FaZe Clan has officially announced that Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen has left the organization. The announcement brings an end to the IGL’s largely successful second stint at the organization.
The legendary in-game leader has completed his expected move to Falcons, who have moved IGL Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovski to the bench.
karrigan ends career-defining FaZe stint
After rejoining the organization in 2021, Karrigan led FaZe to a historic 2022 which saw the Dane capture his first and only Major title with PGL Antwerp 2022 victory.
In total, karrigan won nine Tier 1 trophies in his second stint with FaZe, including IEM Katowice 2022 and IEM Cologne 2022, securing all the prestigious trophies that year.
In 2023, FaZe secured the Grand Slam by winning ESL Pro League Season 17. But the trophy also signalled an end to the roster’s dominance, acting as their last Tier 1 trophy in CSGO.
FaZe would start the CS2 era with a series of victories at IEM Chengdu 2023, the CS Asia Championships 2023, and the Thunderpick World Championship 2023, making them strong contenders for CS2’s first Major at Copenhagen despite losing Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken to Liquid.
FaZe would finish runners-up at PGL Copenhagen 2024, losing 2-1 to NAVI in the Grand Final, the start of a pattern for the roster.
A bounce-back performance at IEM Chengdu 2024 would see karrigan lift his final trophy with FaZe in a relatively weak field, as FaZe began a pattern of weak seasons culminating in strong Major performances.
FaZe magic survives in Majors, but falls apart elsewhere
FaZe would go on to attend the Grand Finals of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 and the StarLadder Budapest 2025 Major, losing to Spirit and Vitality.
Sandwiched between those performances was a quarter-final elimination at the BLAST Austin Major 2025, where FaZe played with Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski and Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev following Robin ‘ropz’ Kool’s move to Vitality after Shanghai.
Unfortunately, FaZe’s Major form after early 2024 was not reflected elsewhere in the season, as the roster suffered several early exits at various events, leading to a series of roster changes.
Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants was benched for the Austin Major, before being restored afterwards. EliGE departed the roster as the team, and the player suffered a difference in philosophy.
FaZe resecured Twistzz to the roster after his strugglesome time at Liquid, but that coincided with the departure of Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard as FaZe seemingly targeted a younger roster in signing Jakub ‘jcobbb’ Pietruszewski.
The roster’s struggles culminated in a disastrous season that saw early exits at BLAST Bounty, IEM Kraków, BLAST Open Rotterdam, and even DracuLan.
Ultimately, FaZe could not recapture their form despite Twistzz rejoining, ending with the roster harrowingly missing out on the IEM Cologne 2026 Major after defeat to BIG at HLC Pro Belgrade.
While karrigan’s FaZe rosters were known for their chaotic magic and their ability to conjure unbelievable comebacks, they could not find their form to recover in 2026, ultimately ending in the Dane’s departure.
kyxsan benched on Team Falcons
The news has led to the benching of Falcons IGL kyxsan, who karrigan replaces in the active roster for the IEM Cologne 2026 Major and beyond..
The player will still receive the in-game sticker for his Major berth and the associated money, but it will be small compensation for the player as he prepares to watch the Major from the sidelines.
kyxsan joined Falcons as part of a deal that brought the Heroic core of kyxsan, René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen, and Abdul ‘degster’ Gasanov to the roster, improving the organization’s standing in the rankings.
Like the previous ENCE core Falcons had bought, one sensed that the team was never the endgame of the organization, and more of a marriage of convenience.
While kyxsan remains one of the most promising young IGLs in the space, his more structured style was somewhat at odds with the starpower-heavy Falcons roster.
The issue seemed to get worse after the addition of young gun, Maksim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin, to the roster, with Falcons becoming increasingly disconnected in the latter half of 2025.
kyxsan seemed to lack authority on the roster, almost pleading at times in Falcons’ vlogs for his team to listen to him, as the roster consistently fumbled advantageous positions.
Falcons will now play with a looser IGL in karrigan, therefore the team may benefit more stylistically under his leadership. For kyxsan, there is no doubt that he still has promise as an IGL, it will just be a matter of finding a project that suits his style of calling.
Do you think the move can work? Discuss that on Insider Gaming’s Discord!
To read more about why karrigan’s move to Falcons may work, or may not work, read here.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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