- CS2 in 2025: A new era with real risks
- Rain and FaZe's priorities for the 2025 CS2 season
- How the 2025 CS2 calendar risks oversaturation
- Mental fatigue for pro players and fans
- Event strategy in an open CS2 circuit
- FaZe Clan's form heading into late 2024 and 2025
- What FaZe learned from the IEM Chengdu win
- FaZe vs. MOUZ: Rivalry, Rio upset, and revenge
- From cornerstone to bench: Rain's FaZe chapter closes
- Rain joins 100 Thieves and stays in the CS2 elite
- CS2 skins, the 2025 economy, and uuskins.com
- What rain's story says about the future of pro CS2
CS2 in 2025: A new era with real risks
Competitive Counter-Strike is entering one of its biggest shake-ups ever. The 2025 CS2 season moves away from rigid franchise leagues toward a far more open calendar, with multiple tournament organizers fighting to host elite events. On paper, that sounds incredible for pros and viewers. In reality, many players are already worried it may be too much of a good thing.
Veteran rifler Håvard "rain" Nygaard, one of the longest-serving stars in Counter-Strike history, has been particularly outspoken about what this means for teams like FaZe Clan. As he looks back on his final years with FaZe and ahead to his new chapter with 100 Thieves, rain paints a picture of a CS2 ecosystem full of opportunity — but also oversaturation, mental burnout, and tough choices.
Rain and FaZe's priorities for the 2025 CS2 season
One of the biggest changes coming in 2025 is how teams qualify for Majors. Valve is phasing out traditional RMRs and qualifiers, instead using ranking points earned through a broad calendar of tournaments. That gives top teams more flexibility, but it also forces them to make smarter decisions about where they show up.
Rain made it clear that FaZe never wanted to be a roster that chases prize pools at the expense of legacy. For him, the goal was always simple: play where it matters most.
Rain’s priorities for event selection included:
- Prestige over pure money: competing in the biggest, most respected events.
- Stadium environment: playing in packed arenas instead of quiet studio tournaments.
- Top-tier opposition: measuring FaZe against the very best lineups in the world.
In his view, some organizations will inevitably pick smaller tournaments with larger prize pools but less exposure and weaker competition. FaZe, during rain’s time there, wanted to stay on the biggest stages, even if it meant a tougher schedule and more pressure.
How the 2025 CS2 calendar risks oversaturation
The flip side of this freedom is the sheer number of events already filling the 2025 calendar. ESL, BLAST, PGL, and a returning StarLadder are just a few of the big names carving out their space in the schedule. With multiple high-tier events penciled in almost every month, it doesn’t take long for the season to feel bloated.
Rain has been around long enough to remember when big LANs felt special. Now, he worries that constant tournaments reduce individual event hype. If every week has a "must-watch" series, fans may eventually stop treating any of them as truly must-watch.
Key oversaturation concerns include:
- Event overlap: tournaments competing for the same time slots and attention.
- Viewer fragmentation: fans picking one event and ignoring another.
- Lost identity: too many events feeling interchangeable, with only Majors standing out.
This isn’t just theoretical. We’ve already seen periods in CS:GO history where constant events diluted viewership and storylines. With CS2 still relatively young, rain worries that overloading the calendar in 2025 could stall momentum at a crucial time for the game.
Mental fatigue for pro players and fans
Oversaturation isn’t only a scheduling problem; it’s a health and performance issue. Rain has spent years living the pro player lifestyle: early scrims, late-night server time, long flights, hotel rooms, and the constant pressure to perform. Add a family at home to that equation, and the grind becomes even more demanding.
Rain has openly admitted that simply staying sharp across an entire packed season will be harder than ever. More events mean more travel, more pressure, and less downtime to recharge mentally. That has very real consequences:
- Burnout risk: players hitting mental walls mid-season and seeing performance drop off.
- Reduced prep time: less space to innovate, review demos, and rebuild maps.
- Shorter careers: veterans like rain feeling the weight of another intense year.
Fatigue also spreads to the audience. If there’s always a stream live, many fans eventually tune out entirely or just watch casually. That hurts storylines, viewership peaks, and the sense that individual titles really mean something.
From rain’s perspective, 2025 is shaping up to be a mentally brutal year: not because CS2 is dying, but because it might be too alive for its own good.
