frozen’s Stellar Nuke Performance Leads FaZe to Victory Over Spirit
FaZe’s winter signing David “frozen” Čerňanský delivered exactly the kind of star performance the team hoped for when they brought him in, putting on a dominant display on Nuke to help dismantle Spirit at BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2024 and prove his early critics wrong.
The 21-year-old Slovak rifler finished the Anubis–Nuke series with a 2.02 rating, topping the server from the opening rounds of Spirit’s pick to the final frag on FaZe’s map. On Nuke in particular, frozen “did everything” for his side: he spearheaded an 8–4 T-side half with 17 kills and 145 ADR, before FaZe slammed the door on defense to close out another 13–4 win.
From shaky start to statement series
The context made the performance even more striking. FaZe had opened their Spring Groups campaign with a surprise loss to GamerLegion, a result that raised questions about the team’s form and how well frozen had been integrated after joining from MOUZ in December 2023.
HLTV’s match report on the Spirit series openly referenced those doubts, noting that his underwhelming showing against GamerLegion had “cast some doubts” about the move. That narrative evaporated against Spirit:
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Series rating: 2.02
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Overall ADR: 137.1
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K-D: 42–18 across two maps
Spirit were weakened, missing both donk and magixx, but FaZe still had to convert – and frozen made sure there was little room for an upset. He was already in full control on Anubis, dropping 14 kills and 125 ADR by halftime as FaZe cruised to a 13–4 opener. He then carried that form straight into Nuke, repeatedly cracking open the yard and upper bombsite and leaving Spirit’s stand-ins with no answers.
After the match, frozen spoke about how he was still exploring his limits in the new system:
“Checking the areas where I can push the limits,” he said. “The officials I’ve played here and in Abu Dhabi make me grow because I’m allowed to be a second caller in the team. So just test out the waters, what I can do, what I can’t do, what I can command. I’m finding my place.”
That sense of freedom was on full display on Nuke, where he constantly took initiative in mid-rounds and punished Spirit whenever they tried to adjust.
Why Nuke suits frozen so well
Nuke has long been one of frozen’s comfort maps. During his time in MOUZ he produced multiple highlight performances on the map, including a 34–13, 1.89-rated masterclass against Ninjas in Pyjamas at IEM Cologne 2023, where HLTV’s live coverage described him as “ice cold” and noted he was “closing in on a 30-bomb” even before the game ended.
HLTV’s player features have often underlined why he thrives on such structured battlegrounds. In their Top 20 players of 2022 and Top 20 of 2024 rankings, the site highlighted his “excellent round-to-round consistency” and high skill floor, ranking him 17th and then 10th in the world respectively.
Those qualities translate perfectly to Nuke’s tight rotations and punishing spacing:
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His multi-kill potential forces CTs to over-rotate, opening gaps for his teammates.
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On defense, his spacing and trading make it difficult for opponents to crack the bombsites cleanly.
Against Spirit, that combination made the map feel lopsided from the moment FaZe got rolling.
Analysts’ and frozen’s own view of his role
Analysts have long pointed out that frozen blends star-rifler output with a team-first mentality. In a 2023 interview, he downplayed personal numbers, saying:
“It doesn’t matter if you have good stats or not, you still feel bad if you are losing.”
That mindset was one of the reasons FaZe moved for him when Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken departed at the end of 2023. In early 2024, talking specifically about his new positions in FaZe, frozen admitted that much of the team’s ceiling now rests on his shoulders:
“With the positions I took over in FaZe, it’s in my hands how I’m going to perform,” he told HLTV ahead of IEM Katowice.
On Nuke versus Spirit, he played as if fully aware of that responsibility, taking space on the T side, calling mid-round adjustments as a secondary voice to karrigan, and converting the kind of high-impact rounds that break an opponent’s morale.
A key step in FaZe’s post-Twistzz identity
FaZe’s win over Spirit sent them onward in the lower bracket and set up a grudge rematch with GamerLegion.More importantly, it served as a proof-of-concept for their new identity with frozen in the lineup.
After years of success built around the core of karrigan, rain, broky, ropz, Twistzz, FaZe were always going to face scrutiny when they changed pieces. Frozen’s ability to shoulder star roles on maps like Nuke is central to keeping the team in the elite conversation.
Even later HLTV pieces — including his Top-10 placement for 2024 and features on FaZe’s form — framed him as one of the team’s main win conditions and one of the most impactful riflers in CS2.
Conclusion
Whether you label it an early statement in his FaZe tenure or simply another entry in a growing highlight reel, frozen’s Nuke performance against Spirit was the kind of map where one player does everything to secure the win.
From explosive T-side entries to airtight CT holds, the Slovak rifler showed why FaZe brought him in as their new star and why analysts consistently place him among the most reliable riflers in the world. If FaZe are to reclaim and maintain their spot at the very top, maps like this one on Nuke — with frozen at the heart of everything — will be a big part of the story.
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