FaZe's Rain Reflects on Early Exit: "There Are Different Ideas That People Are Doing Constantly"

FaZe's Rain Reflects on Early Exit: "There Are Different Ideas That People Are Doing Constantly"

After a surprising early elimination at the hands of Aurora during the Esports World Cup 2025, Håvard "rain" Nygaard didn’t shy away from candidly assessing FaZe’s poor performance.

FaZe, who had already exited before the playoffs in Cologne, delivered a disappointing performance in Stockholm—finishing last in the tournament.

"The mood isn’t great, of course," admitted rain.
"Maybe it’s time to go back to the ground and take it one game at a time." 

When asked about his emotional state following the elimination, he replied plainly:

"Pretty shit to be honest (laughs). It sucks travelling all this way and going out so early, especially after the good Inferno we had as well. So it’s a little rough to say the least." 

Analyzing what went wrong, rain pinpointed FaZe’s underwhelming T-side performance on both Mirage and Overpass:

"I think just the T sides were off on both Mirage and Overpass. I don’t know if we weren’t clicking and weren’t listening to each other enough, I just feel like it was off."
On Overpass: "They had a really good read on us. Most of the time when we executed, they were three or four there, and I think we were a bit telegraphed compared to what we used to be." 

Regarding Aurora’s tactical edge, he noted:

"Also last time we played them they didn't have XANTARES there, so maybe they wanted to prove that they would beat us with the true lineup. They had a little bit of extra fire. I think once you beat them enough, they're going to have more on you than what you have on them." 

Looking ahead, rain emphasised the need for cohesive teamwork and taking a more grounded approach:

"Just the teamplay overall. I feel we have days where we're really on point and listening to each other and things are just clicking very good, but there are also days on T side, like today, where it just seems off. There are different ideas that people are doing constantly." 
"We're adding pressure to ourselves constantly by having high hopes, so maybe it's time to go back to the ground and take it one game at a time, and not focusing on the trophies so much." 

Context & Related Highlights

This exit continues a troubling pattern for FaZe, who have failed to make deep runs in multiple events this season—both in Cologne and now in Stockholm.

No additional player quotes were available from HLTV to further expand on the team’s shared sentiment or post-match reflections. Related pieces such as “device: ‘I think that I could have made the difference in a lot of rounds’” pertain to Astralis’s exit and not FaZe, and thus are not directly relevant here.

Summary

Rain expressed frustration and disappointment at FaZe’s early exit.

The team’s inconsistency on T-sides—particularly being predictable—was a major factor.

Aurora’s full-strength lineup, including XANTARES, brought renewed determination and strategic clarity.

Rain called for a step-by-step mindset: improve teamplay, reduce internal pressure, and refocus on fundamentals over trophy chasing.