NEO stays on as FaZe coach

19-11-2023 18:24

The Polish legend has been offered a permanent position after impressing on trial.

NEO is FaZe's new permanent head coach

Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski will be staying on as head coach of FaZe's Counter-Strike team in a permanent capacity, the North American organization has announced. The announcement comes in the aftermath of the team winning three titles in a row, two of which were on LAN.

NEO took charge of the team on a trial basis in July following the sudden departure of Robert "⁠RobbaN⁠" Dahlström, who opted to quit coaching and "move on to the next challenge". This was the first coaching stint for the 36-year-old, who won several titles during an illustrious playing career, including the ESL Major Series One Katowice 2014, and is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the Counter-Strike franchise.

He had a rocky start to his coaching career as FaZe placed 9th-12th at IEM Cologne and ESL Pro League Season 18 and were sent packing at Gamers8 in the Round of 16. However, the team has hit a new gear since the transition to Counter-Strike 2, winning IEM Sydney and the CS Asia Championships on LAN and the Thunderpick World Championship online.

ropz: "I'm super happy to be performing like this"

FaZe, who are on a 15-match win streak, could add two more titles to their cabinet before the end of the year as they will compete at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, next week in Copenhagen, and at the BLAST Premier World Final, in December in Abu Dhabi.

But despite riding this wave of success, the team is still expected to undergo roster changes soon, with Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken reportedly on the brink of a return to Liquid, three years after switching teams and signing with FaZe.

The unveiling of a new permanent coach comes one month after it was announced that FaZe Clan will be acquired by Gamesquare, the Texas-based company that also owns Complexity. The deal, valued at approximately $17 million, is expected to be completed in Q4 2023.

In a statement to HLTV, ESL confirmed that it was "examining the potential implications" of the deal. FaZe and Complexity are partnered with ESL through what was called the 'Louvre Agreement', which offers revenue share and spots in certain ESL tournaments to all partner teams. Both organizations are also partnered with BLAST.

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Cool

2023-11-19 18:25

2 replies

ok blade stays as navi coach too

2023-11-19 19:49

1 reply

big if true

2023-11-21 00:26

GOAT Coach

50 replies

This is how you know the term 'GOAT' is officially dead. The guy has only been a coach for a few months and people are already calling him the greatest of all time.

2023-11-19 18:40

48 replies

Pretty much everything on the internet gets run into the ground eventually

2023-11-19 18:41

and already won 3 events, one of the events he had 100% round win after a timeout. already better than zonic, who was carried by glaive all these years.

2023-11-19 18:42

32 replies

Stop typing.

2023-11-19 18:43

can't handle facts i see. its okay.

Know its bait buuuuut just to shut you up ... Zonic got a major in vitality ;)

2023-11-19 18:53

10 replies

neo has major too actually as a player when coach role didnt exist and is a goat of cs 1.6

2023-11-20 01:02

9 replies

i mean virtus pro, complexity etc had coaches tbh... the russians coach giving the players smelling salt between every round... jason lake yelling his lungs out while snapping a vein from his head behind his team.... good times :)

2023-11-20 10:05

You can't be "a goat" - by definition. But I know, i know... its the internet, we have 89 different GOAT players and 17 different GOAT coaches....

2023-11-20 16:50

#195 Literally undisputed top1/top2(if u want to be controversial swede) in CS 1.6 so it literally means GOAT 1.6 no?

2023-11-20 20:04

Someone is either THE GOAT or not. You can't have "A GOAT". Too many people use goat so liberally, that it lost all meaning

2023-11-21 12:22

f0rest is better

2023-11-20 16:58

3 replies

Its like s1mple and zywoo rivalry in csgo/cs2. Neo was clearly better only cs 1.6 but f0rest was better individually transitioning to csgo but neo won a major as an IGL tho and as you can see its pretty valueable for him while being a coach

2023-11-20 20:03

he "won a major" as a coach... I first found the statement funny as if he contributed so much that he had anything to do with the wins. But as I thought abit longer I guess you are right. Cs isnt a sole player/coach game. All parts needs to be working to be very successfull. I guess we should just stop comparing as we do. Both are great individuals and contributors to what cs is today. I like neo in many was, as I obviously love what f0rest has done. Lets hope for more of this in the future from both parties

2023-12-01 22:00

(also kinda drunk atm so sorry for the mistypes)

2023-12-01 22:01

I never said he didnt have one lol i only responded to zonic was nothing without glaive

2023-11-20 23:13

gla1ve was carried by zonic afaik. It's facts and well known on the Danish scene. Nt bobby

2023-11-19 20:25

0/8 zonic 0 trophies since dignitas until astralis when gla1ve join

2023-11-19 20:26

This

2023-11-20 10:09

Excellent move by him to get gla1ve then

2023-11-20 10:11

Ru that dumb bro

2023-11-19 22:00

Seems like you dont know anything about neo, and still type. He was undoubtedly the best cs 1.6 player of all time, and performed great in CS:GO while playing for virtus pro. If he is not the goat, then no one is.

