In an explosive return to the podcast “Talking Counter”, Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill spilled the beans on the recent news about the benching of Justin "jks" Savage, while also revealing some of the transfers that fell apart amid Nikola "NiKo" Kovač’s rejection of Falcons.

In the podcast, Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill shares some insight into what happened in the time before the news of Justin "jks" Savage’s benching was announced.

- They weren't even talking to Justin for weeks at a time. After [IEM] Sydney he was messaging the management of the team and nobody was replying to him. He's in Australia right now and he was trying to work out when he had to get back to Europe for practice and his manager was ghosting him for weeks at a time. I think is just amateur hour. That is dogshit that is.

Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill and Justin "jks" Savage are old teammates from 2014-2016 at Vox Eminor and Renegades.

NiKo, huNter, and m0nesy were all on their way out

The irony of Justin "jks" Savage’s benching is also being highlighted by his countryman in the podcast.

- It’s so crazy how much everything changed, because after [IEM] Sydney, huNter is meant to go to Vitality, NiKo is meant to be going to Falcons, and m0NESY wants to join Cloud9. And now they are all still there, and Justin is not.

Later on, SPUNJ also talks about some of the other roster moves, that are about to take place.

- So, you can see this cascade effect. Twistzz goes to Liquid. Frozen goes to FaZe. Who goes to MOUZ? Snappi has left ENCE, so they are left with NertZ, Madden, Dycha, and SunPayus. Nertz would have gone to G2 by the way, if NiKo had gone to Falcons, Burchill tells in the podcast, which you can listen to down below.

1:01:48: huNter, NiKo, and m0NESY transfers

[youtube:32NzCAcsAx0?si=T0zgCw4kuhlzQWIx]

G2 Esports

After two big results at IEM Cologne and IEM Katowice, "HooXi" and his troops at G2 have made sure that everybody knows just how scary G2 can be. With players like "NiKo", "m0nesy", and "huNter-" on the roster, it is no surprise that many regard G2 as the strongest roster in the world. Having now proven their ability to win big events, G2 are among the favorites to win every event that comes their way. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"video-best-moments-from-iem-cologne-2023-playoffs","isNewTab":true}]

We spoke with Justin "jks" Savage about G2's upcoming run at the ESL Pro League Season 18. When asked about his competition, the Australian rifler said the following: 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/jks_G2_IEM_Katowice_uyfqhg","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michal Konkol and ESL"}]

The first team standing in the way of G2 advancing to the playoffs is Lynn Vision. Currently ranked number 60 in the world, according to the official HLTV rankings, Lynn Vision should not pose any real difficulty for "jks" and his teammates, despite the heavy pressure of being favorites in the matchup. 

G2 were not always this scary of an opponent to face. For quite some time, the roster had difficulty with transforming their obvious firepower and individual ability into championship titles and continuous results. When asked about the transformation from a good team to a championship-winning team, "jks" pointed towards bonding as a big part of it. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/hooxi_nqxrlq","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL Adela Sznajder"}]

With great results at some of the biggest events throughout the year, "jks" and G2 have cemented themselves as one of the absolute best CS:GO teams in the world. When asked about the year so far, as well as the current desire to win more, the 27-year-old rifler said the following: 

G2 will look to get a strong start to the ESL Pro League Season 18 when they face Lynn Vision later today (September 20th.). The two rosters are set to lock horns at 16.00 (EST) in a story of David and Goliath. 

You can watch the interview with "jks" in its entirety down below: 

Before Justin “jks” Savage joined G2 in August last year, the European team had not lifted a trophy since 2019 despite having brought in the likes of Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov.

Now seven months later, G2 sits safely on top of the world ranking with two massive tournament victories at BLAST Premier World Final and IEM Katowice having racked up more than $1 million dollar in prize earnings.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"day-1-epl-s17-playoffs-is-done-dusted","isNewTab":true}]

The importance of jks and his arrival has also been acknowledged by his G2 teammates with NiKo handing out some heavy praise towards jks in a post-match interview at ESL Pro League yesterday.  

