"It would be a dream come true", Bymas on returning to FaZe Clan some day

Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras, a rising star piercing through the highest level of Counter-Strike with incredible skill and determination, leaving a trail of defeated giants in his path as he asserts his dominance against the best teams in the world.

After a trial period with FaZe Clan, he landed in MOUZ for a couple of years, before joining his friends in Into The Breach. Following the unfortunate turn of events with his latest team, we sat down with the young star to talk about his previous experiences, CS2 and his future within the scene.

Sitting Down With Former-FaZe Clan, MOUZ, and ITB Player Bymas

“rizegeeko”, Strafe: Looking back to 2020 when you joined FaZe on trial, stepping into Olofmeister's roles and positions may not have been the best fit for you. Would you consider that as one of the primary reasons FaZe opted not to sign you?

Bymas: There are many reasons, I think communication was one thing. I was only 16 and it was my first team, the pressure I had to handle was insane. They were a Top 3 team and on top of that I had lurker roles, and in this role, to be good, you need to have some experience otherwise you cannot read your opponents, so that was also bad.

Strafe: Given your young age at the time, how did you manage the pressure and stress?

Bymas: I think the matches were kind of good, Team Spirit was my first game, and I think I did good. I had some highlights that were pretty insane. But I remember I had a game versus BIG and I finished with 9 kills in two maps.

I remember after that I was really down, I had a really tough sleep, I think I was crying in the evening, I felt like fuck this it's over.

But then I had a really good game against NAVI where I had a map with a 2.1 rating, so it was up and down. If I had different roles, I think it would be better and more time.

Strafe: What were FaZe’s expectations of trialing a young player with limited experience?

Bymas: I have no clue what they expected but I think “NiKo” saw me play good in FPL and he expected me to deliver as well in the pro scene. I didn’t have time and I always think if I had some previous team experience it would be a different story.

Strafe: How was it playing for MOUZ compared to FaZe, did you feel less pressure knowing you’re a permanent player instead of a trial?

Bymas: The start was funny because I was signed as a sixth player. I was in practice listening to their practice and watching trying to learn. And I remember how they were all arguing a lot, the team wasn’t in a good period back then.

Three weeks later and “woxic” was benched and I was put in the main roster, and I had to play my first event in ESL Pro League, I think.

It was a good period, and what was good for me I think the team was way friendlier; like karrigan, chrisJ, ropz and frozen as well. All of them are really nice guys and we also had “Rejin” back then, he was the coach that helps players develop, like he would work with them individually a lot and I just felt like playing with friends.

Strafe: You played alongside karrigan for a considerable period before dexter eventually joined. How was the experience of playing under both IGLs, and which one do you feel contributed the most to your development as a player?

Bymas: Well, I only played with karrigan for four months, and I didn’t get to play much with dexter but in terms of individual development they’re similar, but they have their own style of calling. It's hard to say because they’re both really good IGLS but “karrigan” was like a mastermind, he was working so hard i remember he would stay to 2-3 am watching demos and every single practice he would bring something new always, and he’s a very nice guy. He would never tilt, that’s a really good thing about him. It's hard being an IGL and not tilting.

Strafe: It's quite a coincidence that MOUZ signed young talents like ropz and frozen, who eventually ended up playing for FaZe. Do you feel ready for the challenge if the opportunity arises after four years?

Bymas: It would be a dream come true, but I feel like now I need to join a lower tier team, for example a top 30 team. Top 20 team, I would be really happy with a Top 20 team if I get the chance. But I just need to show myself at a top tier 2 team and hope for the best.

But it would be a dream come true, FaZe Clan is definitely the best organization in CS, the popularity and also the players.

Counter-Strike is pretty unpredictable. One day you’re without a team and the next there’s so many opportunities. It was the same when FaZe Clan offered me, or MOUZ, you never know when the chance will come eventually.

CS careers are full of ups and downs, you can see some players or teams like G2 not qualify for the Major and then boom the next event they win.

Strafe: And do you think that the release of CS2 is what made teams inconsistent?

Bymas: I think that's exactly the reason why, because they’re still learning how to get their ship back. It’s a bit different with mechanics because now it's very hard to hold angles, so it's way better to peek now. The game favors the players who like to swing more, for example “donk”, it’s the perfect game for him because he likes to swing and peak. And also, I think the MR12 is also a factor, because pistol rounds are important now. Like if you win both of them you almost win half of the rounds.

Strafe: What led to the end of your time with MOUZ, particularly considering a slight dip in your performance during the final few events? Was this decline a significant factor in your eventual benching?

Bymas: I wouldn’t say my performance dropped, because in Cologne, I was the second-best player until the playoff game against Astralis, I think I even had the best T side in the tournament, I had a lot of impact and good clutches.

I only had one bad game, which was in the playoffs. But I think I was at the peak of my career, at least in MOUZ.

I wouldn’t say its performance-based, and when I asked “sycrone”, the reasons he gave me weren’t so logical for me at least and I guess it was more of like they wanted a new change. Because I’ve been in MOUZ for two years, I guess they wanted to freshen up, sometimes when you change a player everyone gets more motivated.

But the worst thing was that I had to play a Major qualifier and I qualified then I got benched when it was already known that I’m getting benched before the qualifier.

They used me to qualify and then in the end I wasn’t able to play in that Major because I qualified to the RMR with MOUZ.

There’s some stupid rule that if you played the qualifier, you cannot play the major with another team, so it left me without a team for a long time and I then became a free agent only in like six or seven months, so it slowed down my career.