2023-11-19 22:11

4 replies

blud replied to the wrong guy

2023-11-19 22:33

2023-11-20 00:44

f0rest exists

2023-11-20 04:40

neo still cleared him, even f0rest admitted it

2023-11-20 06:27

Ye glaive did very well without zonic

6 replies

they were already bad before zonic left, he ran away because he didn't have the capacity and resilience to hold through and build another team.

2023-11-20 00:47

5 replies

And glaive have it?

2023-11-20 00:48

he got benched, zonic ran away. there's a difference.

2023-11-20 01:39

Why he got benched? Did he win something after zonic? Zonic i believe got 3 tournaments and 1 was a major.

2023-11-20 03:23

that's not my point but okay.

2023-11-20 04:04

Zonic relevant on 2023, glaive can't even join NiP that is a terrible team rn

2023-11-20 04:31

lmao, glaive was carried by zonic

2023-11-20 08:35

Cute bias, but it's no excuse for writing something that blatantly false.

2023-11-20 14:34

+1.

2023-11-19 18:49

GOAT COACH IN CS2

True

2023-11-19 18:54

He has won basically every tier 1 event (CS2). How is that not GOAT?

2023-11-19 19:36

do you even know what it means?

2023-11-19 19:44

Greatest of all time. Won all top events in a game --> the best coach. Can you name another coach with more tier 1 victories in CS2?

2023-11-20 07:41

There's been like 1 tier 1 event full of new rosters and rosters soon to change

2023-11-19 19:56

It's basically still the same game. All changes are blown completely out of proportions, as cs players hate leaving their tiny zone of comfort.

2023-11-20 14:35

So you can ask questions... ??? twa

2023-11-20 16:02

It shows how people think their opinion is above simple facts. Back in my days, we used to say my favourite or my " go to guy". I m convinced some of em don t even know what goat means...

2023-11-19 19:57

This is very true. But I blame media, and especially politicians who do this all the time. Condemning this, praising that, completely disrespecting everyone else's opinions.

2023-11-20 14:38

He is one of the goat, not in coaching, not yet maybe but definitely a goat in the history of cs 🐐🐐🐐

2023-11-19 21:13

Nah, cause Neo might be the GOAT of CS. Not coaching. CS in all. There are a few people on that short list. He's iconic and that he's still in the scene is just cool, more so since he's tier 1 tactician.

2023-11-20 03:02

GOAT and GOATED are basically terms that should only be used ironically now

2023-11-20 13:17

Robban better

2023-11-20 15:58

Nice

nice

deserved!

f0rest coach when

bussy rn,griding apex legends

2023-11-19 18:28

excuse me?

2023-11-20 09:56

what?

2023-11-20 12:13

I was referring to the first word in your comment

2023-11-20 14:28

balls

W coach, the karrigan NEO combo still works well

2023-11-19 18:26

did this really need a whole article?

2023-11-19 18:27

It clearly did

they needed because neo was temporary coach from today is full-time coach

2023-11-19 19:51

newbie

2023-11-19 20:27

Behind the premise of everyone thinking faze is disbanding, perhaps it did need a full article. But even still would it matter if that wasn't the case? There are so many filler articles to generate views, this would be no different.

2023-11-19 21:19

He's the best coach of all time on my opinion!

lol

2023-11-19 18:32

zonic says hello

2023-11-19 18:34

Zonic's cs2 trophy cabinet looking empty

2023-11-19 18:38

his bank acc not so much

2023-11-19 19:12

I am ignoring traitors and gold diggers in my coach tier list.

2023-11-19 21:36

hes top1 coach and that is fact if you like it or not

2023-11-19 22:23

name checks out oil money lover

2023-11-20 02:22

+1 he is a coach.

