Coldzera says he got “carried away” by friendship with NiKo when joining FaZe
BLASTMarcelo ‘coldzera’ David spoke about his time on FaZe Clan with a tinge of regret, saying that he got “carried away” by his friendship with Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač when he decided to join the team.
coldzera opened a new chapter in his career in September 2019, when he signed with FaZe after spending the first four years of his professional career with Brazilian teams.
On FaZe, coldzera finally fulfilled his wish of playing alongside NiKo, but the partnership between the two superstars was not as fruitful as expected. The international team won only just two events – BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2019 and IEM New York Europe 2020 – over the next 12 months, with NiKo eventually deciding to move to G2 Esports to play alongside his cousin Nemanja ‘huNter-‘ Kovač.
BLAST Premiercoldzera was left in charge of rebuilding FaZe, who signed Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken from Liquid and brought back in-game leader Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen in the first quarter of 2021. But after a dismal run of form, the Brazilian found himself out of the starting lineup and assessing his options.
Coldzera “analyzing” offers
The 26-year-old recently made an appearance on the GGCast podcast to discuss his career and current situation. He revealed that he has been approached by multiple organizations since being benched, and said that he will not be rushed into a decision as he does not want to repeat the mistake of joining a team without carefully weighing up the pros and cons.
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“I’ve had seven or eight offers, if I’m not mistaken,” he said. “I’ve had offers from Brazilian, North American, and European teams.
“I’m analyzing my offers and seeing where I can fit the best. I don’t want to make a hasty decision.
“I really got carried away by my friendship with NiKo on FaZe. I decided [to join them] very quickly.
“We didn’t win as many times as we thought we would, but it was a really great experience. I improved as a human being and not just as a player.”
Questioned about when he expects to make a decision on his next move, coldzera said: “I have set myself a deadline. It will be soon. Before long, I’ll be back.”
GOAT status
In a round of quick-fire questions, coldzera named Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev as the best player in the world right now. The NAVI star has been light years ahead of the competition this year and already has four HLTV MVP medals to his name, one of which is from a LAN event, IEM Cologne.
But when asked about which player should hold the title of the greatest in the history of the game, coldzera believes that such honor belongs to Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz.
“Nowadays, s1mple is the best, he is putting in really good numbers,” coldzera said. “device is the greatest of all time for his consistency.
“He has been in the top five [in HLTV’s player ranking] every year, and is also the player who has won the most titles in the game.”