- We knew what we would get from jks [when he signed] and we knew what we were missing. He was definitely the type of player we missed the most. He’s a very stable player, a very good anchor who you always can rely on, NiKo said and started to praise jks’ current form:

- He just needed some time to get comfortable in the team and now he’s doing better and better. Ever since Abu Dhabi [BLAST Premier World Final], his numbers have been growing. jks has always been a good player… I just feel like he hasn’t been set in the right place ever since he left 100 Thieves. But I think now he’s getting back to his peak level from when he was at 100 Thieves.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"niko-getting-top-5-am-sure-fully-deserve","isNewTab":true}]

In the chat following G2’s dominant playoff win over Movistar Riders, NiKo also touched on the great success they are having, where he especially highlights a strong work ethic within this current roster.

- This lineup is working much harder than any of my past rosters throughout my entire career. And it feels good to finally achieve this, but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. We are just starting something good, but there are still a lot of things to accomplish before I can say “yeah this is the G2 era”.

- We are very humble when we are playing and we are working very smartly as well, so it’s going really well so far.

You can watch the entire interview with NiKo down below. 

[youtube:DQyYB8c6gxI?feature=share&t=10021]

After beating the Spaniards from Movistar Riders 2-0 in the first round of the playoff at ESL Pro League Season 17, NiKo and G2 are set to go up against ENCE in the next round. That matchup will be played today at 15:30 (CET).

NiKo

Justin “jks” Savage has written his name in the history books of Counter-Strike as the Aussie lifted his second IEM Katowice trophy yesterday following G2’s incredible 3-1 Grand Final victory over Heroic.

Winning back-to-back titles in one of CS:GO’s most prestigious and most historic tournaments is without of doubt a stellar achievement. But it would not have happened if FaZe had not reached out to him last year when they needed a stand-in, jks explains.

-It’s a surreal feeling. One and a half years ago, I had no idea that I would win the first one [together with FaZe], let alone win two in a row, jks said on the [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/live/pZLK1wZNN_s?feature=share&t=24466","isNewTab":true,"text":"broadcast"}].

-I have to give a special shoutout to FaZe — without them I don’t think G2 would have noticed me earlier and picked me up, and without them I probably wouldn’t be playing in an international team. I love those guys so much and they gave me the opportunity to play again.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"faze-reveal-jks-stand-in-iem-katowice","isNewTab":true}]

One thing to pinpoint on jks so far in 2023, and especially at IEM Katowice, is the improvement of his individual game and impact on the server. By averaging an outstanding 1.24 Rating throughout the event, the Aussie rifler was a key part of the title run, in which he also earned the DHL MVP medal.  

- I’m not the same type of player that I use to be. Nowadays I go for a lot more risks, I’m doing a lot more things on the server, and people are giving me more space. And I think as a team we’re just getting way more comfortable together inside and outside the game, and that’s just boosting everyone’s individual game honestly.

jks and his remarkable comeback to the very top of CS:GO hasn’t gone unnoticed either with analyst Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez praising him immensely for his resurrection.

- jks was in a bit of a no man’s land. He came in and stood-in for FaZe - of course, the rest is history. And now he’s the back-to-back champion of IEM Katowice and the DHL MVP. This is so mind-blowing how his life has changed in the last 12 months.  

You can watch the entire desk segment with jks down below. 

[youtube:pZLK1wZNN_s?feature=share&t=24466]

FaZe

G2 took down FaZe Clan to secure themselves a spot in the playoffs at Spodek arena. A well-fought fight gave G2 the upper hand in their match-up against their rivals in FaZe. With Justin "jks" Savage playing lights out FaZe stood no chance as they got dominated by G2 2-0. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"g2-extends-winning-streak-nine","isNewTab":true}]

After their victory against FaZe NiKo had high praise toward jks.

- Justin just won us the game with a couple of clutches and the multi-kills that he had. It was a good game, we didn't expect them to play that slow, they played a good game but Justin saved us in the end. 

Watch the full clip with NiKo right here:

[twitchClip:StormyWrongHornetPanicVis-Cwh6AKAiMKeowwGT]

jks among highest performing players at IEM Katowice:

[slugORMA:{"slug":"jks-among-highest-performing-players-iem-katowice","isNewTab":true}]

The IEM Katowice 2023 event is currently ongoing in Katowice, Poland and the competition is fierce as 14 teams are back competing for their share of the $1,000,000 prize pool. Among the stand-out performers so far is the player known as jks, who has been making waves and impressing audiences with his exceptional plays.  

