Legendary former Counter-Strike 1.6 and CS:GO player NEO has been appointed the interim head coach of FaZe Clan in CS:GO for the time being, the organization announced on July 27.
NEO arrives at FaZe after the team lost former head coach Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström during the offseason on July 13 as he decided to move on to another challenge in his career. The NEO pickup had already been reported by Dust2.us, but FaZe chose to confirm it ahead of their debut in the IEM Cologne 2023 group stage.
Related: IEM Cologne CS:GO 2023: Scores, standings, results
This will be NEO’s second stint with FaZe. The EMS One Katowice Major champion in 2014 with Virtus Pro had a short run with FaZe between May 2019 to September 2019 but as an in-game leader.
This will be NEO’s first chance as a head coach in CS esports. The Polish legend played professionally between 2000 to 2022 and left his mark on the pro scene as one of the most skilled CS 1.6 players of all time and is regarded by many as the GOAT of that game. He had a successful transition to CS:GO in 2012 but stopped playing at the highest level in 2019.
Replacing RobbaN at an important tournament like IEM Cologne will be a tough task for NEO. The former skipper helped FaZe win numerous titles since 2017, including IEM Cologne in July 2022 and ESL Pro League season 17 in March 2023. RobbaN was also a part of the team’s preparation for the PGL Antwerp Major title in 2022 but couldn’t stand behind them in matches due to a Valve ban.
FaZe in-game leader karrigan made it clear in an interview with HLTV during the BLAST Premier Fall Groups earlier this month that RobbaN’s departure came as a surprise and that nobody can replace him because the Swede is “unique.” But depending on the impact NEO causes at IEM Cologne, he can leave a good impression on karrigan.
