The making of rain: why I’ve stayed loyal to FaZe
CS:GO veteran Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard has had an extensive history within Counter-Strike, with a turbulent team history and over 20 different teammates, before finding his home at FaZe Clan.
In this in-depth interview, Rain discusses his beginnings in Kinguin, his struggles with G2 and his own ability, as well as his bright future with FaZe Clan.
Rain’s short journey with G2
Joining G2 in late 2015 following the org’s purchase of Kinguin, rain saw a hopeful future with the team and their roster. “I think we had a bright future there, even though dennis left afterwards to join Fnatic, but I think we had a good future in G2 and I always liked G2 as an organization.”
G2 would later accept FaZe Clan’s offer to purchase the roster. When discussing the move, rain commented: “We switched because of some other reasons, but back then, a couple months after, maybe a year after, we kinda regretted our decision a little bit. Now I don’t regret it of course. I’m in FaZe, I love it here.”
‘Rain’ as a member of G2 in 2016Rain’s long journey with FaZe Clan
Following the purchase, it wasn’t always smooth-sailing for FaZe Clan’s new roster. After the ELEAGUE Major: Boston in 2018, they faced their biggest obstacle yet, falling short to Cloud9 in the final and losing key members ‘Olofmeister’ and ‘Karrigan’.
“I think Boston created a lot of problems for our team and I don’t think that line-up was ever able to shake it. We came in super confident to the final, and we fumbled a 15-11 lead. Olof had to go into his break, I think that was the downfall of FaZe as it was in 2017. I think it was just a downward spiral ever since we kicked Karrigan.”
Rain holding the ‘PGL Antwerp Major 2022’ trophy – Image Credits: PGLLooking to the future, the roster introduced two new key members ‘Twistzz’, ‘Ropz’ as well as bringing back Karrigan, which kick-started their rise in the rankings. Following the star-studded additions, FaZe continued their path to victory, and were crowned champions of the PGL Antwerp Major 2022, with rain also winning the MVP award. They became the first international org to winner a major, and the first org to win IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, and the Major in the same year.