2023-11-19 19:05

what is your favourite area of maths and do you have a theorem you particularly like

2023-11-21 08:53

Holy shit I was about to respond you with a long ass meaningless text telling you why I don't have a favorite "era" of mathematics 😭 Anyway favorite area/branch would be arithmetic and more precisely prime numbers. As for my favorite theorem I don't really have one but I coincidentally really like the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic which says every natural number can be written as a unique product of prime numbers. I also like topology and bezout's theorem (in geometry) What about you my friend ?

2023-11-21 09:54

GOAT coach of cs2

Already better than zonic in my books

goat of 1.6,one of the best igls of early csgo,and if now he can impress as a coach for a while ,pretty much solidifies him as the greatest CS career of all time, and no one is touching that

I don't think I'd say Neo has had the greatest career of all time. For instance, I'd say f0rest has overall had a better career. It's hard to compare CSGO-only players to 1.6+CSGO players also, since the scenes were so drastically different. Neo will always be a legend, but his career is kind of marred by the fact that his teams were never consistently the clear-cut best in any given era.

fair point i respect it,my opinion is mostly based on a friend of mine who played pro cs back in the day and played against both of them on a few occasions ,and while i do agree f0rest is the goat of CS right now,if NEO were to win a major as a coach i think that gives him an edge if we take into acount both coaching and playing careers,if we are talking straight up just playing then f0rest is still the guy on top

2023-11-19 18:58

To be fair I doubt f0rest will ever coach. It doesn't seem like his kind of thing. The only thing about Neo I wish was different was his adaptation to CSGO. He was easily the best all-around player in 1.6, but he never seemed to gel with CSGO the same way. I still respect him tremendously and I think coaching is a role that suits him, because he's always been a very smart player.

2023-11-19 19:15

what are u talking about golden five won more majors in 1.6 than astralis did in GO

2023-11-19 20:12

That's a ridiculous statement. What constitutes a "major" in 1.6 is so vastly different than what it is in CSGO the two aren't even comparable. Any large tournament now, especially Cologne and Katowice, would've been considered a "major" in 1.6.

2023-11-19 20:34

When half of your brain works and the other doesn't. "That's a ridiculous statement. What constitutes a "major" in 1.6 is so vastly different than what it is in CSGO the two aren't even comparable." so you proceed to compare Majors in 1.6 were just as much of an achievement as they are in CS:GO, esports wasn't as flashy as it is today and players had to risk a lot for little in reward

2023-11-20 06:40

If you don't understand what someone's point is, maybe don't insult their intelligence? It'll save you embarrassment later. "...so you proceed to compare," I love how you miss the concept entirely. 1.6 standards of a "major" was any large tournament. Hence my point: they aren't comparable, since we don't consider large tournaments as majors in CSGO. To say someone "won more majors" in a game that didn't actually have "majors" as we define them is a false metric. There were a number of large events in 1.6 every year, compared to 2 majors (generally) a year in CSGO, and that excludes the fact we had periods without any at all. It's why you can't make that assertion, the numbers aren't equivalent. Go to Liquidpedia, and filter wins by ranking and Neo has half the wins of a player like Dupreeh, but somehow he "has more majors." Terrible logic and comparison. Also what the actual fuck does your last point have to do with anything? Because people got paid less/nothing the achievement is more important? Solid point, glad you brought it up. 1.6 and GO achievements are too vastly different to rate them on a 1-to-1 scale. I've watched tons of CS in my life, and I greatly enjoyed 1.6, but the stakes weren't the same.

2023-11-20 15:15

The fuck is this rant about? It's you who missed the point - where did I say anything about 1.6 players having more majors than CS:GO players, when it's clear the two games are NOT comparable? "1.6 standards of a "major" was any large tournament." That is simply incorrect and shows how little CS you actually watched or were involved in. But as the NA keeps being an embarrassment in every single iteration of CS, I didn't expect much. The last point is that majors in 1.6 cannot be discredited given the state of esport at the time, but I cbf explaining it to a peanut brain.

2023-11-21 10:17

Here let's do an exercise Mr. Supreme Intelligence: What do you consider a "major" in 1.6? ESWC? WCG? WESG? CPL? A prizepool of $50k+? If Joe Miller or Redeye casted? There were large tournaments in 1.6. Multiple a year. Some of the listed events had 2 showings annually. People coming in a decade and a half later and calling them "majors" makes no sense. We don't consider Cologne, Katowice, EPL or Blast as majors (unless they get that designation directly) but they're practically identical in stature to the big events in 1.6. So, again, you tell me what is and isn't a major in 1.6. You know, since you watched CS and I didn't. And the fact you think I'm "discrediting" large tournaments in 1.6 is so silly. Get some actual reading comprehension. You literally just glossed over everything I said and then threw insults at me. Come off it. I had a WON ID before you knew how to speak.

