FaZe broky at ESL Pro League Season 19 – “We have a bit of an edge over everyone else”

Helvijs “broky” Saukants has seen it all in Counter-Strike. Despite being just 23 years old, he has one of the most decorated trophy cabinets in all of CS, and is approaching five years on the FaZe Clan active roster. Ahead of his appearance at ESL Pro League Season 19, we got to sit down with broky and discuss his thoughts on the upcoming tournament.

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Daniel Morris: First of all, congrats on winning IEM Chengdu 2024.

How did it feel to win a Grand Final again after being on the losing side in the last few attempts?

broky: I mean it was great to be back in the Final again, like our fifth Final, or fourth, after being second place a lot. It was a new experience for me, I didn’t really have many second-place finishes before.  So yeah, I was happy that we managed to win finally again.

Daniel Morris: You guys have obviously been to the final of every CS2 tournament that you’ve attended so far.

What’s the secret to that level of consistency?

broky: As a team, I think that we’re just playing our own game. That’s pretty much it – I don’t think there’s much of a secret. I just think CS2 works for us well, I think. That’s maybe the main reason – the new game is maybe… we have a bit of an edge over everyone else. Hopefully we keep winning.

Why do you think CS2 benefits you guys so much over the other teams?

broky: We maybe just have some nerds on the team like ropz. He finds a lot of new things that no one else has found before, so, I think it’s very important that we have people that work hard. I think that’s the main thing, that people work hard.

Daniel Morris: We’ve obviously heard karrigan speak about tiredness and fatigue due to so many deep runs in tournaments lately.

Do you think this is something that has affected you at all, and if so, how?

broky: I don’t feel like, burnout or anything. We had plenty of break after Chengdu, so I don’t feel burnout or anything like that. I’m just happy to be here again and play another tournament.

From your point of view, how do you think the team has changed with frozen in the lineup rather than Twistzz?

broky: It’s hard to say with Twistzz and frozen, because with Twistzz I played for… I don’t know, a long time. I don’t know exactly how long, but we knew everything about each other, you know? How we feel after the game, things like that. With frozen we haven’t played that much yet. It has been like… five months now, I think? So yeah, it’s a nice experience playing with a new person as well.

Daniel Morris: Coming into ESL Pro League Season 19, I think most would have you guys down as the favorites in Group A.

Do you guys approach games any differently when you feel like you’re the favorites?

broky: There’s obviously… you know when you are favorites. Sometimes, maybe, when you’re playing against Tier 2 teams, you know you’re the favorite. But nowadays, you can’t really think like that since anyone can beat everyone. The game has gone so far that everyone’s pretty good at the game. So if they have a good day, they win both pistols, they can win easily.

Are there any teams that you’ve got your eyes on facing in particular?

broky: Not necessarily, no. But, Astralis will want to get revenge again. They beat us, but then we beat them in the Playoffs in Chengdu, so I think they want to get revenge. We’ll be ready for that game if we play them.

Daniel Morris: If FaZe make it through to the Playoffs you have a week’s break from officials.

Do you think that break is worth the trade-off of coming in cold to the Playoffs?

broky: I think it depends on the team. If the team is not as experienced, they need to keep playing officials, and without the break it’s better for them. We, as FaZe, it doesn’t matter for us since even if we have one day or one week’s break, we have plenty of experience.

Daniel Morris: Final question – you’ve won it all over the last few years.

Away from ESL Pro League, what are your big hopes for FaZe in 2024?

broky: I think for 2024, we would like to get the Major that we didn’t get this year. Hopefully in Shanghai we can make it to the Finals and win it this time.