Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken has all but confirmed rumors surrounding FaZe’s Counter-Strike IGL Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen joining Team Falcons following messages in the player’s Discord server.
Responding to discussion about karrigan leaving FaZe, Twistzz replied to a question of whether the players had prior knowledge of the move, responding, “It was sudden.” Later, adding that the FaZe IGL “wasn’t kicked.”
Rumors of karrigan leaving FaZe for Falcons began on Sunday with French org owner, former pro, and content creator, Sébastien ‘KRL’ Perez, who stated that karrigan would join Falcons before the IEM Cologne 2026 Major.
Various sources, including HLTV have since corroborated the move, and Team Spirit scout Aleksei ‘OverDrive’ Birukov. Therefore, Twistzz’s messages are now the last in a series of indicators that the incredible move is likely to happen, but does it make sense?
Why karrigan to Falcons can work
The most obvious benefit of adding karrigan to this Falcons roster is having an IGL who is happy for his individuals to take initiative and play expressive Counter-Strike.
Falcons have three players in Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov, Maksim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin, and Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač who want to make those individual plays and be the difference-maker.
Under Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovski, the team has struggled to find the balance between allowing its firepower to have freedom and having a coherent team approach.
While we don’t know the inner workings of the team, those who have watched Falcons’ behind-the-scenes vlogs will have seen kyxsan try to emphasize those team elements, but it seemingly had little result in the server.
The issue with more freedom is that teams still need fundamentals to help those expressive and explosive plays work, something which Falcons have struggled with.
We have seen Falcons’ firepower continuously put it in advantaged positions in the round, only to lose them in more and more ridiculous ways.
For karrigan, it is perhaps the respect he has in the scene that will be his most valuable commodity. Perhaps, finally, the message will get through, and Falcons’ teamwork will improve.
Certainly, in terms of roles, karrigan works better with the team on the CT-side. The roster should be rebalanced now with two natural anchors and two rotating riflers, allowing NiKo to be more in the center of the action than in recent months.
NiKo sacrificed some of his roles to welcome kyousuke into the team. While he likely won’t get those roles back, he has enough experience to play star roles on either side of the map.
René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen may also benefit from being moved from the worst spots on maps, such as B Mirage, to more proactive anchor spots.
Why karrigan to Falcons may not work
So in theory, Falcons may be on to the formula that finally puts them on the right path after a regression in the latter part of 2025 continued into 2026.
However, a few misgivings remain. Number one in people’s minds may be NiKo and karrigan’s relationship. The pair split from FaZe in 2018 after an internal battle over the IGL role, with karrigan ultimately leaving. That can somewhat be put aside by the assumption that NiKo was consulted over the move.
What cannot be put aside is that FaZe have been struggling for over a year, with their only positive result in that timeframe coming in the form of their poisoned chalice Budapest Major run.
Questions will hang over karrigan regarding his alignment with the current meta, and whether the FaZe IGL may have slipped a step behind his opposition.
Whether he can find the solutions to take Falcons forward is unclear when FaZe could not escape their own death spiral, which saw them miss the IEM Cologne 2026 Major.
FaZe’s chaotic Counter-Strike has still provided entertainment, at times, but the roster consistently lost to lower opposition, in part because they struggled to create that chaos against teams that can largely read them.
However, if Counter-Strike history has taught us one thing, it is that karrigan is at his best when doubted, so let’s grab our popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show. At the very least, the rumored move would be extremely entertaining.
Is there life after Karrigan for FaZe?
For FaZe, it is much harder to see a path forward. The roster has been built by and around karrigan for the majority of the time the Dane has been in the roster.
Without that leadership at its core, it is hard to see this roster staying together beyond this season. As for IGL duties, the question becomes whether to draft in a new IGL or to let Twistzz take that role again.
The Canadian rejoined FaZe in September 2025 after a difficult period in Team Liquid, which saw the team largely struggle under his leadership.
Regardless of what solution the org comes to, they will be more limited in how they change the roster if they want to maintain their VRS rank, as they need to keep three of the five players to have the same VRS core.
Considering the scrutiny both Jakub ‘jcobbb’ Pietruszewski and AWPer Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants have been under, the decision to keep one of them just to keep ranking may be a choice the org does not want to make.
What do you think of the potential move? Tell us on our Discord server!
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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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