I sacrificed a lot to get to where I am today, Nygaard tells NRK.
From October 31 to November 13, the Global Offensive CS Championship will be held in Brazil.
Nygaard plays with Faze Clan, the defending champion and ranked as the best CS team in the world.
FaZe Clan won the PGL Major Antwerp this spring. Now they will try to defend the title.
Photo: Stefan V. Petrescu
The defending champion held a nine-day training camp, in which his training hours were greatly increased.
“Rain is very dedicated both as a player and out of the game,” says Eddie Hahn, FaZe Clan leader for NRK.
14 hours a day
Many parents may have warned against spending several hours watching the screen, as the FaZe Clan does, to avoid “square eyes”.
Healthy or unhealthy. That’s what it takes to make sure you’re on top. The sport has evolved a lot in recent years, and luckily training and nutrition are an important part of that, says e-sports commentator Anders “aNdz” Kjær.
We train every day of the week and sometimes on Sunday. We should meet at eleven o’clock at the computer. There, our coach does analysis from recent matches, says the Faze player.
SUPERSTARS: “Rain” is by far the best Norwegian CS player.
Photo: Cooper Neal/AFP
– After analysis, we have eight hours of training, with only an hour break. It’s fun having a day like that in the week, and I love the job, but of course it’s also stressful, he says.
Nygaard was in a training camp in Poland, playing 12-14 hours a day. He said most of them were starting to get bored as the days went by.
We play a lot, and it’s impossible to be more prepared than we are now, star smile.
Didn’t get much support from the family
One of the hardest things about becoming an esports professional is getting the support of your family – especially when you’re working towards this goal as a young person. Putting long hours in front of a screen on time and during breaks can cause problems at home.
– My family wasn’t always positive, and it wasn’t easy.
At the same time, his non-playing friends were upset when he refused to meet them. He finally got his parents on his side.
– It took some time, but my mother was persuaded after my first payment. But before that there wasn’t much support, he says.
Large audience: Nygaard and Faze Clan received a huge reception in Cologne in July.
Photo: Christian Bilawa
– Then they realized that it was more possible and gave me their full support, but before that there was not much support, as Nygaard admits.
Esports commentator Kiar knows this in Family Trouble.
– It can be compared to other sports in which you travel a lot. You can travel four months a year. There is a lot to sacrifice and social things have to be put off, he tells NRK.
Receive hate messages
After he became a professional, he also received many messages in his inbox from angry esports fanatics.
– You get a lot of hate on social media. Personally, I am not impressed with the messages, says Nygaard.
It should mainly be about people who put large sums of money on players. When things don’t go their way, the e-sports star hears it.
In the letters, he is marked as the “weakest link” of Faze.
– I know that letters are like fuel for a fire. It gives me more motivation.
Get motivated: Nygaard says the hate mail gave him the motivation to become the tournament’s best player, last year.
Photo: Christian Bilawa
The big tournament is organized twice a year. Faze rose to the top when he defeated Natus Vincere (NAVI) in the final in Antwerp in May. In doing so, Nygaard became the first Norwegian to win this tournament.
The winner walks away a million dollars.
The goal for us is to win again. I have great faith that we can make it happen, too. He also says that NAVI and Vitality are two good teams fighting to win.
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