FaZe VALORANT is no fluke. The roster that came together fully in August is currently in the midst of their best streak of VALORANT yet. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Is babybay the next great NA VALORANT star? Image via Robert Paul - Blizzard.
They rampaged through the Challengers Three closed qualifier, dispatching T1, NRG, Luminosity, and finally 100 Thieves to take first place. They’ve stayed hot coming into the first North American Masters event, dominating XSET in easily the most one-sided first-round match. The win over XSET was highlighted by another jaw-dropping performance from Andrej “babybay” Francisty.
After their victory, FaZe’s Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen sat down with Hotspawn to talk about when he knew babybay would be a dominant Jett player, when FaZe hit its stride, and why they aren’t worried about their upcoming series against Team Envy.
Hotspawn: Can we just talk about babybay? When did you realize he’s a human highlight reel?
Marved: As soon as we picked him up and moved him to Jett. The stuff he’s doing on Jett I’ve never seen before; I’ve seen a lot of people play her, I’ve played her myself, but the way he plays it, that’s the way Jett’s supposed to be played.
Hotspawn: You officially added Trippy as coach yesterday, but how long has he been with you, and can you describe what he provides the team?
Marved: He’s been working with us since the first Challengers. He keeps us on track of what we should we be doing and how we should be practicing. He’s taught us some basic fundamentals too, and how to be teammates. We’ve learned how to play with each other and become less reliant on individual play. He provided a lot of big-brother-type stuff. We come up with a lot of strategy, and he helps us implement it.
Hotspawn: What have the comms been like during this hot streak? Is it a noticeable shift you feel with the team?
Marved: Our comms are a lot different now. We were really hectic before, but now we’re more calm and composed. Even when we’re rushing in, everything’s calm.
Hotspawn: When the team first got together, did your teammates look to you for guidance given your extensive CS:GO background?
Marved: They watched how I play and learned why I make the decisions and calls I make. They really impressed me by how they learned so quickly and by how they expand on it. They do things I would never think of.
Hotspawn: You face another hot team that went undefeated in their Challengers event: Team Envy. What are you guys doing differently now that puts you in a better spot to beat them?
Marved: We have really good utility and a better understanding of the map now. Everything just clicked recently. I feel like there’s no holes in what we’re doing. And every game, we’re getting better.
FaZe will face Envy on Sunday, March 14th, at 4:00 pm CT.
