FaZe change three to become Contenders again

In a dramatic turn of events FaZe Clan have seemingly pulled out of the nosedive into mediocrity that had been embarked upon almost six months ago after their second place finish at MLG Vegas back in December.

The more apparent it became that ShaDowBurn's Dragonblade could not guarantee consistent wins in every meta, the more certain it became that incisions would have to be made in the corpus of the team before they could hope to carve up the opposition once again.

Earlier attempts at DIY roster surgery had only served to create some kind of Frankenstein’s Monster — the transplanting of MikeyA in the place of team founder, TwoEasy, had not delivered the desired results, but the squad shambled on.

The bi-continental nature of the FaZe roster had always left them exposed to inconsistent results as they attempted compete online whilst straddling the Atlantic Ocean. However, in recent weeks the internal pressure reached critical levels after disagreements between the players over the future direction of the team had reached an impasse.

Since then, rumblings of signifcant personnel changes had been echoing through the hallowed halls of Overwatch esports, but it was only yesterday that the new-look FaZe was unveiled during the Overwatch Contenders Season Zero North America Open Qualifiers.

Original members Jared "zombs" Gitlin and Viktors "Forsak3n" Bernevs, and the most recent addition, Michael "MikeyA" Adams, were all conspicuous by their absence from the team sheet. Filling their respective slots were former LG Loyal flex star, SPREE, former compLexity support, Joemeister, and former EnVyUs DPS trialist, Lui.

The new roster had reportedly been racking up the scrim bucks against their North American peers — losing a paltry six maps in two weeks of practice — before cashing them in for a spot in Blizzard's Contenders event. Their path to victory took them through Team Liquid 2-0, You guys get paid? 2-1, the Selfless slayers FNRGFE 2-1 and LG Evil 2-0 to secure qualification as the number one seed.

It has since been confirmed by sources close to the team that the three new additions — SPREE, Joemeister and Lui — are all signed with or in the process of signing with the organisation. Furthermore, the long-planned move to a North American team house is finally set to become a reality within the next month or so.

Whilst other organisations have been discarding their Overwatch squads left, right and centre, FaZe Clan are intent on doubling down on their commitment to competing in in inaugural season of Blizzard's Overwatch League - pending negotiations.

For now, the fate of the removed trio remains unclear whether entering free agency or destined to gather dust in the shop window, the only certainty is that they will no longer be starting for FaZe. You can catch the new roster in action again when the Contenders Group Stage commences for North America on Saturday 18th June.

The new FaZe Clan roster is: