FaZe Dirty is one of the top Call of Duty Warzone snipers in the world at the moment. His explanation for why he plays is for his love for the game. This and more as The Game Haus sits down with the top Warzone sniper, Curtis “FaZe Dirty” Henke.
Curtis “FaZe Dirty” Henke, at the moment, is one of the most followed Call of Duty Warzone snipers. He began to show the art and skill of sniping in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 at a young age. From then he got the attention of FaZe due to their “FaZe 5” competition, in which he ended up joining the famed gaming organization in June of 2014.
FaZe Dirty has since gained a massive following amassing 127 thousand followers on Instagram, 492.9 followers on Twitter, 521 thousand subscribers on Youtube, and 176.2 thousand followers on Twitch. Many do it for fame, however, Dirty does it for the love of the game.
What was the first Call of Duty you played?
“The first Call of Duty I ever played actually was the original Call of Duty, where it was only on PC. I was at my uncle’s house and I was probably 8 or 9 and my dad told me to give it a shot. If my mom knew I was playing it, at the time, I would have gotten into a lot of trouble. I started then but did not actually start playing till COD 4.”
Was MW2 when you began to really enjoy COD, or did it take you a while to enjoy the franchise?
“It was instant on Call of Duty 4. Even on Call of Duty 4, I was still sniping. I wasn’t quickscoping. I would be that guy in the back of the map just scoping in. My tactic would be as long as I stay in my scope, they can’t see in the kill cam where I am hiding. I would stay scoped in pretty much the entire game. I was a rat.”
When it comes to being passionate about a game, that being Call of Duty, does it ever cross your mind to be boring at times?
“It definitely has its times. There are some games that I haven’t enjoyed as much as others. Over the past five years, I would say that the Call of Duty’s has been all over the place. World War Two and Black Ops 4 are two of my least favorite CODs. It just really depends on the company. I loved Blackout a lot, but I would never upload it because I thought that people would not want to watch it. Then Warzone came out, and battle royale had a way bigger scene by then, I was all in. Warzone really relit that flame for me for Call of Duty and that passion.”
If it was not for Call of Duty, where would you be right now?
“I could see myself big into Apex Legends when it initially came out. The first month, I was nonstop playing it. I loved it. But the game went so stale, so quick, because they did not add or change anything to the game. Now, Apex is huge because the company is doing a lot for the community.”
How important is mental health to you?
“It is huge. Honestly, it is such a big thing for me. There are some days when I just don’t feel it and I will still stream. I won’t regret it, but it will just feel like work that whole stream. Like it didn’t feel right or I wasn’t in the right mood. I will feel like I am not putting on a good show, which will drive my attitude down. For competing, I feel like waking up and having a schedule, getting your mind right before a tournament is so big because I have some tournaments where I woke up late and kind of just forced myself into it and played so badly which would create a snowball effect, getting worse and worse. Mental health is huge, even when you’re just casually playing. For me, it is kind of different, I am not mindlessly playing. I have to put on a show.”
How does it make you feel that you get to play the game you love, with the people you love, while making a living?
“That’s awesome. It’s so cool and I feel like I don’t think about it enough because sometimes I would just forget about it. Like right now, I have goosebumps just thinking about it. I feel so lucky to be able to have that as my job. During a stream, everything is so easy and it is super fun. Off stream, is where I feel like there is more pressure with making sure I am uploading to Youtube and posting on social media. When I am streaming and stuff, everything feels a lot better.”
Who are the three people that you enjoy playing Warzone with most and why?
“One of my newer friends, UnRationaL. He and I have been playing a lot recently. He is such a goofy guy and makes the games, even when they’re bad, a lot of fun. Same with BobbyPoffGaming. He is so fun to be around, he is always just screaming. I am always having a good time with him. My squad that I am always playing with, there are too many of them to name, but everything seems right and everything just flows because when you play with other creators, you feel more pressure while playing. It’s eyes that aren’t normally on you.”
What is one thing you struggle with if at all, being a sniper in Warzone?
“Honestly, the Kar98 and the Swiss are such perfect snipers for a battle royale. If we did not have those, like we had the AX-50 and HDR, it would be so hard to do what we do with aggressive sniping. The Kar and the Swiss are just so perfect. I do not feel like there are any cons with a sniper. But obviously if you miss a shot, you are kind of screwed. Somebody with an AR or SMG is going to rip you apart. It is just accuracy. You have to be accurate. You have to make sure your positioning is good to where you are having a 1v1 every fight. Positioning is everything.”
