Faze Clan have just won the first Tier-1 tournament in CS2's history. Yet it seems like, the roster won't stay together following the tournament. One player is reportedly close to signing for a competitor, whilst others are allegedly in talks with other organizations. Here's all we know so far.
The first CS2 tournament on Tier-1 level, IEM Sydney, just ended, and it was a spectacle! We even saw the first 13-0, achieved by FaZe against ENCE on their way to the finals, where they met up with Complexity and won. This was an interesting coincidence in itself, because the two orgs, FaZe and Complexity, are now owned by the same people at GameSquare, after FaZe was bought for $17M.
To think how far FaZe have fallen. The infamous organization, that started with Call of Duty trickshot-compilations on YouTube, valued themselves at 1 billion dollars after joining the stock market in June 2022. But a disastrous year followed, including public complaints from the OG-Faze-lineup, accusations of sexual assault and a total revamp of the management board.
But if there's one thing FaZe were able to rely on until now, it was their Counter-Strike squad. However, even after a major win, it seems that the squad may be disbanding...
FaZe Clan's CS2 Roster Is In Serious Questions
With the acquisition of FaZe by GameSquare, their Counter-Strike venture might soon be over. GameSquare already has a big CS-org under their banner in the form of Complexity and so while it is saddening, we don't think it's impossible that they remove the FaZe brand from CS entirely.
Per a report by Ryan Friend from Dust2, Canadian rifler Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken is in talks with his former employer Team Liquid. If it goes through, he will join up with his longtime teammate Keith "NAF" Markovic and Danish Star-IGL Casper "cadiaN" Møller.
But there's more to come. The rumors are spreading around that more players are looking for an exit out of FaZe. Former Pro Player Jacob "Pimp" Wienneche took part in this and had the following thoughts:
Let's play a game:Twistzz -> Liquid?Karrigan -> Heroic?Ropz -> Vitality?Rain -> ? Broky -> ?
— Jacob "Pimp" Winneche (@PimpCS2) October 22, 2023
After Heroic have parted ways with cadiaN just days ago, the org is looking for a Danish In-Game Leader. Finn "Karrigan" Andersen is exactly that. He probably is the best option. The 33-year-old started his professional career in 2006 in CS 1.6, playing for prestigious orgs like mousesports, Fnatic, Astralis and FaZe. He might be the smartest IGL to ever touch the game, and he has shown that he can still click heads, even at his age.
Robin "ropz" Kool is also rumored to be looking for change. With Vitality reportedly trading their rifler to Saudi-org Team Falcons, he might be the replacement. In my opinion, this makes perfectly sense. If you are looking for a high-profile rilfer, ropz is the player you are looking for.
Havard "Rain" Nygaard is the only member of the original FaZe Clan CS:GO lineup, and imagining him anywhere else is almost impossible. Still, he is an absolute machine on the AK and I would be very surprised, if there were no offers for him as well.
If the new FaZe owners decide to discontinue their Counter-Strike venture, they would find purchasers for their players. At the moment, we don't know if this will be the case. But the amount of rumors hinting at such an outcome are hard to ignore.