FaZe Part Ways With Head Coach NEO After Difficult Start to 2026

FaZe have ended their partnership with head coach Filip “NEO” Kubski, bringing to a close a coaching run that began in July 2023 after Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström stepped down. NEO initially arrived as a replacement for Cologne and was later retained on a permanent basis in November 2023, after a strong early run with the roster. FaZe confirmed the split on March 16, while the team’s analyst, Dominik “GruBy” Swiderski, was named interim head coach as the organization evaluates its next move. In its public message, FaZe thanked NEO for nearly three years of work with the Counter-Strike division. 

The decision comes during one of the bleakest stretches of FaZe’s recent history. After a dramatic late-2025 Major campaign in Budapest, where the team recovered from the brink of elimination and pushed all the way to the grand final, FaZe failed to turn that momentum into a real reset for the new season. Instead, the squad has been eliminated in the group stage of every tournament it has played in 2026 so far, including 1-3 Swiss exits at PGL Cluj-Napoca and ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2. HLTV reports that FaZe’s overall series record for the year stands at 3-9, underlining just how severe the slump has become. 

The warning signs had been visible well before the coaching change became official. After FaZe crashed out of IEM Kraków in February, in-game leader Finn “karrigan” Andersen admitted the team had shown no real sense of progression in the loss, saying they could not even make the match competitive. That frustration only deepened as the year went on. At ESL Pro League Season 23, FaZe opened Stage 2 with a one-sided defeat to G2, losing 13-1 on their own Dust2 pick. HLTV noted that the team had gone just 1-8 on map picks in 2026 at that point, a statistic that reflected deeper structural issues rather than one bad day. Their tournament then ended with a loss to Astralis, a result that further damaged both confidence and their standing in the race for the next Major cycle. 

The downturn is especially striking because FaZe did try to reshape the lineup across 2025. In August, the organization benched Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and signed the young Polish rifler Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski, describing the move as an attempt to inject fresh energy into a roster that had struggled through a series of early exits. One month later, FaZe also brought Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken back from Liquid, while long-time pillar Håvard “rain” Nygaard was moved to the bench after almost a decade with the organization. Those roster moves were among the most significant changes FaZe had made in years, but the expected turnaround never truly came. Instead, the team continued to drift, and the lack of improved results has now cost NEO his position. 

That does not erase what NEO achieved during his time behind FaZe. Under his guidance, the team added several trophies, including IEM Sydney 2023, CS Asia Championships 2023, and IEM Chengdu. FaZe also reached the grand final at three of the first four Counter-Strike 2 Majors — Copenhagen, Shanghai, and Budapest — while also finishing runner-up at other major events such as IEM Katowice 2024 and BLAST’s Fall and World Finals in 2023. Even when FaZe fell short in those title matches, the team remained one of the most consistent contenders in top-tier Counter-Strike for extended stretches of NEO’s tenure. 

Now, however, FaZe are operating under much harsher pressure. Their poor results have left them in a fragile position in the race for an invite to the IEM Cologne Major, with HLTV’s Major-race coverage placing them in a crowded battle near the cutoff line. The team had already begun looking at smaller LAN events to stabilize that situation, including a sign-up for DraculaN Season 6 in Romania in hopes of collecting enough points before the April 6 invite deadline. That context makes the timing of the coaching change especially important: FaZe are not just searching for better form, they are trying to protect their place in the next phase of the season. 

GruBy will take over on an interim basis immediately, with his first event as stand-in coach set to be BLAST Open Rotterdam. FaZe are scheduled to open that tournament against Aurora on March 18. Whether this change proves to be a short-term spark or the first step in a broader rebuild remains unclear, but the message from the organization is obvious: the current trajectory was no longer acceptable. After nearly three years with one of Counter-Strike’s most storied teams, NEO leaves at a moment when FaZe are still rich in experience and name value, yet badly in need of direction, identity, and results.