If we go back a bit earlier in the year, after the ELEAGUE Major, FaZe’s results became better and better until you won the StarLadder finals. What did this victory represent to you? Was it “finally” a confirmation that you could build a career out of France?

This victory was something I had been expecting for a long time, it had been a while since I last lifted a trophy. I think that anyone can succeed out of France given that they try hard for it. If they learn the language that everyone else speaks. Right now, I don’t make any difference between succeeding within a French team or an international team. My heart goes to France and will always remain there.

"It had been a while since I last lifted a trophy"

At that time, a trio started standing out on the international scene: SK, Astralis and FaZe. Those three teams often met during the finals, and often faced each other. Was there a real rivalry with them? What were the differences in playing one team or the other?

It’s true that at that time, we were facing these teams a lot, many victories against Astralis and many defeats against SK. These are two teams with two very different gameplays, and I don’t know why, but we never had any problem beating Astralis, contrary to SK.

You came to the PGL Major after reaching a top 2 at the ECS finals, and a top 3/4 at the ESL One Cologne. What was your mindset? How could you lose three matches that everyone expected you to win?

Hmm...our mindset...was very unusual. I don’t think the difficulties we faced during the Major were due to the fact that we were careless, or due to our game. I think something just broke between us, outside of the game. The communication and the relationship between the players became more complicated. I won’t explain in details, but nowadays, the communication and relationships are more important than the game itself. Proof is our amazing performance at the Major :D

After the Major, did you start feeling that changes were coming? Or did you make a debriefing like always, as if it was just another failure?

The atmosphere after a big loss like this one is always very difficult. We had a long debriefing, but a few days later we could sense that something was up.

Finally two weeks later, GuardiaN joined the team and allu left. At that time, did you think you position was also in danger? There were already rumors about olofmeister replacing you.

I didn’t think I was in any danger after GuardiaN came, even if I had completely failed the Major.

End of August, the rumors became true and olof took your place within the team. When did you hear the news? What was your reaction?

I knew for sure that olof would take my place the day before the official announcement. My reaction? Very disappointed. Not with the decision to take olof, I understand the opportunity they saw to have one of the best players of 2014-2015, that couldn’t perform as good in his current team and needed change. But I was disappointed with the way it happened. Informing me the day before when all the other teams had already made their own changes, brought their players...Well, that put me in a difficult situation, with no satisfying solution and no team for the new season.

The deadline for the roster of various leagues was approaching, did some teams (like OpTiC, who took an european roster) contact you at this moment? If so, why did you refuse their offer?

Some organisations came to me. Regarding OpTiC, I was briefly contacted by a player but I didn’t follow it up because I couldn’t see myself in this team.

At the end of the day, you only encountered one big failure with FaZe, the Major. Do you think it justified the changes that came after that? Couldn’t you overpass this failure?

I think we could have gotten over it, but unfortunately, CS doesn’t work like this. The simpler solution is to replace the players to solve the “problems” quickly and to move on to something new.

Overall, you spent over one year with FaZe. What do you specially retain from those 15 months? Is it playing with beasts like NiKo and rain? The difficulties encountered at the Major? The rise to the top during Spring 2017?

I had many great memories since I started to play with FaZe. This adventure helped me grow, and learn more about myself. I also learnt to speak english. I’d say it allowed me to become a better human being, to meet and live with people I could have never met otherwise.

"It allowed me to meet and live with people I could have never met otherwise."

At the DH Malmö, karrigan told us that “only olofmeister could replace kio”. Do you agree with that? Do you think olof and you have the same role?

I don’t think he meant to say we had the same role, as I didn’t really have one with FaZe. The way I was supposed to play wasn’t really natural for me I guess. I was the one in charge of doing what others were not willing to do. For example, if I had to play lurker during a setup, I would do it. If the team needed someone to do this or that, it was my “role” to do it.

FaZe won the ESL One NY 2017 in a dominating fashion with this new line-up, have you watched a bit their games? Do you think they can dominate the scene in the next few months?

Yes I watched the games and they have been impressive throughout the tournament. But it’s not really a surprise, the talent in this roster is huge, and if the five are in top form, this is what can happen. I hope they can maintain that level in order to dominate the scene.

Currently, what is your situation? Are you still under contract with FaZe or are you a free agent, waiting for offers to come? We see you streaming quite often those days, is it temporary or can you do it on a long term if you don’t get any offer from a team?

For now, I’m still under contract with FaZe. I jumped back onto streaming to keep a link with the viewers as you can’t compete without a team :D . I’ll keep streaming until I join a team I can see myself in.

Would it be a chance for you to join a French team or isn’t it one of your goal?

As previously said, I’d like to play for a French team, but which one is going to change a player these days? There’s no reason for G2 to change a player. Same goes for EnVy who’s constantly improving.

Let’s talk about something else now. We saw you on “Arte” (a franco-german tv channel) this summer, in a documentary called “esport keeps you alive” and shot during the IEM Katowice. How did they contact you? What do you think of tv channels getting more and more interested in the esport “phenomenon”?

There weren’t any contact before the shooting. At the IEM Katowice, I was walking to the press room for interviews and they just asked me if I was interested to be a part of their documentary and I said “why not?”. Promoting the game and esport in general is our objective as a player. It’s a good thing TV is interested in esport. It’s something youth knows about those days, they talk about it, they watch streams and they play. It’s a global phenomenon and being able to watch it on TV is just the next step.

Thanks a lot for your answers! If you have a last word, it’s time!

Talking about team, I’m open to any proposition from EU/NA. I want to play! Reach me out at fabienfiey@gmail.com ;)