faveN: “If we win, but I finish the match with a 0-15 record—I don’t care.”
BIG rifler Josef “faveN” Baumann spoke in an interview at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 about the team’s packed schedule at the tournament, assessed his individual form, and shared his expectations for advancing to the third stage of the championship.
On a potential advancement to the third stage of the tournament
It would be really great to advance to the third stage, because the audience would become our sixth player on the server. I think that would really spur us on. So we’ll just try to do everything we can to win today, win tomorrow, or at least make it to the third stage. It doesn’t matter how—we just need to get to the third stage. And then we’ll see what happens next.
On the large number of matches without days off
I don’t know about the whole team, but I can speak for myself. I like playing a lot of official matches. I probably even hate breaks. For me, it’s better to play constantly, because during a break you can get too relaxed—at least, that’s how I see it. So it seems to me that everything is going as it should right now. But I don’t know how the rest of the guys feel. Overall, I’d say everyone likes it; we’re giving it our all and working really hard. Especially since we started training intensively back in January and went to all those small LAN tournaments, so we’re used to this.
On his individual form
Well, of course, there’s always room for improvement. But I’m not the kind of player on the server who needs to get 30 frags for the team to win. I’d say I’m more of a passive player. And I have a great team. Honestly, I don’t care at all about how I’m playing right now. If we win, but I finish the match with a 0:15 score—I don’t care. If I have good stats, say 22 kills, and we win—I don’t care either. I just want to win. I want to advance to the third stage. I want to win as many matches as possible. That’s all.
Right now, BIG is in the 2-1 bracket of the second stage of the IEM Cologne Major 2026. Tomorrow, Josef “faveN” Baumann’s team will play a match to advance to the third stage of the tournament—the match will be a best-of-three series.
Photo — Roman Imperium Cup.