Event strategy in an open CS2 circuit
With organizers competing for the best teams and the highest rank points, another concern rain raised is how money might influence the supposedly open ecosystem. He suggested that some tournament organizers could try to build their own mini-circuits by financially incentivizing top teams to stay loyal to their events.
That kind of soft exclusivity could create "bubbles" where certain teams stick primarily to one organizer’s ecosystem. While that might be good for those organizations, it risks recreating some of the same locked-in structures that the community wanted to move away from in the first place.
Potential consequences of this approach include:
- Less variety in matchups: the same teams facing off in the same TO’s events again and again.
- Uneven ranking opportunities: teams outside those bubbles having a harder time gaining Major points.
- Subtle fragmentation: the scene split into loose circuits despite the appearance of openness.
Rain acknowledged that, even within FaZe, the exact approach for 2025 wasn’t fully locked in at the time. The plan was to react dynamically: assess the calendar, balance rest and grind, and prioritize events that offer both prestige and ranking value.
FaZe Clan's form heading into late 2024 and 2025
Rain’s concerns about oversaturation are wrapped up in a more personal story: FaZe Clan’s results slump heading into the BLAST Premier World Final in Singapore. For a roster used to fighting for trophies, going eight straight events without a title or even a grand final was a serious warning sign.
Analysts began openly questioning whether the core lineup had run its course. FaZe were no longer the unstoppable force that stormed into the CS2 era; instead, they were battling inconsistency, small mistakes, and a meta that seemed to be passing them by.
For rain, the World Final wasn’t just another LAN. It felt like a crossroads for the team’s future. Another weak performance could increase pressure for changes. A deep run, on the other hand, might restore confidence and buy time for the roster to evolve.
What FaZe learned from the IEM Chengdu win
To understand how FaZe ended up on this knife’s edge, you have to look back at IEM Chengdu 2024 — their last big trophy for quite some time. Rain has said that victory was almost too comforting. Instead of pushing harder, the team subconsciously relaxed.
According to rain, that win let them drop their guard. While FaZe basked in the success, other teams studied, adapted, and sharpened their CS2 playbooks. In an era where the meta can shift from patch to patch, that brief complacency cost them.
Post-Chengdu issues rain identified included:
- Stagnant playstyle: not updating strategies quickly enough to stay ahead.
- Opponents catching up: other top teams specifically preparing anti-strats for FaZe.
- Comfort over growth: trusting past success instead of constantly reinventing themselves.
The contrast with FaZe’s explosive start to CS2 was stark. They had opened the new era by lifting multiple trophies and making back-to-back BLAST Fall and World Final grand finals in 2023. The addition of David "frozen" Čerňanský brought even more firepower, and expectations for the lineup were sky-high.
Yet trophies didn’t follow at the pace fans expected. Frozen still performed at an elite level, but the overall system around him and rain needed retooling. As rain put it, the individuals were largely the same; the "groove" was not.
FaZe vs. MOUZ: Rivalry, Rio upset, and revenge
One of the most symbolic moments of FaZe’s shakier form was their loss to MOUZ in Rio. Before that series, FaZe had beaten MOUZ seven times in a row. That dominance created an illusion of control over the matchup, but statistics like that never last forever at the top level.
Rain wasn’t shocked by the upset. He recognized that MOUZ are far from a lower-tier squad; they’re a hungry, mechanical, and tactically sharp lineup capable of beating anyone on a good day. Still, having such a long streak broken in Rio stung.
Heading into later events, including the BLAST World Final, that loss became a motivator. FaZe spent time studying what went wrong, fixing small but crucial mistakes, and preparing specifically for the possibility of running into MOUZ again.
For rain, getting revenge on MOUZ meant:
- Proving FaZe could still adapt to younger, faster rosters.
- Reclaiming confidence in pressure matchups.
- Showing that their Rio defeat was a stumble, not a new normal.
Those kinds of storylines are part of what keep CS2 compelling despite a busy calendar. Long-standing rivalries, broken streaks, and revenge arcs give tournaments emotional weight beyond simple prize money.
From cornerstone to bench: Rain's FaZe chapter closes
Rain’s career is deeply intertwined with FaZe Clan’s identity in Counter-Strike. After nearly a decade on the roster, he had become not just a veteran rifler, but the face of the team’s endurance through roster shuffles, meta shifts, and title runs.