Who is on your Mount Rushmore of Warzone Snipers?
“I would say Testy, Metaphor, myself, and for a fourth, UnRationaL.”
Who do you think is the best sniper in Call of Duty history and why?
“That’s so hard to say. There have been so many legends that come and go. But if it’s all-time, I think Pamaj gotta be up there because he has held his status for so long. He has been a beast forever. He is the king of multiplayer. I would have to say either Pamaj or Spratt.”
Why FaZe?
“The reason why I wanted to join FaZe, back then and now, FaZe was the best of the best. They had the best players, the best team-tags. Everyone was trying to be a part of FaZe. Everything that they were doing was way above everyone else. I wanted to join FaZe because I wanted to be a part of the best team. Above that, they always seemed like they were doing more.”
What made you want to be a streamer?
“I really hadn’t streamed a whole lot when I joined FaZe. I had maybe streamed like a total of 10-20 times because back then, streaming wasn’t super big. I loved watching streams, I would watch Sodapoppin play World of Warcraft all day, but I didn’t really watch Call of Duty streamers. I finally started getting into it with Advanced Warfare. It was the first big COD that I streamed a whole lot. I just really like it, like it’s fun hanging out with the chat. Everybody sees the crazy stuff that happens and everybody sees you fail, but it usually gets turned into laughs. It was just a good time. It is so fun because it is raw. You see everything that goes on. It’s not like highlights that you put up on Youtube. It is actually really hard for me to pop off all the time and they come to my live stream and then they are like, ‘Wait, you’re not as good as I thought you were.’ Youtube is the highlights and streaming is everything.”
Who has influenced you the most outside of gaming and inside of gaming?
“Outside of gaming, it’s my dad, for sure. But if I didn’t pick family, I would say Kid Cudi. He has always been my idol for life. Just staying positive. There have been so many lows and stuff, but listening to his music has helped me a lot. For gaming, the biggest influence would be Spratt. I have watched Spratt for years even before I met him. He has always kept things so classy and always just been so good.”
Do you feel any pressure at all in being a part of such a large organization?
I feel pressure all the time. I am always afraid that I am going to do the wrong thing. It is always in the back of your mind. It is not necessarily about FaZe, it’s just this world that we live in with one person slipping up, then their whole career is gone. There is always the ‘what-if’, like what if somebody slips up. I feel like that is such huge pressure. I am not afraid of it, it’s more just a ‘what if’. The biggest pressure is staying active on social media.
What does it mean to be in FaZe? How does it feel?
“It feels great to be in FaZe. There was a time, like a year, year and a half in, where I would wake up and be like, holy s***I’m in FaZe Clan. Then it started to be a normal thing. But looking at all the accomplishments that FaZe has done and the things that they continue to do is just so crazy and so cool. I am just here playing video games being a part of it.”
Have you ever thought of being a pro in the CDL?
“I have thought about it, but I don’t think I have that commitment in what they have to do. There is so much that goes into that with the team. You have to have a team that gets along and has all these strats. I have done GB’s here and there, but I do not get the same satisfaction of sniping and hitting a cool clip. I enjoy the competitive scene, but I just do not get as much out of it.”
If Warzone “dies”, would you see yourself still playing Warzone? Or move on to another game?
“It really depends. If the viewership decreases but they are still changing and adding things to make it fun, I would probably stick with Warzone. If the content is stale and it’s not that fun, I would probably stay in the battle royale section. But the fact that there is no anti-cheat, is the main reason the game is going down. I do not know what it takes, but it is just crazy to see how much money they have, but there is just nothing being done. We will see, we have Battlefield and Halo coming out.”
How do you feel about there being no anti-cheat?
“It just ruins it. It makes the game not fun when you invest so much time when there is some little kid running around with his mom’s credit card. Some of these websites even have free cheats, it’s just crazy.”
The Future for FaZe Dirty?
Now, with many new games on the horizon such as Battlefield and Halo Infinite, who knows what is to come for FaZe Dirty. One thing is for certain, this Warzone sniper will never stop sniping as he still continues to grow a huge following for himself while playing the game he loves all by maintaining his mental health at the same time.
Featured Image Courtesy of FaZe Dirty
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