Twistzz: "A lot of curses have been broken today"

A lot of doubt and uncertainty in the FaZe camp has been dispelled with their win over FURIA in BLAST Rivals Spring 2026 as Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken has led the squad to playoffs for the first time in 2026 against the background of Finn "karrigan" Andersen's recent departure to Falcons.

Following this win, Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore spoke to Twistzz about his emotions in the wake of the win, the return of "FaZe Magic" and the strong performances from his teammates today, and Twistzz's excitement for playoffs, among other topics.

Find the video interview below with a full transcription underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

It's the first playoffs since Budapest, the first of 2026, and the first for you as the captain of FaZe. How does it feel to have accomplished all of that at Fort Worth?

It's been a very emotional win. For the past 20 minutes I'm still processing our game and where we're at with our progress as a team. A lot of curses have been broken today. If anything I'm really happy for the people that were already here; the management, the current players, its a very rewarding feeling for all of them yeah I'm looking forward to keep it going.

Is it a relief for you to see that you can still tap into the 'FaZe Magic' or 'Bullshit' and pull out amazing wins without karrigan when everyone is firing on all cylinders?

Yeah, I think it comes a lot of belief and I was already a secondary calling a lot. The vibes are really great, people are doing things to 100% effort, and people are willing to sacrifice.

Some of the stuff is 'FaZe Bullshit' but some of the stuff is also us playing really well and having good team chemistry that we have showcased in our previous week of practice, and now we get to do it in officials.

Of course it feels good to get a big win like this given the situation we were put into.

All the way back to when you joined FaZe for the first time back in 2021 people have viewed you in a way as an eventual replacement for karrigan and an understudy of sorts. With that are you trying to build as the captain of FaZe? Are you carrying on karrigan's calling style or do you want to build something of your own?

I think I very much have my own approach to the game but that doesn't mean that I don't take things from my past captains and IGLs that I have played under. My whole career has been a learning experience.

I feel like I'm built in a certain way for this role but that doesn't mean I have anything perfected. I have a long way to go before I can be considered a great captain.

It comes to down to belief from my team and if they think I'm doing a good job that's enough for me to keep going and not really worry.

Spirits seem really high in the team, with enkay J seemingly bringing a lot of energy and passion to the server. What's early days been like with him and do you think his energy has boosted the team?

Of course. enkay J has brought a lot to the team and the energy is definitely one of them. He's a very bubbly personality with lots of energy. It's the same with Neityu, a lot of energy. We have a very social team right now and it's a very fun team. I don't know, I'm just happy.

How are you feeling about the potential for a deep run heading into playoffs?

This whole event has been a learning experience to see how we stand against the top teams. I'm just excited to be in the arena and I think that's motivation for everyone to be in the arena.

We're there and I know I have players who can step up in playoffs big time. I'm happy and I get to play in front of the North American crowd. I'm just excited.