FaZe Clan officially assign coaching duties to NEO

Following several successful campaigns over the last several months, FaZe Clan has announced that Filip “⁠NEO⁠” Kubski will remain as the team’s head coach.

After a successful trial period, the Polish CS veteran Filip “NEO” Kubski is now the full-time coach of the North American organization FaZe Clan, the team announced on its official networks. NEO rose to prominence as a top player while he was a member of Virtus Pro, the squad that won many tier-one events, including the ELEAGUE Season 1 and the 2014 EMS One Katowice. NEO is not new to the FaZe brand, though he is taking the official head coach duty for the first time In 2019, he played with FaZe Clan for a very brief period, during which he was promoted to the position of in-game captain.

After 3 straight tournament wins, we figured it’s time to drop the “interim” from his title

We’ve officially signed @neo_fkubski as the Head Coach of FaZe Clan Counter-Strike! #FaZeUp pic.twitter.com/XVNhsid3fq

— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) November 19, 2023

 

Given that this will officially be NEO’s first time serving as a head coach in Counter Strike esports, it is a challenging assignment. NEO had a distinguished playing career, but he had no coaching expertise.  From 2000 until 2022, the Polish rifler competed on stage his whole career, emerging as one of the greatest mechanical CS 1.6 players of all time. Many people still look up to him as an example of how to handle “clutch” circumstances.  The last group NEO performed with was HONORIS, which he and Wiktor “⁠TaZ⁠” Wojtas founded together.  He spent most of the preceding three years as a member of the squad before the team’s financial troubles forced it to close in March of this year.

NEO’s trial run with FaZe Clan

In July, NEO took over as the squad’s temporary manager when Robert “⁠RobbaN⁠” Dahlström abruptly left the club to “move on to the next challenge” and give up coaching. RobbaN’s accomplishments with FaZe, such as winning  IEM Cologne in July 2022 and ESL Pro League Season 17 in March 2023, made him tough to replace. Last but not least, RobbaN helped the team win the PGL Antwerp Major in 2022, making his presence in the team more crucial.

Shortly after NEO became the team’s coach, FaZe Clan placed 9–12th in three different tournaments—IEM Cologne 2023, Gamers8, and ESL Pro League Season 18. After switching to Counter-Strike 2, the team has, nonetheless, found new momentum, taking home the Thunderpick World Championship, the CS Asia Championship, and IEM Sydney. Bringing his vast experience as a player to the coaching department is going to be challenging for him, but thus far NEO, the coach has proved himself capable based on the positive comments he received from the squad.  

FaZe Clan CS2 roster:

• Finn “karrigan” Andersen
• Håvard “rain” Nygaard
• Helvijs “broky” Saukants
• Robin “ropz” Kool
• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
• Filip “NEO” Kubski (Coach)

Header: ESL