For karrigan, Inner Circle unexpectedly became one of the most unpleasant opponents of his career. The captain recalled a period when FaZe were going through one of the toughest moments of the season, and the match against the Ukrainian team only increased the tension within the roster.
The hardest match of karrigan’s life
Before facing Inner Circle, FaZe lost to BIG at a Relog tournament and effectively dropped out of the race to qualify for the Major. After that, the team immediately traveled to Bucharest, where they had to continue their season at PGL.
We arrived at PGL Bucharest after losing to BIG at a Relog tournament and dropping out of the Major race. Our match in Romania was against Inner Circle, and they were just making the ‘FaZe UP’ sign, while we were already completely tilted even without that. That match was the hardest of my life.
According to karrigan, FaZe were in such a poor psychological state at that moment that any additional provocation felt particularly intense. The team had not yet recovered from the previous failure but already had to shift its focus to the next tournament.
FaZe had a “dead” atmosphere
The Dane separately emphasized that the problem was not only about results. The atmosphere within the team was extremely difficult, and traveling to another country almost immediately after a painful defeat only made the situation worse.
Try playing like that when you’re going into a tournament with a 0:2 record, everyone just hates you, and you’re flying to another country to play. I have never seen such a dead atmosphere in a team.
This description clearly shows how severe the psychological blow was for FaZe. The team effectively had no time to reset and immediately found itself in another match, where the opponent applied pressure not only through gameplay but also through emotions.
Inner Circle only increased the pressure
What karrigan remembered most was the behavior of the Inner Circle players. According to him, the opponents started provoking FaZe from the very first rounds, when the team was already far from its best condition.
That day, we just woke up thinking: ‘Alright, now we’re flying to Romania, we’ll play a match, and we’ll face Inner Circle.’ From the very first round, they were shouting that we were shit. I hate these guys.
That is why karrigan’s answer to the question about the team he hates the most was so emotional. It was not so much about a fundamental rivalry between organizations, but rather about a specific match that took place during one of FaZe’s worst psychological moments.
This match stayed in karrigan’s memory
For an experienced captain who has played hundreds of matches at the biggest tournaments throughout his career, calling one specific encounter the hardest of his life is particularly telling. Especially considering that the problem was not only the opponent itself, but the entire situation surrounding FaZe.
The match against Inner Circle became one of those moments for karrigan when the team’s psychological state proved just as important as its form on the server. It was the combination of failure in the Major qualification race, exhausting travel, and provocations from the opponent that made that match so unpleasant for the FaZe captain.
