NEO to be FaZe Clan’s Head Coach at IEM Cologne 2023

There is no doubt that when the news broke that Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström was leaving his position as Head Coach of FaZe Clan, the community and fans of the team were very surprised. However, the organization quickly started looking for an ideal replacement before starting one of the most important tournaments in the CS:GO season, the IEM Cologne.

As a result, the organization decides on another veteran and very knowledgeable of the scene, Polish Filip “NEO” Kubski. According to reports, NEO did not hesitate to give his answer, indicating his commitment and excitement to return to the Counter-Strike scene.

NEO to be FaZe Clan’s Head Coach at IEM Cologne 2023

According to a report published by HLTV, FaZe Clan signed up NEO as the team’s Head Coach for the upcoming IEM Cologne 2023, to be played at the end of July.

NEO returns to FaZe as coach for IEM Cologne https://t.co/BhF4roqzSz

— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) July 15, 2023

This does not mean that NEO will immediately join the team, as it was also announced that FaZe will continue without a Head Coach for the remainder of BLAST Premier Fall Groups. However, NEO will join this international lineup after the tournament ends to prepare for the $1M IEM Cologne.

NEO makes his return to the scene after 10 months of inactivity

The last time we saw NEO on an official CS:GO server was with HONORIS in September 2023. Recall that this disbanded team was formed by NEO and Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas, two of Poland’s Counter-Strike legends.

NEO was part of the active lineup of HONORIS for the last three years of his career. However, before that, he played for Virtus.pro and FaZe Clan, albeit with the latter briefly.

However, NEO was one of the players who formed that legendary Polish Virtus.pro lineup, which played 14 Majors. Recall that, at the time, NEO played with TaZ, Jarosław “pashaBiceps” Jarząbkowski, Paweł “byali” Bieliński, and Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski, all of whom set a gigantic benchmark in the CS:GO competitive scene.

Returning to the present, NEO and Finn “karrigan” Andersen will lead this FaZe Clan team as they head into IEM Cologne 2023. While it is unclear how long NEO will be with FaZe, there is certainly talk of a long-term deal.

RobbaN and his unexpected announcement

There is no doubt that RobbaN surprised everyone in the competitive scene when he announced his departure from FaZe on July 13. Moreover, the former FaZe Head Coach left the team just hours before the start of the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, which makes his decision that much more surprising.

However, it is worth noting that RobbaN was one of the fundamental pillars of all FaZe’s success in recent years in the CS:GO scene. In addition, in his resume, he has nothing more and nothing less than 11 LAN trophies won, 8 Major participations and, most importantly, the Intel Grand Slam S4 victory.

Header: Adela Sznajder | DreamHack