FaZe 5: Who Made The Top 20, And Who Should Have?
If you don’t follow FaZe Clan or many content creators, you may not have heard about FaZe 5 – the competition that FaZe is putting on to recruit five new personalities into the clan.
As of today, the FaZe 5 competition was cut down from 100 participants to 20. Here’s the full announcement video and a breakdown of who made the cut.
- Proze – Canadian YouTuber specializing in CoD trick shot videos
- HunterTV – YouTuber with 500K+ subs, creator of Call of Duty comps/meme videos
- Conrady – 20 year old artist
- Zenon – 10 year old Fortnite content creator on Twitch and YouTube, top 15 in Brazil for kills
- Lough – Partnered Twitch streamer and content creator
- Zogoro – YouTuber focused on Call of Duty sniping videos
- Cannaestia – Animator and creator of Fortnite shorts/films
- K1ng – YouTuber from Argentina focused on Fortnite content
- Montoya Twinz – Twin content creators on Twitch, YouTube, and Tik Tok
- Scope – YouTube / Twitch Call of Duty content creator
- RowdyRogan – 6 year old (!) content creator on Twitch and YouTube, mainly Call of Duty content
- Flea – 1.6M sub YouTuber, Fornite content
- Faxuty – Twitch streamer, mainly Fortnite content
- NioRooch – Call of Duty Twitch streamer
- Virus – FPS Streamer from Saudi Arabia
- Grant the Goat – Fortnite YouTuber
- Milliam – Fortnite YouTuber from Ireland
- Stevie – YouTuber mainly focused on cinematic FPS videos
- Cufboys – YouTubers with 1.9M subs. Variety content, reaction videos, hip-hop focused
- Absorber – Fortnite YouTuber
FaZe Clan has said they’re looking for a variety of factors, including entertainment value and “wow-factor”. Personally, for me, this list seems a little one-dimensional. I’ve gone through and watched a bit of content from each creator, but with the vast majority of remaining entrants being Fortnite or Call of Duty content creators, I didn’t find that “wow factor” that FaZe is apparently looking for.
Some standouts for me include Rowdy Rogan, who is six year old and way better than I am at video games, and Conrady – who is a seriously talented artist. I’d personally love to see far more variety here though, and one trend that I particularly noticed was the lack of creators who originated from Tik Tok.
I know what you’re thinking. ‘Dom – is this a Tik Tok defense blog disguised as a news blog?’ Nope, it’s a “you fucked up, FaZe Clan” blog, disguised as a Tik Tok defense blog, disguised as a news blog. Gotcha!
[Like I’ve said before – this is a big benefit of owning a website and being able to write about whatever I want.]
First, let’s talk about Loochy, AKA LoochyTV (Twitch, Tik Tok, YouTube).
As someone who does not have Tik Tok installed on his phone, I’ve been skeptical in the past about the role the platform plays in content creation, especially regarding gaming. Loochy was probably the first person to break my stigma about the app, and creates some incredible stuff on every platform he touches.
While Loochy mainly focuses on Warzone content (which, I am aware, I criticized earlier in this blog), his unique approach to content creation, the moves he’s made and trails he’s blazed on a completely new platform like Tik Tok, and the genuine love and dedication he puts into creating content should’ve earned him a spot in the Top 20. Did I mention he’s a friend of the program?
Then we’ve got StanMan34 (Twitch, Tik Tok, YouTube), who I’ve spoken to exactly once in my life on our last episode of Not Another Gaming Podcast, but someone who was able to turn a regular 60-minute show into a 2.5 hour conversation about everything and nothing at all.
That’s a type of electricity and charisma that you can’t fake.
Stan also has one of the most heartfelt and genuine approaches to the content he creates that I’ve ever seen in my years and years of being extremely online.
Aside from just being an all-around incredible dude, he has a knack for making pretty much anything he says resonate with the viewer. I already mentioned that Stan’s been on the show, but here’s a clip to drive my point home.
Like I said, an incredible guy. Between Stan and Loochy, I’m pretty flat-out shocked that neither made the cut for FaZe Clan’s top 20.
It seems to me that FaZe chose to “play it safe” by sticking with Fortnite and CoD YouTubers with already large followings (to ensure that whoever they choose to recruit will guarantee FaZe Clan more views as a whole), rather than branching out and taking a chance on someone whose content might not originate from typical places.
I’m sure FaZe 5 is going to continue commanding attention from content creators, but I would hope that other orgs are keeping an eye on who isn’t making the cut, because in the case of Stan and Loochy in particular – any org would be incredibly lucky to have them on their roster.
I wish all the remaining participants the absolute best with the rest of FaZe 5. Oh, and if you’re someone from another org reading this – I just gave you two genuinely great guys that you should start scouting right away.