The 27-year-old Aussie player from G2, has consistently been demonstrating his mastery of the game, and his impressive level of Counter-Strike has put himself among the highest performing players at the tournament.

Here’s the Top players from IEM Katowice 2023 so far:

1.     ZywOo (Vitality) – 1.49 Rating | 2 Maps

2.     Jabbi (Heroic) – 1.35 Rating | 3 Maps

3.     electroNic (NAVI) – 1.34 Rating | 4 Maps

4.     jks (G2) – 1.32 Rating | 4 Maps

5.     Jame (Outsiders) – 1.28 Rating | 3 Maps

6.     NAF (Liquid) – 1.28 Rating | 4 Maps

7.     s1mple (NAVI) – 1.27 Rating | 4 Maps

8.     sjuush (Heroic) – 1.26 Rating | 3 Maps

The Grand final of IEM Katowice 2023 will be held on Sunday, February 6th at 16:00 (CET). With such talented players like jks in the running, it promises to be a thrilling conclusion to the event.   

We look back at the last big event of the year, where some of CS:GO biggest stars went head to head for the $500.000 in first prize.

In the Grand Final, it was G2 who lifted the trophy. The star-studded roster also had four of five players in the top 8 best-performing players at the tournament. You can see the top 10 list here.

Highest-rated players at BLAST World Finals 2022:

m0NESY

Twistzz

degster

ropz

ZywOo

huNter

k0nfig

EliGE

With a superb performance in the Grand Final of BLAST World Finals in Abu Dhabi, G2 won the last event of the year and the $500.000 in first prize.

The win came in at what seemed like the darkest hour of G2’s 2022. After missing out on playing at IEM Rio, the roster was knocked out of the BLAST Fall Finals before reaching the Arena in Copenhagen. On top of that, the team has had some “shitty prac days” according to in-game leader Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen leading up to the Worlds Finals in Abu Dhabi. But if that wasn’t enough, a personal tragedy struck HooXi shortly before the start of the tournament with the untimely death of his father.

The phrase it’s darkest before the dawn has probably never applied better to any winning team in CS:GO, than G2 in Abu Dhabi.

Against Team Liquid G2 came out firing on all cylinders on their T-side. Inferno was almost over before it had started with Justin 'jks' Savage starring as the main aggressor. He won his direct duel against NAF 9-0 during Inferno which left the Canadian scratching his head in despair. G2 took their own map 16-7 before heading on to Mirage.

Again it was jks doing damage for G2. The Australian has been one of the keys missing for G2 in previous events, where the performances as been below of what could have been expected from the talented player. But today he was on fire.

G2 took a 9-6 lead into the second half where they immediately won the pistol round and converted the following round to get a good push to the victory.

For Team Liquid the Grand Final was the preliminary culmination of an upwards-trending second part of the season, where the permanent addition of Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis has paid off big time for the NA team, which is looking like a roster to count in among the favorites of winning titles next year.

But today in Abu Dhabi, Team Liquid didn’t have the answers ready. G2 continued to find gaps in the defense of Liquid and won the Grand Final at BLAST World Finals. The first big trophy for m0NESY, HooXi, and huNter- in their respective careers. 

G2 Esports – Team Liquid 2-0 | BLAST Premier World Finals

16-7 (Inferno) {cflag:AU} jks – 1.59 Rating / 21-9 K-D / 95.7 ADR

16-12 (Mirage) | {cflag:BA} NiKo – 1.29 Rating / 22-15 K-D / 79.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:AU} Justin 'jks' Savage - 1.35 Rating / 40-24 K-D / 83.0 ADR

Team Liquid

Have you ever thought about what professional Counter-Strike players are doing when preparing for a big tournament? Posted on G2´s own Youtube channel, the players and staff are preparing for the last big tournament in 2022. BLAST World Finals are on the calendar for eight top teams in the world, who will be competing for a World Final trophy as well as $1,000,000 in prize pool.

Many fans in the community believe that CSGO players spend every hour on the server practicing executes and retakes to best their opponents, but in reality, the players from G2 use team building and mental performance as a big part of their training before going into top-tier tournaments. A 2022 year with ups and downs from the mixed European team now leads to one last tournament with hopes to give something back to all the fans who have witnessed G2 crumble on the big stage in recent tournaments. 

