FaZe Clan have announced their decision to part ways with their coach, and Polish legend, Filip “NEO” Kubski ending a three-year long partnership. During his tenure, FaZe lifted three trophies, and made an additional five finals, including three majors.
The team’s latest finals appearance, StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, was the highlight of an otherwise underwhelming 2025. Unfortunately for the team, though, 2026 only continued that downward spiral, with the team being on the verge of failure to qualify for the Major according to predictions by MischiefCS2 (though they have since recovered).
An underwhelming prologue to NEO’s illustrious career
NEO, who is widely considered the Greatest CS 1.6 player of all time, had a storied career in CS:GO, lifting the IEM Katowice 2014 trophy with Virtus.Pro (nicknamed the Virtus.Plough), alongside countless other trophies, and top four finishes. Following his departure from VP, he joined FaZe as a substitute in 2019, when the team was struggling to find an IGL to replace Finn “karrigan” Andersen.
Towards the end of his career, he reprised his legendary partnership with Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas in HONORIS. The Polish player replaced the beloved Swede Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström, as the latter took the decision to move on from the coach role just before the transition to CS2.
While the resume as a whole reflects well on NEO, the roster clearly stumbled after Robin “ropz” Kool’s move to Vitality at the start of 2025. Despite retaining Karrigan and Helvijs “broky” Saukants, alongside incredibly strong riflers in David “frozen” Čerňanský, Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, and later Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, the team lost much of its identity and clutch factor with the Estonian’s departure.
In the end, a roster change was necessary, and the team will hope that a new coach can give them the fresh ideas they clearly need. Very little of the blame for the team’s struggles, however, can be placed at NEO’s doorstep. If he hangs up his headset after FaZe, then his final year with the team will simply be an underwhelming prologue in an illustrious career.
Who will replace NEO in FaZe?
While the team’s long term plans remain up in the air, FaZe has announced that their analyst, Dominik “GruBy” Świderski, will stand behind the team in their upcoming campaign at the BLAST Open Rotterdam. GruBy has been a Polish CS:GO journeyman since 2015, notably playing for AGO from 2017-2021. The player has worked with FaZe since 2024 and should be able to bring a tactical voice to the game, if and when Karrigan requires it.
Looking at the scene as a whole, one name stands out of the crowd in the list of available coaches. Ashley “ashhh” Battye, formerly of GamerLegion, gained an incredible reputation thanks to the team’s BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 underdog finals run, and the organization’s rebuild afterwards that brought them into the top 15. Citing burnout, the Brit stepped away from GamerLegion towards the end of 2025.
His impact and game knowledge can not be understated, and if FaZe is looking to find more talented young players, then ashhh’s scouting track record would also be a positive for the squad. Ultimately though, any coach will have to work together with Karrigan to bring FaZe back to the top of CS2. (Unless the Dane himself chooses to step into the coaching role).
