Twistzz says "no changes" for FaZe in off-season

Many teams seem to be heading for changes in the off-season, but FaZe are not one of them, as far as Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken knows.

FaZe enter the BLAST Premier Spring Final off the back of several grueling weeks. It has been almost non-stop action for the team as they are set to attend their fourth event in six weeks in Washington, D.C., having played at IEM Rio, the BLAST.tv Paris Major, and IEM Dallas since the second half of April.

Fatigue has been a hot topic inside the FaZe camp, but despite that Twistzz says he feels the team has a good chance to end the season with another deep run at the Spring Final following their semi-finals finish in Dallas, where they went out at the hands of ENCE after a quintuple-overtime Ancient decider.

"I don't like coming into an event and just going through the motions, that's just a complete waste and it's very unprofessional," he said in an interview conducted on the media day. "Dallas was better, we were very energetic as a team and emotionally invested, and I think this event is going to be no different."

The Canadian also spoke about the team's imminent future with CS2 on the horizon, which has many teams considering changes behind the scenes, categorically stating FaZe are happy with their current lineup — at least as far as he knows.

"No changes. Everyone enjoys playing with each other and we have great team chemistry, and it's something we're not gonna take for granted."

You can read the full interview below:

First of all, I wanted to go back to Dallas. In the end, an improvement from your previous form, but I suppose there was a real chance for you to go further, it came down to this crazy game on Ancient against ENCE. How are you feeling about what you showed there?

I think in Dallas we had a real chance to win that event. I think we would have had a very similar result against MOUZ if we would end up playing in the final. Ancient ended up going either way, a lot of mishaps from both teams on this map, I think in the end our communication and teamwork is what let us down and we couldn't really get into the individual moments to let the players shine. The gameplay was just full chaotic Counter-Strike, mid was like a bar fight every round and, once you're in OT, there's no defaulting, you see every team is just throwing out gimmick strats and faking mid, rushing A, faking mid, going B, fake B, contact out mid, contact out A... I think that map could have went either way and it would have been a completely different conversation at the moment.

We saw a return to form from you, before that you had a couple of events that were a bit shaky. What has that been down to? You've talked about fatigue, especially when it comes to this long run you've had, is that the main reason or why do you feel like you can't live up to the same standards?

I think there comes a time where, I mean don't get me wrong, [Talking about the ENCE match] I missed a lot of duels and there were a lot of fights that I should have won, and it's disappointing to have that considering I feel like I'm doing everything I can. But I feel like that's just Counter-Strike sometimes. Sometimes you're not in positions, or timings are unlucky for you and your teammate does one thing and it doesn't give you an opportunity, and that's just how the game is. With the way the playstyles were clashing, it required me to be mid every round, fighting for map control, and I'm perfectly fine with that as long as people are behind me trading and we end up winning the situations, still.

I think my form was definitely better than the previous events, and there's still more to work on. Obviously, burnout doesn't fix itself over three or four days and people can say we've had time as a team since like the RMR, but if you look at the schedule, that's just a blatant lie. There is no time. Even between Paris and Dallas I had three other flights, I had to travel basically the whole week to fix visas and stuff. It's not always easy, and there are a lot of things that get in the way of practice, definitely in my personal life, but I still try my best, my partner tries her best to support me, and that's the way Counter-Strike is. I feel like I'm here to play good Counter-Strike at this event and I want to put all the other events in the past.

I don't know how much you wanted to talk about it, but you mentioned it on Talking Counter that you were going to move to Malta. I'm guessing that hasn't helped with your personal situation clashing with a lot of tournaments.

I don't really like sharing so much about my personal life to the public, but it took a lot to get a visa in the first place for Germany and I'm thankful that I had a year to stay, but eventually my time ran out and there's not much that could have been done. I just had to find a solution and before my time in Germany expires I have to find a new home, and luckily Malta is very welcoming to esports and my partner was able to get in contact with the government people in Malta and figure out a visa situation for me. At least that is figured out now and at least for next season I'm perfectly fine to not worry about that stuff and I can just focus on the game.

This whole burnout and fatigue topic has been talked about by you guys, and you especially, for some time now, and this is the end of that run. We're at the end of the season and your fourth tournament in a row. Does it feel you're just finishing the season out without energy, or what's the feeling like coming into the BLAST Premier Spring Final energy-wise and how much are you prepared to go far again?

I'm prepared to make another final run. I think the team is. Personally, I don't like that feeling of just coming into an event and going through the motions, I feel like that's just a complete waste and it's very unprofessional. I don't want to feel that again. Dallas was better, I think we were very energetic as a team and emotionally invested, and I think this event is going to be no different because we don't know what lies on the other side of the player break. Is it CS2 or is it CS:GO or what not, and knowing this could be the last CS:GO event we want to make a point here, and that's what we're gonna try to do.

Speaking on the future, there is this uncertainty hanging around the entire CS scene. There are a lot of teams that seem to be at least considering changes heading into the off-season, and with CS2 around the corner, everybody is looking at 'how can we be the ones that will start it in the best way.' Is FaZe also considering that, is there any chance we could see any changes inside the team over the player break?

No, no changes. I think it's been talked about already in the team. Everyone enjoys playing with each other and we have great team chemistry and it's something we're not gonna take for granted. I think we like how it is and we know we're just kind of exhausted and it's been difficult to invest so much energy into the game. We're just going to try our best here and hope for the best. Unless there's something I don't know about, but I'm pretty talkative in the team and vocal, so at the moment I can see that there's no changes.