No days off, give you an insight into how G2 uses their time preparing for World Finals. Watch the VLOG, produced by the G2 team down below:

HooXi

As already reported in multiple places, G2 has acquired Justin "jks" Savage from Complexity and Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen from Copenhagen Flames in a deal to replace Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen and Audric "JACKZ" Jug.

The two new players were revealed in a video, where G2 addressed several of the usual memes about the roster, including Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač being the man in charge of the roster.

The change of roster comes after a disappointing run in 2022, where the team ended up crashing out of the group stage at IEM Cologne just before the summer break. While the signing of Justin "jks" Savage was somewhat expected, meanwhile the transfer of new in-game leader Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen from Copenhagen Flames is being debated among experts, analysts, and the community. 

On G2's website, the Organization describes their new Danish in-game leader like this.

- Our other signing, HooXi (who?), is an experienced IGL who has qualified for back-to-back Majors and is ready to help G2 win one. His cool comms and insane entry frags have us watering at the mouth as we await his G2 debut.

G2 will play their first match with the new roster at BLAST Fall Groups on Saturday when they face Team Liquid.

Copenhagen Flames

compLexity Gaming

Whilst G2 have definitely looked scary under the reign of IGL "Aleksib", the star-studded European roster had issues with remaining consistent and fell short of the expectations numeral times. Seeking to further strengthen the roster, finalize the puzzle that is the G2 roster, and cement themselves as a real contender against the likes of FaZe and NaVi, G2 have recently put their active roster through an overhaul. A piece to the puzzle that will hopefully help stabilize the core of the roster is the newly signed "jks". 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"media-g2-acquire-jks-from-complexity","isNewTab":true}]

Whilst having a rough go at things in the past year or two, the Australian menace has proven many times that he has what it takes to compete at the highest of levels. Left alone in a lurk-role, there are few as dangerous as "jks" if he is feeling himself. Take a look at some of the highlights created by the brilliant Australian rifler throughout the years of his career: 

Justin “jks” Savage is reportedly on the way to sign for G2 according to sources gathered by [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142354-jks-to-join-g2-esports","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr "}]and [link:{"url":"https://www.dexerto.com/csgo/sources-g2-set-to-sign-jks-to-csgo-team-1885168/","isNewTab":true,"text":"Dexerto"}]. The profiled Aussie is therefore set to leave Complexity, where he has been benched since November last year.

The reports state that jks will replace Audric “JACKZ” Jug on the roster after the Frenchman was allowed to seek options outside of G2 nine days ago. 

jks haven’t played many official CS:GO matches here in 2022 following his benching on Complexity towards the end of last year. Yet, the 26-year-old has still managed to win a trophy when he stood in for FaZe at IEM Katowice, where he ended up playing a huge role for the Finn “karrigan” Andersen-led squad.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"g2-set-rebuild-aleksib-jackz-allowed-explore-options","isNewTab":true}]

{cflag:BA} Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač

{cflag:FR} Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug (transfer-listed)

{cflag:FI} Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen (transfer-listed)

{cflag:FR} Kenny "⁠kennyS⁠" Schrub (benched)

[slugORMA:{"slug":"analyst-jks-price-tag-no-is-going-pay-amount-money","isNewTab":true}]

Aleksib

JaCkz

G2 is set to rebuild its roster once again with Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and Audric “JACKZ” Jug both looking to leave the team after a lackluster 2022 season. Looking at the market of free agents and benched players, an individual like Justin “jks” Savage stands out as one of the most prominent names.

CS:GO analyst and former Renegades coach, Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović can also see jks as a very good solution for G2. However, there’s only one problem – the price. In an [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXgmYFFMIDU","isNewTab":true,"text":"episode"}] of “Snake and Banter” with [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/Thorin","isNewTab":true,"text":"Duncan 'Thorin' Shields"}] and [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/Mauisnake","isNewTab":true,"text":"Alex 'Mauisnake' Ellenberg"}], [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/kassad","isNewTab":true,"text":"kassad"}] touched on a potential transfer of the Aussie to G2.

You can watch the entire episode of "Snake and Banter" with Thorin, mauisnake and kassad in the video down below. 

It is almost like watching a movie! The comments on this Youtube video speak for themselves.

The setting is no less than the Grand Final at IEM Katowice 2022. FaZe is playing with their stand-in Justin "jks" Savage, who comes up clutch in this play with three kills.

FaZe went on to win the tournament defeating G2 3-0 after three incredible close maps.

