Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken wants David “frozen” Čerňanský by his side. Not as a leftover. As a pillar.

In an interview with HLTV published on the eve of FaZe’s BLAST Rivals opener against NAVI in Fort Worth, the Canadian star made his position clear. He called frozen one of the players he hopes will commit to the rebuild long-term, naming him alongside the roster’s remaining veterans.

“I hope frozen wants to be here for the rebuild and be a pillar alongside me and the other OGs,” Twistzz told HLTV.

That single sentence reshapes the entire frozen transfer conversation. For weeks, speculation driven by insider KRL and community chatter on HLTV and X had linked frozen to NAVI as a potential replacement for iM. Now the player who leads FaZe’s new era is publicly staking his project on frozen staying put.

Why This Quote Changes the frozen FaZe Transfer Narrative

This is not management spin or an org PR statement. This is FaZe’s new captain, on the record, telling the scene that his blueprint has frozen at its core.

The timing matters. According to secondary reports, frozen extended his contract with FaZe earlier this year, but that alone never fully killed the NAVI rumors. The Slovak rifler himself fueled ambiguity last year with his now-infamous response to transfer questions: “Nah. I mean yeah, but nah.” Community forums and insider accounts kept his name on the market.

Twistzz’s words land differently. A contract extension is paperwork. A direct appeal from your team’s franchise player is a signal. Twistzz is not just asking frozen to stay on the roster. He is asking frozen to buy into a vision where FaZe are rebuilt from the ground up, with the two of them as its foundation.

FaZe’s New Reality After karrigan

The context around this quote is brutal. FaZe have a 3-10 record in 2026. They missed their first Major in org history after failing to qualify for IEM Cologne. Karrigan left for Falcons on April 20. Head coach NEO was let go in March. The HLTV world ranking has the team at #17, their lowest point in modern history.

Twistzz has taken over as IGL with support from new head coach enkay J, who joined from ENCE on April 16. Stand-in Neityu is filling the fifth slot for BLAST Rivals, IEM Atlanta, and Stake Ranked Episode 2. The squad’s debut did not go well: NAVI swept them 2-0 on Anubis (13-7) and Ancient (13-11) in the Group B opening match on April 29.

The rebuild Twistzz referenced is not hypothetical. It is happening right now, in real time, on LAN, with results that reflect just how deep the hole is.

What frozen Brings to This Project

Frozen was ranked #8 in the world by HLTV in 2025 and #10 in 2024, making him a back-to-back top-10 player. He maintained a LAN rating above 1.15 throughout last season. At 23, he is entering his prime with over six years of tier-one experience behind him.

He is also the single most valuable trade asset FaZe possess. If frozen decides the rebuild is not for him, the org loses its best player and its biggest bargaining chip simultaneously. That is the subtext beneath every word Twistzz said.

The HLTV Confirmed podcast flagged this exact risk back in March: Striker noted that frozen’s contract situation was approaching a critical window, while Professeur pointed out that FaZe have a poor track record with re-signing star players, referencing ropz’s departure to Vitality.

What Happens Next

Twistzz confirmed he takes “a lot of responsibility and pride” in his new captaincy. He framed FaZe’s rebuild as a chance to make players “see more real potential in themselves.” That is leader talk, not placeholder talk.

But words only carry weight if results follow. FaZe face FURIA in the Group B lower bracket final on April 30. Lose, and they are out of BLAST Rivals without a single series win. The frozen question will only get louder if the losses keep piling up.

For now, this much is clear: Twistzz has gone public with the plan. Frozen is not a rumor target anymore. He is the centerpiece of whatever FaZe becomes next. Whether he wants that role is the only question left.