broky on second part of the season: I definitely didn’t have the same amount of motivation as at the start of the year

FaZe Clan entered 2022 in top form despite just having made a roster change at the end of their disappointing 2021 year. Robin “ropz” Kool’s arrival to the team was felt immediately as the FaZe squad went on to mark a successful debut in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, before taking Katowice by storm. A month later, ESL Pro League Season 15 kicked off, and FaZe found themselves in a deep hole after getting handed a 0-2 start to their group. However, they dug themselves out, as they went on to secure three series victories to make it to the playoffs where they took down NAVI in the quarter-finals and ENCE in the final.

FaZe didn’t seem to let the foot off the pedal as their dominant form continued and the roster went on to win the first Major in Antwerp, beating NAVI in the grand final of the event. But, just like many other Major champions before them, FaZe found themselves faltering at the next two events, which were in Dallas and Lisbon. A second place at the online Roobet Cup followed, and the FaZe roster started to find their title-winning form, which they showcased at the IEM Cologne, where once again took down NAVI in a grand final. Karrigan’s men ended the first part of the season as the No.1 team in the world, being just one tournament victory away from the Intel Grand Slam title. However, when the second part of the season kicked off, FaZe weren’t able to get their rhythm going.

“I think the ‘biggest’ issue is that we made a deal to shave our heads if we win the Major, but everyone that agreed to do it chickened out. So most of us agreed to do it after Cologne win, but the same thing happened. So, I think what prevented us from bringing home more trophies is karma.”

– broky told HLTV in an interview.

When the IEM Rio Major came, FaZe hoped that they had been able to solve their issues to enter the tournament in good form, but they didn’t as they got eliminated from the biggest event of the year with a 0-3 record, just two days in.

“But if being for real, then I think everyone reacts differently after winning so many tournaments in a short period, especially ending the first part of the season on a high note. We don’t have any sports psychologist or any of that, so personally, I definitely didn’t have the same amount of motivation as at the start of the year until I got hit with a reality check at Rio. We went out as fast as we arrived there.” – broky said to HLTV.

The realization of lacked motivation helped FaZe become better in the next small period of time, in which broky showed excellent form despite his team getting bested by Heroic in the grand final of the BLAST Premier Fall Final. At BLAST Premier World Final, FaZe missed out on their last chance to grab silverware after getting eliminated in the semi-finals of the event.

Even though broky and company didn’t continue their title-winning form in the second part of the season, the Latvian AWPer still made it into the Top 6 of HLTV’s World Player Ranking, thanks to many of his outstanding performances in the biggest events of the year.