After OG's impressive upset over s1mple and the rest of NAVI at BLAST Spring Final Lisbon, we got the chance to speak with the man calling the shots at OG - at least on the server - Nemanja "nexa" Isakovic. 

In the interview, nexa touches on the recent rebuild of the roster, where he revealed that NEOFRAG and F1KU weren't their first options. Further down that road, the Serbian also revealed YEKINDAR's price tag on Virtus.pro. 

You can watch the entire interview down below. 

YEKINDAR

nexa

Natus Vincere

Winning IEM Katowice, one of CS:GO’s most renowned and prestigious monuments, with a stand-in on the roster?

Something which sounds quite impossible, especially with how many good teams there are right now. However, that was exactly what FaZe achieved at this year’s IEM Katowice.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"faze-secures-iem-katowice-title-after-stellar-3-0-series","isNewTab":true}]

Due to a positive Covid-19 test from Robin “ropz” Kool, Justin “jks” Savage was brought into the FaZe roster to fill out the huge gap vacated by the Estonian superstar. A decision based on a recommendation from a certain Canadian.

In the recent episode of ‘HLTV Confirmed’, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken explained how he insisted on FaZe picking jks as a replacement.

- I really had to convince RobbaN and karrigan that jks was the best fit for this team. Because they wanted to take one of the Danish players – I think it was Bubzkji and one other player. I can’t really remember, actually, Twistzz said and continued:

- I didn’t care that jks haven’t played the game for two months. I actually felt that his time on Complexity was an inaccurate representation of what he can do as a player. The system, which Complexity had, were just bad for him.

[twitchClip:InnocentNaiveFiddleheadsJKanStyle-4TaqNbhKh_lHMC2P]

You can watch the entire 'HLTV Confirmed episode with Twistzz and ropz in the video down below.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"jks-returning-australian-cs-its-something-have-consider","isNewTab":true}]

rain

karrigan

With FaZe having to play with Justin “jks” Savage as a stand-in due to the absence of Håvard “rain” Nygaard and G2 having to without their important coach Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam, both of the Grand Finalist at this year's IEM Katowice was a bit weakened going into Sunday’s title-decider.

The loss of the 33-year coach, seemed to be a bigger problem for G2 than FaZe missing their experienced Norwegian, as FaZe succeeded to 3-0 Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and company and grab the $450.000 1st prize.

The Bo5 series began on the iconic Inferno, which ended up giving the Spodek Arena and the hundreds of thousands of viewers a fantastic opener to the match. It was G2 that got off the best start as they managed to establish a stellar CT side.

With the momentum from the first half, Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and the rest of G2 went up 15-7 and looked extremely confident in taking FaZe’s first map pick. However, it didn’t look like FaZe were informed about that plan. Because with a phenomenal comeback, where the Estonian star rifler Robin “ropz” Kool stepped up massively, averaging a 2.11 Rating on the CT side, FaZe succeeded to snatch the map in front of G2’s noses.

Just look at how ropz saved FaZe to send the map onto overtime.

One would think that it would be near impossible to top the tension and entertainment from the first map on Inferno. However, that was exactly what happened on G2’s map pick of Mirage.

68. That was the number of rounds the two Grand Finalists had to fight against each other before karrigan and FaZe called game and secured an incredible 31-28 win after a super-intense series, which offered no more than five overtimes.

In the end, it was FaZe’s mercenary in Justin “jks” Savage who was the man that settled the map with an extremely important 1v1 clutch on the B site against Aleksib.

After two consecutive maps with two 11-4 half time scores, Dust2 stepped in and stopped the CT dominance, as FaZe and G2 took turns taking round one after another from each other.

The close battle continued in the second half and there wasn’t much separating the two sides – like we have seen the entire Bo5 series. With that being said, FaZe had no plans to take it all the way to a fifth map. In fact, they thought three were enough, which they cemented by winning 16-14 on Dust2, despite another heroic performance by G2's Nemanja "huNter-" Kovac. 