2023-11-21 16:26

I forgot WSVG. Forgive me. I didn't watch 1.6 games, remember? Let's throw in some Dreamhacks too, for good measure.

2023-11-21 16:48

goat

Really good

2023-11-19 18:29

I'm curious to see how much of an impact he's had on FaZe's early success in CS2. They're constantly shaping the meta and it's so fun to see. I love seeing a legend like NEO being able stay at the top of the game a decade later.

He had almost no effect on their initial success just like Karrigan isn't out braining the other teams. They're all back on the grind and playing very well individually and this even includes Karrigan too btw. I'm sure Neo has helped and does his job well, but the excellence of the individuals is what makes and breaks faze.

2023-11-19 21:21

Judging by his motivation these days, I'd say his impact is quite high. In his early days he was spending more time on strats than his IGLs and still managed to singlehandedly carry multiple majors

2023-11-20 06:35

what happened to robban

2023-11-19 18:31

he wanted to retire for a while now , & he chose to do that with the end of csgo

Nah, I am pretty sure it was something very sudden. Plus he "retired" before cs2 anyway

2023-11-20 08:39

so no faze disband anymore

Yeah wtf is happening?

2023-11-19 19:11

yes baby

2023-11-19 20:59

let’s fucking goooo

LET'S GO IJO

chad

I'm so confused... why are faze signing people to their counter-strike team? what happened to the whole conflict of interest thing. Are they not disbanding?

2023-11-19 18:33

Striker mentioned on HLTV confirmed that they apparently found a way to still continue competing in CS alongside coL when the acquisition finalizes.

2023-11-19 18:35

8 replies

how? they are owned by the same company there is no getting around it

2023-11-19 19:19

7 replies

that's the thing. No one knows how and what they'll do, all that's known is that both parties seemingly found a way around this whole shit that allows co-existence of both orgs in CS in order to compete in everything.

2023-11-19 19:20

pretty normal in esport or even in traditional sports - a company like adidas owns shares of multiple football teams playing in the same competitions. it's a clear conflict of interest and there are many examples like that

2023-11-19 20:23

I don't think the Addidas thing is applicable. They're spending money and investing to see a return on that investment based off advertising. They're not directly owning or in control of the teams.

2023-11-19 21:23

You Can fully Split the sport direction of each sub org and treat it separately

2023-11-19 21:32

If the parent company fully owns both entities there will always be a potential for conflict of interest no matter how much weight you put into splitting them up. I don't think that most teams would be receptive to taking a dive nor that it could stay secret considering the amount of individuals that would know, but the potential exists. It would be far more likely that an outside party would bribe one team to throw.

Then bring 3rd party as supervisor Ofc money is involved so there's minor risks but rn col will play rmr na, faze rmr eu, they will maybe meet each other but it's far from sure, I mean there's much worse out of CS scene and nobody Cares, there's matchfixing in cs and no Big sentences (except for some)

Yes, but eliminating the easy path towards collusion of any type is the safest bet. I don't think it will ever happen, but it is better to ensure the issue isn't a potential in the first place. It doesn't matter where they RMR, hell it doesn't even matter if they're colluding to gamble, but I could easily see COL in a do or die group stage match against Faze and if Faze loses that match, whatever team doesn't get in will instantly start crying even though their shitter team was never going to do anything in the first place. Nobody is a 3rd party supervisor. Who would pay and how would it even stop collusion? Each team is separately managed but that doesn't mean the parent company can't whisper to both of them or a supervisor. And who would pay said supervisor and could said supervisor not be bought? I don't think there is a bunch of match fixing in CS. There is no way anyone would ever be able to keep it quiet and honestly even if you're T3 scrubs, how much could the payoff actually be?

2023-11-20 01:07

Striker said on hltv confirmed that they had found a solution and their biggest problem was twistzzs replacement lol

#FaZeUP

So theyre not disbanding?

2023-11-19 18:36

there was never a option

2023-11-19 21:00

Why were people thinking that lmao Imagine unironically believing that even in the event of one team disbanding, it would have been FAZE

2023-11-20 08:41

Well deserved ! He barely got any praise for his achievements so far! Well done Legend !

