ropz: "It smells like victory in this hotel"

Continuing with Dust2.us' interviews at the PGL Antwerp Major, Ryan Friend was able to catch up with Robin "ropz" Kool shortly after his 2-0 victory over NAVI. The two spoke about FaZe's grand final series versus the CIS titans, his blockbuster move to FaZe and how it feels to join the exclusive Major champions club.

So, ropz, you just 2-0'd NAVI, one of the best teams in the world. Inferno got a little bit out of hand, what was happening there and how were you guys trying to stay in it?

Well, I think personally that in NAVI's comeback, I had a few whiffs and so on, I could have made a difference in those rounds for sure but I think they played well, they read our defense good and they got into sites extremely well and I think that's just props to them. I could have made a difference but I can't take it away from NAVI there. We were joking after the match that we're doing the anti-Boston, we're coming back (laughs), but it was a tough one, we all live for matches like that, that's CS and we all love it.

It was really working for you on the T-side, obviously, you jumped out to a massive lead but what was Karrigan calling, what had you guys known heading into that?

I'm having a tough time remembering to be honest (laughs). But, I think in the beginning, obviously, we won the pistol round, and then we won the bonus round with Galils and SMGs and that was crucial because we had so much money in the bank after that one. And then, it was just smooth sailing and NAVI didn't have an answer for our T-side in the beginning. We just took them captive and props to fucking rain, he played out of his mind. This guy, all credit to him, especially in this matchup, but yeah it feels so good to have a team that anyone can perform on and it's amazing to play on a team like this.

Now going onto Nuke, you guys were really strong on there as well, what were your keys to success going into that map, did you expect Nuke to be picked?

Well, first of all, we did the veto and Karrigan let us know that it's Inferno and Nuke for the first two maps. We were expecting Dust2 from NAVI, we knew that it's their comfort map and they've been winning versus good teams, but yeah, that was a curveball. I mean what can I say? We still have a 100% win rate on that map. I guess we felt like they had a lot of anti-strats since we played it a lot and we've had a lot of success on it. So yeah, we could feel that they came in prepared but again, there was a rain show on the CT-side, and I think they won the force buy after they won the T pistol, and then it got kind of tight, but I think when it mattered most, we stepped up. I think Karrigan had some superb calling on the T-side of Nuke and that's mostly why we came back so swiftly on the T-side.

At what point during that game were you like, "We're actually going to fucking win this thing"?

I mean, kind of when it got to Nuke. Because, obviously, after winning Inferno, for us, the next two maps were Nuke and Ancient, and we haven't lost them yet with me on the team, so I was just oozing with confidence personally. I was sure that the only we lost this is because of ourselves in that scenario. And yeah, we did it like usual, we punished them on Nuke, and when Karrigan started calling like crazy on the T-side, we did double or triple fakes, I think that brought us over the line for sure.

You moved to FaZe, how has it been since joining this team? You guys as a whole squad have been on an upwards trajectory, is this the first of many trophies you foresee yourselves having?

Oh for sure, I mean this is already the third one (laughs), so it's so hard to even process this. Leaving MOUZ, coming into a squad with a bit more hopes and dreams, and then instantly everything clicks. We got everything figured out and that's just indescribable. I'm just speechless on that end. It just shows that this is the best move I could have done, and I'm so happy I went down this path and I'm so excited to continue this journey - for sure more to come.

And one last final question, this has been a moment you've wanted your entire life and now it's happening, what's going through your head as it finally came true?

Yeah, I mean waking up today, I came into the hotel and I was like.. "It kind of smells like victory in this hotel". Also, a funny thing, when I went to the hotel, I opened my wallet, and I found a piece of golden confetti and that was like, I don't know, a little bit of an omen. It played a nice thing to me, but yeah, winning the Major, it's a dream come true for any of us, so it goes without saying, we're all so fucking glad to win this tournament and to make history, and being the first international team to do so. And yeah, I'm also hyped for that golden badge on CS:GO, I'm hyped for that!

FaZe are currently on their way to compete in IEM Dallas, where they'll be looking to add a fourth trophy to their cabinet. They kick off their campaign with an opening BO1 matchup versus the Australian side, Looking For Org, on Monday at 01:10PM.