boys-in-blue to a 22-19 Double-OT win to take the Bo3 reverse-sweep. It was a memorable Major for Cloud9 and North America, but a learning experience for Karrigan. \u201cAfter FaZe, I had to look inward to figure myself out. It was a tough period at the end of FaZe,\u201d he recalled. The Dane fell one round short of glory. He doesn\u2019t want his legacy defined by one trophy, but he knows a Major will lend itself to the \u201cbig legacy\u201d he\u2019s after. FaZe Clan 2021: Reborn Now it\u2019s 2021 and Karrigan is running it back with Rain but with superstar Marcelo \u2018coldzera\u2019 David, American standout Russel \u2018Twistzz\u2019 Van Dulken, and rising talent Helvijs \u2018broky\u2019 Saukants on the team. There\u2019s a mix of seasoned veterans, explosive in-game fraggers, and some rising talent to foster. FaZe\u2019s IGL approached the idea of his team\u2019s prospects with humility. The 30-year-old Dane is stepping into a championship-caliber team built on inconsistent talent. Read more: Top 20 highest earning CSGO pros – If this project is going to work, he\u2019s going to have to draw from what he learned in mousesports and FaZe Clan. \u201cWhat I learned is that [I couldn\u2019t bring the democracy-leader approach to] mousesports,\u201d he said. On FaZe there were a ton of veterans with even more ideas on how to approach the game. On mousesports, however, he quickly learned that a \u201cone-way street\u201d approach would be more effective. Consider their team at the time, that included a hyper-aggressive AWPer in \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u2018woxic\u2019 Eker, star-in-the-making Robin \u2018ropz\u2019 Kool, and 16-year-old David \u2018frozen\u2019 \u010cer\u0148ansk\u00fd. But FaZe isn\u2019t mousesports. He had to update his style the first time he \u201cFaZed Up,\u201d then adapt it even further on mouz. And there\u2019ll have be another evolution in 2021. \u201cI have to find the mix of them both, where I still have to keep the players in line, Make sure they understand the philosophy I\u2019m trying to bring to the team, working together as a unit,\u201d he explained. \u201cI always make sure to talk individually with the players. What they like to do, what they don\u2019t like to do. Try to push them in that direction, that I let them play however they want, to begin with. And then I try to force them outside of their comfort zone\u2026 In the end, I just have to be the strong voice in the middle of the round.\u201d That\u2019s why Karrigan is going to ask Rain to get comfy playing outside of his lurk position that he\u2019s been doing for years. It\u2019s why a coach and strong supporting cast behind FaZe is vital to his plans. And it\u2019s why coldzera is going to be a strong voice on the team. \u201cIf the players work hard, well we can do better than the last FaZe\u2026 Having this team behind us, it feels like a completely new situation. It\u2019s not as it used to be.\u201d he said. \u201cI would say [we\u2019re] the reborn of FaZe Clan, or getting-that-Major-we-never-got type of FaZe Clan.\u201d FaZe Clan plays Team Vitality to open their Group B climb in the ESL Pro League on March 13. This lineup is going to be a work-in-progress, but Karrigan has seven months until the 2021 PGL Stockholm Major where a legacy awaits. \u201cI want to re-lift that boat,\u201d he finished. \u201c[I want to] sail it one more time, and this time finish it with a Major win. That\u2019s the reason I am here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Karrigan\u2019s CSGO legacy hinges on FaZe success: \u201cWe\u2019ll finish with a Major\u201d ELEAGUEEveryday, Finn \u2018Karrigan\u2019 Andersen wakes up to 14-hour days of CSGO. Now in his second stint with FaZe Clan, the veteran IGL has unfinished business with the org, and is determined to capture lasting glory. Karrigan\u2019s hoisted more silverware than some orgs have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}