Let's go

Now keep Twistzz

love neos vibe

and i bet neo, ropz and karrigan is a great trio for creating strats

He's back!

2023-11-19 18:45

GOAT

2023-11-19 18:46

2023-11-19 18:47

best coach of CS2

With this, FaZe's winning streak might come to an end lol. As they don't have stand-in buff anymore

2023-11-19 18:50

Nice !

2023-11-19 18:57

lets go NEO polish pride!

faze top1 2024 confirmed

2023-11-19 19:07

Nice! Let's fking go GOAT Clan!

2023-11-19 19:09

2023-11-19 19:14

Nice. FaZe Clan seem to be clicking at the moment, so this is a good move.

2023-11-19 19:17

+1 FaZe is doing now lets see if Vita with mezii will click hopefully they will. This is a chance for NIP vs fnatic situation

2023-11-19 19:32

Yeah, fingers crossed. ^^

2023-11-19 19:33

Where do these mezzi schlongriders come from?????

Great news

2023-11-19 19:26

best fist bumper in the world XDD

2023-11-19 19:35

Great

2023-11-19 19:38

Neo is the CS goat, nobody is close but f0rest

2023-11-19 19:47

so,they are not disbanding?if so, It would also love to see twistzz staying with faze :D

2023-11-19 19:48

NEO IS THE ONE.

Good luck Filip!

2023-11-19 19:52

so no disband ... cya coL !

2023-11-19 19:53

I remember everyone was hating on neo at the beginning hahaha and now the same people are glazing

2023-11-19 19:58

Let's go NEO!

I mean with a team as good as Faze how much coaching do they really need? Especially since you have karrigan as an IGL But good for Neo hope he does well in the future

2023-11-19 20:04

Insane transition. From pro player to pro coach. Neo is CS. Good luck and have a good life!

2023-11-19 20:11

2023-11-19 20:14

So no disband it seems :pepohmm:

2023-11-19 20:22

but they are going to disband

2023-11-19 20:31

Big W good coach

Neo is a legend. Such a huge knowledge about this game. Big up!

2023-11-19 20:35

Legend.

2023-11-19 20:45

The one

2023-11-19 21:28

Rly nice

2023-11-19 21:34

goat of 1.6, legend of go, gl neo, you deserved it

2023-11-19 21:42

goat coach

2023-11-19 22:15

Neo is a legend but for poles hes like in category like John Pope II

2023-11-19 22:25

hahahahahhahahahh interestink comparasion over here

2023-11-19 22:35

Yeah its funny but for us hes more than just legend, hes a big name of our esport history, the best esport player of all times, all games etc mb we dont pray to him xD but he is very special

2023-11-19 23:01

been playing cs since 1.5, and i would say he is arguably the best player to have ever touched 1.6 alongside f0rest, but greatest esport player of all times, no way bro. f0rest got his number with his cs 1.6 & csgo performance combined. neo was a shadow of himself in csgo, f0rest continued to shine for years. i mean f0rest even attended IEM Dallas in 2023 in his mid thirties, granted as standin. :p

2023-11-20 04:06

if esport was as big as soccer I'm sure neo would get a special trophy from our President

2023-11-19 23:03

dayum

2023-11-19 23:07

literally a God of polish scene, who disagree from polaks?

2023-11-19 23:12

prolly fakeflaggers

2023-11-19 23:16

2023-11-19 23:19

+1 byczku

2023-11-20 07:42

Who?

2023-11-19 23:23

Huge W

2023-11-20 00:46

WWWWW

2023-11-20 02:41

great news!

2023-11-20 06:10

POG

2023-11-20 06:18

Boosted by karrigan

2023-11-20 07:06

Owning as player. Owning as coach. Suddenly faze started winning. And even in a streak. Coincidence...not. Bow down peasants.

2023-11-20 07:37

This guy is like the Khabib of CS. From one of the GOATs as a player to now one of the best coaches.

2023-11-20 07:57

Good news, next up keeping Twistzz will be the main objective.

2023-11-20 08:59

2023-11-20 09:14

man NEO is built like a gigachad, him and Rain inspire me to do better at the gym.. we're all gonna make it bros

2023-11-20 11:16

deserved

2023-11-20 13:25

cs goat and cs2 goat coach

2023-11-20 14:12

Maybe Faze just needed a personnel change with Robban.

2023-11-20 15:48

glhf

2023-11-20 17:23

Cool, I would love to see him back as a Player! Miss old Virtus.Pro

2023-11-20 20:34