It looks like 2019 is starting off with a pretty big roster move from FaZe Clan. Finn “karrigan” Andersen will be moving over to Team Envy as a stand-in at the Americas Minor. Additionally, stand-in Matt “Pollo” Wilson will be leaving the team as a result.
#EnvyCS Update:@karriganCSGO will be competing with us at the Americas Minor on loan from @FaZeClan.
We'd also like to thank @PolloCSGO for standing in for us over the past couple months, and wish him the best in future opportunities
— ENVY (@Envy) January 1, 2019
This is following FaZe Clan’s decision to send Karrigan to the bench, after a rather disappointing 2018. This now leaves FaZe Clan looking for a new member heading into the upcoming IEM Katowice Major tournament. For Team Envy, it is a surprising move that caught many CSGO fans off-guard. However, this could help improve their lineup enough to get a better finish at the Americas Minor on January 22nd.
FaZe Clan and a lackluster 2018 finish
2018 was supposed to be FaZe Clan’s year, which would end with their quest for the Intel Grand Slam championship won. However, the team wouldn’t be able to win the prestigious $1 million prize. Besides winning IEM Sydney and ESL One Belo Horizonte this year, FaZe Clan would suffer multiple early exits from big tournaments. For example, the team wouldn’t even make it to the finals of ESL One New York, Dreamhack Masters Stockholm, and IEM Chicago.
As for other big events, FaZe Clan would disappoint too. The team dropped out of the London Major in the quarterfinals to Astralis and finished in eleventh place in the ESL Pro League in Europe. Just recently, FaZe placed fifth at BLAST Pro Series Lisbon, behind teams like Cloud9, Natus Vincere and Astralis. These shortcomings ended up forcing FaZe Clan to make a big roster move, as it was clear this iteration of the lineup wasn’t going to work out for the future.
Karrigan is a veteran of the scene and has spent two years on this FaZe roster. In fact, this roster has been together for almost a year and hasn’t been able to find success ever since June 2018. It will be interesting to see how he will do on an All-American roster over on Team Envy.
Looking Towards The Future
For FaZe Clan, many people believe that this was a move needed many months ago. It looked like for half the year, the FaZe Clan management was scared to make any significant changes. It seemed like they believed that this lineup would eventually win an event, even though they wouldn’t win one in the second half of the year. Now, they are heading into the new year with a significant hole in the team and a new aim for the management.
However, this could signify a new start that has been needed for some time. The stagnation that FaZe Clan has been suffering should be helped with the addition of a new player. On the other hand, Team Envy now welcomes a veteran leader to their ranks. Karrigan joins Stephen “reltuC” Cutler, Josh “jdm64” Marzano, Noah “Nifty” Francis and Tayler “Drone” Johnson. Envy has a pretty good collection of veteran talent in Cutler, jdm and now Karrigan. Nifty and Drone are two young players who could learn many things from the 28-year-old.
We wish the best of luck to FaZe Clan, Team Envy, and Karrigan in their future endeavors!
What are your thoughts on Karrigan joining Team Envy on loan? Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want more CSGO coverage, check us out here!
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