FaZe Clan’s offseason takeover of Bell Fibe House

No exceptional gaming house should be without gamers for long.

That category includes the Bell Fibe House, the Toronto residence where the six members of Raptors Uprising GC live and train. After the team’s playoff run in season one concluded and the six players moved out, members of FaZe Clan, a world-famous collective of gamers and content creators, took up residence for the duration of the NBA 2K League offseason.

FaZe content creators Pamaj and Replays both praised their time at the Bell Fibe House as being a great experience in their gaming careers. Pamaj, who revealed his return to FaZe in the Bell Fibe House tour video, pointed to his long experience in content creation as helping him appreciate the opportunity even more. For Replays, simply living together offered its fair share of advantages.

Welcome to our new Toronto winter home. 🇨🇦

Thanks @RaptorsGC for letting us crash! #BellFibeHouse pic.twitter.com/zAERFTyb2i

— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) October 16, 2018

“It’s so much easier to communicate and share ideas living together, next to each other,” Replays said. “A fun experience being with other creators and streamers.”

One of the most important resources for the gamers at the Bell Fibe House was internet, which both emphatically pronounced incredible.

“The internet was just beautiful,” Pamaj said. “As a gamer, as soon as you have that, it takes away a lot of worries.”

“Insane internet,” Replays concurred.

Pamaj knows that the internet is just a building block, a means to an end. Seven years after he first got into gaming and joined FaZe Clan, he stresses the joy and difficulty of being his own boss as a content creator. While he’s been extremely successful, he still envisions more on his horizon.

“I do have ambitions for the next year,” he said. “Going more into Call of Duty, maybe becoming a pro player. That would be a dream come true.”

I'm just gonna be a reg gunning COD YouTuber for awhile. Always wanted to be let off the leash

— FaZe Pamaaj (@Pamaj) February 22, 2019

Replays and Pamaj took very different routes in maximizing their time at the Bell Fibe House. Pamaj balanced work with life. He spent plenty of time at the gym, took full advantage of the house’s amenities, and started watching basketball nearly every night. Replays, who primarily plays Call of Duty and Fortnite, “just grinded,” in the words of Pamaj. He increased his streaming content to new heights, developing his content output and personal brand.

“Being in the house might have helped me stream,” he said with a laugh. “I just give whatever I’ve got.”

Insane stream today😲

Shout out to all of you and the EH team for showing love❤️ pic.twitter.com/6hC4ZjArn3

— FaZe Replays (@Replays) February 2, 2019

“Replays…this guy did not leave the house for a month,” Pamaj joked. “The fact that he could stream… hours a day tells you about the resources available there.” Living at the Bell Fibe House enabled Replays to move his streaming operation into his bedroom.

Pamaj cares deeply about balancing his gaming time and found himself asking the Bell Fibe House’s in-season occupants about their approach. He met protected Uprising players Kenneth “Kenny” Hailey and Trevion “AllHailTrey” Trey at a Toronto Maple Leafs game and was immediately taken with their professionalism and dedication. The developing NBA 2K esports scene is very different from traditional esports, but the traditional FaZe content creator found it easy to bond with the 2K pros.

“Whenever I meet a content creator or pro player, I know exactly what they could have been doing with their time, so I like hearing what they’re doing with their time,” Pamaj said. “That validates who we are. Those two definitely have it.”

Besides balancing work and life, Pamaj and the Uprising players share a greater quality. Both feel the responsibility of representing not only their team but also their country as a whole.

“Canada gets counted out a lot,” said Pamaj. “There are people pushing boundaries, who love to create. That’s what Canada’s really good at.”

Last week, the Uprising move back into the Bell Fibe House, where they’ll look to ensure that no one can discount them. Bell has pushed the boundaries on the internet: this season the team will play with 2 x 1.5 GB fibre connections on the Bell Fibe network. As FaZe’s time at the house indicated, balance between gamer and environment is crucial to succeeding. The Bell Fibe House offers just that, and the Uprising know that now is the time to succeed.

As Pamaj said: “We have people doing exceptional things here.”