FaZe – G2 3-0 | IEM Katowice 2022 (Grand Final)

19-15 (Inferno) | {cflag:EE} ropz – 1.45 Rating / 32-17 K-D / 89.9 ADR

31-27 (Mirage) | {cflag:BA} huNter – 1.34 Rating / 57-44 K-D / 106.3 ADR

16-14 (Dust2) | {cflag:BA} huNter – 1.36 Rating / 29-22 K-D / 90.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:CA} Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken – 1.22 Rating / 97-82 K-D / 90.6 ADR

broky

The second quarterfinal of the day featured the defending champions of Gambit, and FaZe, who for the first time since the team was created did not have "rain" in the starting lineup as he was quarantined due to COVID. In his stead FaZe had Justin "jks" Savage, who was also the stand-in for "ropz" earlier in the tournament.

Gambit were the first to pick a map, and they unsurprisingly chose to play Dust2, which they are undefeated on in 2022.

The teams looked extremely evenly matched to kick off the map, but at the scoreline 4-4 FaZe, on the CT-side, started pulling away. “karrigan” had some great reads and calls, and the rest stepped up individually, which led FaZe to a 10-5 halftime lead.

“karrigan” and co. continued their domination as they swept the second half and took an overpowering 16-5 victory on Dust2, after a 1v4 clutch by "ropz" in round 21.

As the second map FaZe chose to play Inferno, which is the map they have the highest winrate on, while also being the map that Gambit has the lowest winrate on.

FaZe continued where they left off on Dust2 and took the early lead on the T-side. Gambit soon took over and found themselves up 8-3. In danger of being blown out in the first half, FaZe picked themselves up and clawed their way back to an 8-7 half.

Gambit took their first pistol-round of the series to start the second half but were immediately shut down by the opposition. FaZe followed it up by retaking the lead and putting themselves in a position to close out the series in two maps. Gambit didn’t manage to put together two rounds in a row in the second half, and they did not manage to stop a very confident FaZe squad. Inferno ends 16-11.

FaZe moves on to meet Heroic in the semifinal, while Gambit are knocked out of IEM Katowice 2022.

[twitchClip:esl_csgo/clip/SpookyFurryScorpionGOWSkull-2qvnj40eC9vEWnHf]

5-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:EE} ropz – 1.69 Rating / 20-8 K-D / 91.9 ADR

11-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:LV} broky – 1.61 Rating / 24-13 K-D / 102.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LV} Helvijs ”broky” Saukants - 1.39 Rating / 39-22 K-D / 84.2 ADR

Gambit Esports

FaZe were on a seven-match win streak before their loss in the upper group final at IEM Katowice against NAVI. In the match, Finn "karrigan" Andersen had a rough time on the server, which got highlighted on the last map, where the Danish in-game leader struggled during the double-overtime loss. karrigan went 9-29 in K-D on Mirage.

Asked what went through his head in the minutes after the defeat, the experienced Dane explained.

- I think it's obvious when you let your team down individually. But overall I think I did good as a leader. I tried to keep the mood up and stuff like that. It has been long days here in Katowice, and it has been tough to focus on the crosshair and stay focused for four hours with everything that has happened in the last ten days, but we made it to the playoffs, and now I have time to show, that this was not my real level.

The FaZe roster has been hit by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic with both Robin "ropz" Kool being sidelined during the first two matches, while Håvard "rain" Nygaard is the latest player to get isolated in his hotel room, where he has played the last matches from. Something that has required a lot of the Danish in-game leader who had to incorporate Justin "jks" Savage as the stand-in for ropz in the first matches.

- Yesterday was obviously an unacceptable level for me. But that happens, and I just have to look forward and have to do my best to get back in shape. But like I said, not playing four days before the tournament starts are going to hit my level more than other players. 

You can see the interview with karrigan here.

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

jks

Player stats

Articles mentioning jks

SPUNJ: G2 was ghosting jks for weeks

jks: Everyone is still hungry to win more events

NiKo on important G2 member: He was definitely the type we missed the most

jks sends a special thanks to FaZe: I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them

NiKo: Justin (jks) won us the game

jks among highest performing players at IEM Katowice

Highest rated players at BLAST World Finals

G2 end Grand Final curse and win BLAST World Finals!

Video: Come behind the scenes with NiKo and the rest of G2

jks and Hooxi signs for G2

Video: Best of G2's new signing

Media: G2 to acquire jks from Complexity

Analyst on jks price tag: No one is going to pay that amount of money for him

Video: Watch insane 2vs5 clutch from FaZe with Team Comms

nexa on OG rebuild: We tried to get YEKINDAR and jks

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