FaZe Clan’s CS2 roster is cracking, but there’s a change that can fix them

FaZe Clan’s struggles haven’t been going away, and frankly, my patience has worn thin. I believe FaZe has been given the benefit of the doubt one too many times, and this feels like the end of the line. This roster is a sinking ship, and no amount of patchwork is going to keep it afloat. Something’s got to give, or rather, someone.

The obvious scapegoat here seems to be broky, his numbers have been far from flattering, right? And sure, he’s part of the equation. But even if you waved a wand and replaced him with ZywOo, FaZe would still be caught between a rock and a hard place. The problem, well, is about as obvious and inevitable as what everyone predicted the moment ropz left.

Making rain the anchor is not the solution

We don’t need to squint to identify the crux of the problem. Even this latest series against The MongolZ could help you get an understanding of it. The series kicked off on Dust2, and initially, the individuals came out swinging. The calls weren’t half bad either. But once sides swapped and FaZe moved over to the CT side, it all crumbled to dust.

If you’ve followed FaZe, hell, even half-heartedly, you’d know that the one thing going for them on Dust2 had been rain playing A short. And the numbers speak volumes. A 1.12 in 2021, 1.08 in 2022, 1.19 in 2024, then a drop to 0.88 in 2025. And as a result, their win rate this year has plummeted to a dismal 20% against top 10 teams, including an ugly 0-13 stomping by VP.

But this isn’t a straightforward “karrigan made rain play B, he’s cooked” scenario. The issue is, if rain plays short, EliGE will have to shift into B, which won’t solve the problem either. Sure, rain has held anchor spots before, but I’ve never seen him thrive in that role. He’s always excelled when given the liberty of tempered aggression, picking his own battles, often flying solo. Be it cave on Ancient, short on Dust2, or outside on Nuke. Well surprisingly, they’ve all been taken away from him.

How The MongolZ exposed FaZe’s T-side 

Moving over to the T-side, there are two stroylines. On one end, they have karrigan, rain, and EliGE, all sharing the responsibilities of a spearhead. In the past 3 months against top 10 teams on the T-side, karrigan has gone for 30% opening duels, rain has accounted for 23.5%, and EliGE’s numbers are close to 25%. He has been the most successful of the lot, while rain has been the least. Compare that to 2024, karrigan had an 8% higher attempt rate, while rain had a much higher success rate.

This means all but one thing. Since rain has been playing as the lurker on most maps, most of the opening duels he has attempted have been while lurking. And his low success rate indicates how he has been the first victim far too often. For a lurker to be the first death is not a good sign. Well sure this stat also includes ecos and set pieces where rain, not being a dedicated lurker, goes in first. But the problem still lies.

On other rounds, or even late rounds, the lack of a lurker is causing distress to the rest of the players. Take today’s game on Ancient. The MongolZ were able to capitalise on this very weakness of FaZe. Take the first buy round, Round 15, for example. The MongolZ stacked B in the mid-round because 910 was wrapping up A main without a care in the world. It happened time and again.

In the follow-up round, mzinho nearly clutched a 1v2 with a bold flank from B main. In Round 17, at 1:39, 910 again pushes deep into A main, and FaZe folds to a half-buy. Even in the final round of OT, Techno4k finds daylight through B main and ends up winning the 3v3. FaZe no longer looks like a team, but  just five guys plugging holes in a leaky boat. Everyone is trying to fill the role of a lurker, but are still coming up ineffective. Because the truth is, instinct is not something that can be taught.

So who gets the boot in FaZe Clan?

karrigan is undoubtedly a maestro of micromanagement. But he is now trying to play chess with mismatched pieces. You can’t micromanage an entry to hold the backline. It’s a recipe for disaster. The problem, which must be pretty evident to you now, is the overlapping structure that’s become an impossible knot for karrigan to untangle. And the only one keeping up with the tempo has been frozen. But the rest are in hot waters right now.

I’m not trying to sugarcoat it, broky is a shadow of his former self. Against top 10 teams over the last three months, he averages a meager 0.92. But it’s not a one-man collapse. rain is languishing at 0.96, and EliGE is barely above water at 1.03. This is not the FaZe we imagined when EliGE came aboard. Replacing broky is not going to be the solution for FaZe, they need to choose between EliGE and rain, else the problem is going to continue.

But who will take their place? If FaZe do decide to move on from broky, there aren’t many attractive alternatives out there. People have been talking about degster being an upgrade over broky don’t realise that integrating him into the system will chew off another 2 months. And with his level of consistency, it’s not going to be a gamble worth it. Someone like dev1ce could be an ideal fit, if FaZe can manage that. As for the second slot, I won’t get too carried away. But if we’re being honest, there’s really only one viable name from the pool of available talent. Perfecto. Another gamble, sure but a calculated one in my opinion.

karrigan hasn’t been one to give up on his players, mucb less being one to not make a player work. So if FaZe actually pull the trigger and bench someone, it’s going to say a lot. Well, let’s just wait and see.