Karrigan Benched from FaZe Clan

Finn “karrigan” Andersen has announced that he is now riding the bench for FaZe Clan. For former in game leader posted the revelation on Twitter, adding that he will write a longer statement at some point regarding the situation. Additionally, Karrigan added that organizations that are interested in him as a player are welcome to contact FaZe.

Benched. Will write a longer statement at another point. ❤️ if any orgs are interested contact FaZe. pic.twitter.com/wsQVp5Q3kp

— FaZe karrigan (@karriganCSGO) December 16, 2018

This move from FaZe is to be expected after a disappointing year in the pro scene. Since their excellent performance in June that saw the team claim victory at ESL One Belo Horizonte, FaZe has been eliminated in the group stages of four out of seven international tournaments.

In September, Nikola “NiKo” Kovac took on the role of in game leader, effectively removing much of what made Karrigan a standout player for the roster and moving him to a more support centered player. The team’s results did improve slightly in the aftermath of the roster shuffle, claiming the title at EPICENTER and coming in top four at IEM Chicago, but it didn’t prove enough to take down longtime rivals Astralis, who went on to finish the year as the most dominant team in Counter-Strike.

NiKo’s recent interview with HLTV did seem to point towards this outcome, with the player refusing to comment on Karrigans spot on the team or his role in the organization. He did bring up that watching the success of rivals Astralis was “…super frustrating, it was so bad, especially because we were not at the event [ESL Pro League S8 Finals] to try to stop them. That was the most frustrating thing, we were just watching from home. Not being there was super tilting.”

The team is now searching for a new fifth member, as NiKo, Olof “olofmeister” Kjajber, Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs, and Havard “rain” Nygaard look for a player they can bring in and mesh with the team.