Ropz on jokes about his Porsche: "It's very personal. It's a part of my life every day, and now people make fun of it. I don't find it funny" Exclusive
Back at IEM Cologne 2024, FaZe Clan managed to make an insane comeback against Team Liquid. The team was down 1:11 on the deciding map of Mirage, yet overcame the opponents in a spectacular fashion, knocking them out of the tournament. We had a few words with Robin "ropz" Kool about it and how community jokes about his Porsche 911 Turbo S.
— Last month karrigan said that FaZe didn't have the same will to win, as it was in 2022-2023. In your mind, what caused that?
— We always have the will to win. I would say it comes down to form. We played really loose, we don't have much of a structure, and we rely a lot on individuals. When we don't have players in good form, it doesn't work as well. When you watch the game, it might look really bad: We just die one by one, and there seems to be no plan. There is always a plan, obviously, but with a bit of a difference.
We play sort of old school CS, when we're often kind of playing on feeling. Then karrigan is calling around it, not much micromanaging, which is opposite to what he's been doing recently. It's just hard to come into the game with the same mentality, when you have this kind of form.
— Speaking about your form right now, did that insane comeback against Liquid improved your killer instinct?
— Of course it's better after the game against Liquid. If you play bad 2 or 3 months, you feel down as a person, as a team. It does take one tournament to get back into the rhythm. That comeback in itself is a big thing for the team. It shows that we can achieve big results. In a way that we weren't not dominating Liquid, but we were able to make an insane comeback. It happens once in a thousand or million [matches]. We're just finding ourselves again, and getting one good result bringing you back to the rhythm.
— Nobody did a comeback like that before in CS2 tournaments. What did you feel after the match?
— I was at peace after the match, feeling happy and speechless. And then, on the other side of the server there was Twistzz, who was a great teammate we have before, so on that side, we felt a bit sorry for them. They were about to close it out, they had their own comeback on Nuke and an insane first half on Mirage. We did it ourselves, it felt really good and then, I look on the other side and it's feels kinda bad. But then again, that's just CS, you know. There is always a winner and a loser. That's all.
— There was a moment when broky showed middle fingers to Liquid. Was it just an emotion, or is there a beef with Liquid?
— That was definitely just emotions, it was vibes. He did it in a pistol round and then after the game. I think, in a pistol round we were trying to be happy, because we were 1:11. And we were like, "Let us have a moment," because we were destroyed the whole game. He was about staying positive, with good vibes, and finding something in the game, because we couldn't do it on the T side.
When he did it after the game, some people thought it was toxic. I mean, what can we do, it was such a comeback. It's also friendly, I would say; Twistzz is a player we played with, and we know them. If I was them, it would feel pretty strange, coming from 11:1 and losing this in that matter. So I definitely understand if a person would feel bad about it. Again, it's just CS, it's okay. It was nothing negative in our perspective.
— Was this match a personal thing to you? And what do you think about the news that Twistzz became Liquid's IGL?
— The match wasn't personal for me. Maybe for some players it could, I have no idea. It was pretty ordinary, maybe you could tell a bit how they play because you played with him, you know how their mind works and how they approach the game. That can always play into it and there might be a lot of mind games in the match.
And Twistzz, he has a deep mind for CS. He is what you'd call spongy, absorbing a lot of information. He likes to use everything he can to learn. And I think it is what he wants to do. I think IGL is maybe a natural step for him. So far he's been getting great results. They beat NAVI twice at BLAST, who is a number 1 team now. First signs are very good for them. Maybe in 6 months it will be much better or worse. We just have to see.
— There was that story on X, back to 2022, you helped zont1x to buy a PC when he came to Estonia, but you never talked about it. Was it true?
— Yea, it's true. I didnt think about it that much. A couple guys I knew from Estonia were organizing tournaments and doing stuff for the esports scene in the country. They asked me if I could help this kid from Ukraine to get a setup. I just said "Yes". It was something I could do to help. Now people make jokes about it. Like, what's next? Am I gonna help another kid and he will beat us like Spirit in Katowice? That was pretty interesting and strange. But I'm happy to help, and I think only good things happened from it.
— Did you and zont1x talk about it?
— No, we didn't talk. I just said, it was such a small thing. It just happened, it is what it is.
— People joke how your stats went down after you bought your car. Does it irritate you a little bit?
— Of course. I feel like it's very personal. It's a part of my life every day, and now people make fun of it. It's not nice, but if people find it funny, it is what it is. I don't find it funny.
— What do you think about your car? Do you like it? Was it a childhood dream?
— No, the way I look at it, I'm a regular guy. I like great food, steaks, and cars. I'm just a regular dude. I'm in a position where I can enjoy my life. But I really wouldn't want to do it when I hit 50. I want to buy a sports car when I'm young, to enjoy it. That's how I see it.