‘I always like to end things on good note’

On Friday, Jan. 10, Team Vitality unveiled its newest CS2 player, Robin “ropz” Kool. The Estonian player departed FaZe in a surprise move after winning numerous trophies over the last three years. In an interview with Dot Esports, he broke down the rationale behind the move.

After the signing was announced, the 25-year-old sat down with Dot to shed new light on the decision, pointing out how his contract was running out and how he likes finishing chapters of his life on a positive note. That’s why, he says, moving to another S-tier team was a perfect call by the end of 2024.

“Joining Vitality was more of a personal decision and had little to do with FaZe,” ropz said. “My contract with FaZe was ending, and I asked myself, ‘where am I’ in terms of my career? I always like to end things on a good note, and my run with FaZe was like that.”

After joining FaZe at the beginning of 2022, ropz hoisted a number of S-tier trophies in CS:GO and CS2, winning the PGL Antwerp Major the same year. The team even came an inch from snatching two more Majors, finishing second in Copenhagen and Shanghai. In the meantime, ropz also conquered IEM Katowice 2022, IEM Cologne 2022, two editions of ESL Pro League, and Intel Grand Slam Season Four, just to name a few titles.

With everything achieved at FaZe, ropz wanted to broaden his horizons and try something new, which is where Vitality came in. “Where I’m sitting at, personally, I had to reflect a bit, see where I want to be at in two or three years. I want to think long-term. Vitality is a team that I know are going to be good for a long time,” ropz said. At the same time, he highlighted how FaZe is also going to be stellar, but he wanted to open up a new chapter in his career.

And that chapter is looking promising, with ropz himself feeling confident when looking ahead. “When I joined FaZe in 2022, the feeling I had was that we could win everything. It really felt like this was the right team. I feel the same now that I’m joining Vitality. The chemistry is already showing, and I believe we’re going to find a lot of success in the future,” the Estonian said.

This year itself is bringing a few important changes to the CS2 ecosystem. The biggest ones involve the open circuit system, which should provide an abundance of tournaments, and Vertigo’s replacement by Train in the map pool. While these could be stressful for team managers and players, with so much to adapt to, ropz is calm and hopeful overall.

“I’m certainly not stressed about this year and the changes it introduced. I started playing in the high level when the circuit was already quite messed up,” ropz said. As far as Train goes, though, there’s a lot of learning to be done, according to the player. “The map plays really different compared to the old Train. AWP is different, A-Site is completely changed. There is probably stuff we don’t know yet.”

Ropz has already made his online debut for Vitality in BLAST Bounty Season one, where the roster qualified for the LAN Finals event in Copenhagen beginning on Jan. 23. Afterward, they’re bound to compete in the main event of IEM Katowice 2025, which starts on Feb. 1.