That’s why the announcement in September 2025 hit so hard: FaZe decided to move rain to the bench after an incredible 3,541 days with the organization. It marked the end of an era.
FaZe’s official message made it clear that this wasn’t a bitter split. They emphasized that rain remained a world-class player and thanked him for the countless memories the roster had created with him on board. In a scene where some legends fade out quietly, rain received the recognition his longevity and impact deserved.
From a competitive angle, the benching reflected the brutal reality of top-tier CS2. Even legendary players aren’t immune to changes when teams feel they need a fresh direction. New metas, new IGL ideas, and younger talent constantly applying pressure mean no spot stays guaranteed forever.
Rain joins 100 Thieves and stays in the CS2 elite
Rain’s story didn’t end with FaZe. In November 2025, he joined 100 Thieves, keeping his career firmly within the top tier of CS2. For a player often associated with a single brand, this move represented both a reset and a statement: he wasn’t done competing at the highest level.
His road to that move was filled with ups and downs. While still under FaZe in 2025, rain and the team had mixed results. Some S-Tier events saw them finishing outside the top four, but they still found flashes of success, including a strong third-place run at PGL Bucharest 2025.
Looking back to 2024, rain’s consistency in big events remained noteworthy. Top-six finishes at the BLAST Premier World Final and the Perfect World Shanghai Major showed he was still capable of delivering on the biggest stages, even when the trophies weren’t flowing.
For 100 Thieves, signing rain meant bringing in:
- Championship experience: he has lifted trophies in different eras and formats.
- Stability under pressure: rain has played in countless stadium playoffs and Major runs.
- Leadership by example: not necessarily as a loud IGL, but as a veteran who sets high standards.
In 2026, rain continues to compete, adapt, and build a second legacy under a new banner. His presence in 100 Thieves keeps him central to the ongoing story of CS2, even as FaZe evolves without him.
CS2 skins, the 2025 economy, and uuskins.com
The evolution of the pro scene runs parallel to another major pillar of Counter-Strike: the skin economy. As CS2 grows through 2025 and 2026, cosmetic items continue to play a huge role in how fans engage with the game, support events, and express themselves in ranked or FACEIT lobbies.
While rain and other pros fight through packed calendars and pressure-filled LANs, everyday players grind their own matches, often with inventories that are just as personal as any highlight reel. From budget pistols to iconic knives, skins help define a player’s identity on the server.
If you’re looking to upgrade your loadout in CS2 or even in legacy CS:GO inventories, third-party marketplaces have become a key part of the ecosystem. Sites like cs2 skins and csgo skins on uuskins.com aim to offer safer trades, clearer pricing, and more variety than you’ll often find just randomly opening cases.
Why marketplaces like uuskins.com matter to players:
- Predictable value: instead of gambling on cases, you know exactly what you’re buying.
- Wide selection: from starter skins to high-end knives and gloves, you can target specific finishes and patterns.
- Player-driven economy: skins can be treated as collectibles, status symbols, or long-term holds.
As CS2 stabilizes and more skins are released, the marketplace side of the game is likely to remain as active as the esports side. Whether you’re watching rain in a 100 Thieves jersey or grinding Premier at home, there’s always another play to make—and sometimes, another skin to flex.
What rain's story says about the future of pro CS2
Rain’s journey through the transition to CS2, the crowded 2025 calendar, his final stretch with FaZe, and his move to 100 Thieves highlights several truths about modern Counter-Strike:
- The game is healthier and more competitive than ever, but that intensity brings real mental and physical strain.
- Oversaturation is a genuine risk, not just for players but for fans trying to follow every storyline.
- Legacies are fragile: even legends can find themselves benched if a roster needs a shake-up.
- Opportunities still exist: new organizations, formats, and projects give veterans fresh ways to compete.
As 2026 unfolds, rain remains a living link between the CS:GO era and the evolving CS2 landscape. His perspective on oversaturation and mental fatigue deserves attention not only from tournament organizers, but also from fans who want the scene to thrive long-term.
If the community can find the right balance—between events and rest, hype and stability, nostalgia and innovation—then players like rain will be able to keep entertaining crowds for years, whether they’re wearing FaZe red, 100 Thieves colors, or something entirely new.
For now, the best way to stay connected is simple: follow the big events, support the teams and players you enjoy, keep an eye on how the calendar evolves, and, if you’re jumping into your own matches, don’t forget to bring your favorite skins along for the ride.
