FaZe need more than one change and they need it now

FaZe were underwhelming before the Major. And FaZe are still underwhelming after the Major. If you remove the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, they haven’t made a single Playoff appearance in 9 of the remaining 11 events since the Austin Major. Not winning trophies is one thing, but not even being able to make a deep run for over a year is simply not digestible for a team like FaZe.

If you look closely at this year, FaZe are arguably the worst team in the top 20. They are bottom two in round win percentage, bottom three in opening kill percentage, absolute bottom in multi-kill rounds, once again bottom in 5v4 conversions, and bottom two in traded deaths. There are so many problems with this team, but not enough solutions. However, if they are to go into the Major not blindly hoping to replicate the success at Budapest, they will need to make more than a single change. With almost three weeks left before they kick off ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2, these are the players you could see on the way out.

A disappointing start for broky could end his FaZe tenure

It has become too obvious now. broky‘s slump has become far too big a problem to be overlooked, even with the step-ups from the team’s riflers. In the three events he has played this year, he has averaged a 0.91, 0.94, and now a 0.96 rating at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026.

If you want more concerning numbers, broky’s impact has been close to invisible in most matches. His ADR this year has been lower than karrigan’s. And that’s not all: he even has a lower KAST, which is surprising since he has both a higher KPR and a lower DPR than karrigan. It simply means that broky has been involved less often in rounds than he should be. To make matters worse, he has a lower multi-kill round percentage than karrigan.

This is an absurd statistic for an AWPer. He is the worst AWPer in any of the top 15 teams, and by a significant margin. It is clear that he is nowhere near the form he is known for. He has had enough chances to prove it, but has failed so far. If FaZe don’t make a change now, they are once again going to struggle with VRS points and could fall into a similar Stage 1 trap for the Major, which they wouldn’t want. I know the conversation about who will replace broky will keep circling back to s1mple. But FaZe can also look into lower tiers for talent scouting. Someone like mhL could bring fresh energy into the team, which they seem to lack at the moment.

Is it time for karrigan to go too?

There has to be another change here. It is hard to tell from the outside, but something seems to be lacking in the leadership behind FaZe. It is not exactly an individual problem when they play better against stronger teams but falter against weaker opponents. It has to be either an issue with mentality and energy, anti-stratting, or the basic structure to fall back on. Take a look at the opponents they have lost to in the tournaments around the Major:

• PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 – Astralis, PARIVISION
• IEM Krakow 2026 – 3DMAX
• BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1 – EYEBALLERS
• IEM Chengdu 2025 – Virtus.pro
• CS Asia Championships – FUT
• BLAST Bounty 2025 Season 2 – Virtus.pro
• ESL Pro League Season 22 – 3DMAX
• FISSURE Playground 2 – Liquid, The MongolZ

What’s more frustrating for FaZe players and fans is that most of these upsets haven’t even been close. FaZe have visibly played worse in these games compared to their performances against the top five teams. From the eye test, it looks like FaZe’s structure isn’t dependable enough to hold its own against teams they don’t know too well. Or it could be an energy issue.

The team relies heavily on the IGL, and considering the rough patches karrigan has been through while trying to make different rosters work, it may be catching up to him. Twistzz‘s arrival seemed to rejuvenate the roster, while also freeing karrigan from a lot of the responsibilities. But that is also now appearing to have reached its saturation point.

The problem seems too deep to be just individual letdowns. Having the worst 5v4 conversion rate in the top 20 clearly paints the picture. Add the statistic of them also having one of the worst traded death percentages, and it becomes even clearer. The communication and fundamentals are just not there for FaZe. We have already seen management make tough decisions in the past, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be the end of the road for karrigan as well.