karrigan: “We should never put to bed the demons of the Major, it’s a good reminder”

The anguished photos of karrigan from the IEM Rio Major will live long in the memory. Dumped out of the tournament 0-3 by a Bad News Eagles side who were not even top-20 at the time, as a pre-tournament favourite, having taken a gamble in the veto that backfired horribly.

They have risen from the ashes of that defeat here in Copenhagen in a blaze of glory, finding once again all of the elements that made them indominable in big events at the start of the year; the seemingly impossible clutches of Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool, the elite AWPing of Helvijs “⁠broky⁠” Saukants, the ability to come back from any situation.

With a grand-final matchup against Heroic in front of a crowd of his countrymen on the horizon, karrigan provided HLTV with some insight into how FaZe have turned around their recent struggles, what this tournament win would mean for the team, and the experience of playing in front of a home crowd.

Does this run go some way towards putting the demons of the Major to bed?

I think the demons of the Major we should never put to bed, it’s a good reminder that no matter what, it’s gonna be rough sometimes and it’s gonna be up and down, so let us turn the demons to angels (laughs). Let’s play and enjoy tomorrow, we have a chance to win the fifth title of this year, and if we don’t then it’s the first time we lose this year in the final. We’re going to do everything we can to prove how good we are, Heroic have shown really good consistency in the last month.

How hard would it have been to go into the off-season on a bad note?

Going into the off-season on a bad note is obviously rough, we had high expectations, we all have that, but I also think it showcases how strong this team is. The start of the second season hasn’t been good, finishing with an 0-3 at the Major and not going deep would obviously be devastating, but we have two tournaments, this is the first and we are in the final. It would be fantastic to cross one off my list, winning here in Copenhagen.

How special would it be to get it done in Denmark?

To do it here in Denmark, especially without Astralis here, feeling a real home crowd and with all my friends and family here, it would mean something special. It’s not something to think about now, but tomorrow if I’m lifting a trophy it would be a fantastic experience.

What do you think was needed to turn it around? If there was one thing you could point to that was different this tournament from the Major, what would it be?

Funnily enough I don’t think there’s any difference. I think the bootcamp we had, the preparation and the map pool we had for the Major was good, everything looks good and we come in, 24 hours later and we’re out. One off day, not finishing off a strong comeback from Bad News Eagles, and we go out. It was not in it for us that tournament. Coming here we just said it happens, let’s play exactly the same stuff we have, we hadn’t showed much, we only played five maps, and so far it turned out really good. Obviously we had some issues on Overpass today, but I think we will manage to fix those issues for tomorrow.

How key has it been getting broky back into form? He seems to be the guy who, at this tournament compared to the previous few, has seen the biggest change, he is back to playing some of his best CS.

I think broky is a key component of our team, but also the clutches from ropz today on Nuke, at 15-14. Seeing broky back in that form is obviously very important for the team, and I’m so happy to see. He started the year with a good MVP, and if he could finish off the year here with a high performance… we know how good he is, he showcased that over the last four days here in Copenhagen.

Last question, what are your thoughts on the Heroic matchup?

The Heroic matchup is going to be very interesting, obviously they are fired up, we beat them in the group stage and I think they are very hungry to beat us here in the Royal Arena infront of all the Danish fans. I think it’s going to be a very hard match, interested to see if it’s going to be the same maps or not, we will have to wait and see. I think we are ready, I think they are ready, so let’s enjoy a really good final. I’m looking forward to playing them and I love to be in this situation where pressure is the highest, it’s where I thrive the most. Let’s see if we can win the fifth title of the year.