Strafe: What motivated your decision to join ITB? Was it primarily influenced by their standout performance in the BLAST Paris Major, or did you choose them because they were the most compelling offer?

Bymas: I think the first thing is that I know all the players and the manager really well. I basically had two offers: Monte and ITB. BOROS was Monte's star player and they had just sold him, so I wasn't sure with my decision, also both teams went top eight, so I was thinking for a long time and decided to join ITB.

But our main issue with ITB was that we didn't have proper structure and played puggy without much plan.

Maybe it was a mistake. If I had to reconsider, I would join Monte if we go back in time.

The best thing about ITB was the players, we were all really good friends, and it was a fun time but sadly no results.

Strafe: How did the organization address the challenges surrounding the frequent changes, particularly within the IGL role, impacting team consistency during your time with ITB?

Bymas: They were listening to us! We tried with “Qikert” but in the end he didn’t sign a long-term contract, and he was also kinda expensive I think so then we got “bodyy”.

With “bodyy” it was really good, I think we won like eight matches in a row and a CCT tournament, like it was really insane. We played so good with him, and he played so insanely with us that he got picked up by Fnatic so that was the worst thing.

After we lost “bodyy”, we tried with “tomiko” and maxster from NIP, we were constantly changing so it was really demotivating, and we decided to get back “Thomas” and try our best in the RMR but didn’t go so well.

Strafe: Did ITB communicate clearly that the team's future hinged significantly on making it to the Major? Were there any indications or warnings provided regarding potential financial challenges or sponsor-related issues if the Major qualification wasn't achieved?

Bymas: No. The main reason it dissolved was because we lost sponsors and it wasn’t profitable for them to keep us, and that’s why they decided to terminate our contracts.

Strafe: This situation seems to happen often with CS organizations as they put all of their investments into the major and disband in case of failure. This might not be your field of expertise, but how can orgs make it and survive without the major? 

Bymas: It may be unethical to some people, but gambling sponsors is something that helps smaller orgs a lot because they give really good money. And you can see many of the smaller organizations have betting sponsors, even some of the tier 1 teams have it.

I think even the ITB CEO Sam said in a tweet that if you like it or not it helps the smaller orgs a lot. For some people it’s unethical but if you don’t make the major, it's really hard.

Strafe: What caused NEOFRAG to leave the team after only three weeks? Can you share some insights into what happened behind the scenes that led to this short tenure, now that it's over?

Bymas: He is a nice guy, but I think one thing everyone from ITB wanted from him was to socialize with the team more. For example, when we bootcamp he was always at his PC, I think it was one of the last days. We went to play bowling in an arcade and even he decided to stay alone on the computer so that's one thing he was different from all of us.

He didn’t want to build a friendship and team chemistry. Another thing, he was tilting quite a lot and liked to smash tables. He made some comments during practice which tilted some players, so it was just behavior.

Strafe: Now that some time has passed since your stint with ITB ended, what are your plans for the future, Bymas? Are you aiming to return to competition, or do you prefer to wait for the right opportunity while focusing on streaming?

Bymas: Currently, my plan is to wait for the summer when the season ends and see what offers pop up cuz thats when offers come up at least for next time so i’ll be patient and wait.

If I don't get anything decent, I will not force myself and join some team like I did last time, I’m just going to be patient.

I want to be in a team where everyone works hard and where I can feel like in a happy family. On top of that my father passed away a month ago, so I still want to be around my family, and I don’t want to rush things because if you have other thoughts and it's not good to play competitively. I need to calm down a bit and stay with family for at least some time, that's my current plan that's why I’m streaming a lot.

Strafe: Can you share any updates on whether you've received offers or are currently in discussions with any teams?

Bymas: I did, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say it. But I had a few teams. I was kind of interested in one team, we were negotiating contracts but, in the end, I heard the news about my father and just canceled everything instantly.

Strafe: It's important to remind everyone that you're only 20 years old. Do you have any bigger vision or career goals you're aiming for in the long run?

For sure! One of my main goals is to win a LAN tournament, obviously there’s also a Major.

Winning a major is on top of that, and playing as many LANs as I can, like it's really fun. I played in the Cologne arena once and it's just an insane feeling so that’s what I wanna experience more.

I’m only 20 so with time I’m only going to become calmer, more experienced and a smarter guy so I think my peak is still ahead of me and we will see how the future goes.

Rapid Fire questions with Bymas

Strafe: Would you rather win a Major or the Intel Grand Slam? 

Major!

Strafe: AimBotz or Deathmatch? 

For me I always warm up on aim botz, and I DM only when I want to improve my aim like maybe in the evening. I don’t use DM to warm up that much only before officials maybe.

Strafe: If you could remove one map from the active-duty pool, will it be Mirage or Vertigo?? 

This one is so easy, Vertigo. I really hate this map laughing

Strafe: Which was the worst meta, SG 553 or R8 Revolver?

I think revolver was really game breaking. I remember as soon as it was buffed, I played a pug and every single player wasn't even buying a rifle anymore, It was insane.

I wasn’t a big fan of “krieg” meta as well, everyone was able to be good, you just zoom and it's like a laser you don’t need skill.

Strafe: s1mple or ZywOo?

For me it's s1mple, he’s the one who motivated me a lot in my first years of grinding. For me he’s the greatest player of all time when he was still at his peak, when he was winning a lot of tournaments with NAVI, it was crazy to see.

In 2019 and 2020, he was so fun to watch, always insane highlights and flick shots and he’s just a very entertaining player.

Credit: Strafe Esports

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