Few are the players in professional Counter-Strike who, regardless of whether you love them or hate them, will make you vigorously follow each and every step of their career. The thrill and pure feeling of hype when their name appears on the HLTV homepage with an interview, an achievement, a generational fumble, or a transfer.
36-year-old Danish IGL, veteran, and FaZe Clan captain Fin ‘karrigan’ Andersen is the epitome of a household Counter-Strike name. After more than 14 years of being part of the best teams in the world, 21 participations in Major tournaments across CS:GO and CS2, 24 LAN trophies, including an IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, a Major trophy, as well as a Grand Slam, karrigan has established himself as one of the greatest and most legendary In-game-leaders in history. Meaning, every move he makes, every win, loss, and change, causes a wildfire in the scene.
According to French streamer Sebastien ‘KRL’ Perez, as well as HLTV’s sources, the mastermind is looking to put an end to his 5-year-long run with FaZe Clan and join Team Falcons in what could be the biggest roster change of 2026. His addition to the team is expected to come to fruition after the end of IEM Rio 2026, which is allegedly supposed to be North Macedonian In-game-leader Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovski’s last even ahead of the Saudi organization’s CS2 team.
read more
The news come less than a week after FaZe Clan’s unsuccessful attempt of catching the last train for the IEM Cologne 2026 Major, leaving the organization outside of a Counter-Strike Major for the first time since its game entrance in 2016.
However, this article is not focused on FaZe Clan or the story of why the deal is happening, but on how the legendary captain could turn Falcons into what FaZe Clan has always been – the egregiously stacked lineup capable of lifting any trophy, winning any stage game, and dominating the scene thanks to gathering the most stacked 5-man-lineup possible.
The karrigan & NiKo reunion
If the rumours prove to be true, then karrigan could reunite with one of the people who had a vote in removing him from FaZe Clan at the end of the Dane’s first stint with the North American organization in December of 2018 – Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač. The two spent close to two years together on FaZe between March of 2017 and the end of 2018 – winning 9 events together, and playing 469 maps over the course of their time together in what ended up being the most dominant FaZe Clan team prior to the Major and Grand Slam winning one years later.
read more
However, after the team’s failure of lifting a Major trophy, and the tight overtime loss to Cloud9 in the grand final of the ELEAGUE Boston Major in 2018, everything ended. Over the course of their time together it was no secret that NiKo was, as he has been throughout the majority of his career, the second voice of the team. The person who would help the in-game-leader the most in tough situations, either by providing an alternative solution to in-game conundrums, or one that would even help out other players by micromanaging them in specific situations.
To sum it up – NiKo has a voice on the server, and demands to be heard, and since it’s more often for the better of the team, that was the case on FaZe Clan too, until it wasn’t. After karrigan was removed, NiKo took on the IGL responsibilities, making a lot of people believe that he was one of the people at the heart of the decision to make the change. NiKo during IEM Rio 2026 when asked about karrigan’s potential arrival:
People really think that we had some bad blood between each other after what happened in FaZe in 2018, and there is nothing bad between us. That’s it
If NiKo’s words prove to be true, the mutual respect, that the two would inevitably have for each other based on merit, and accomplishments, as well as the already existing history, and prior experience with playing together, should help towards establishing a healthy environment where karrigan gets to finally have another big secondary voice, one of the things he would often rely on ELiGE & Twistzz about during 2026 – but one that he knows quite well, and has definitely matured and grown even more in comparison to the last time they played together more than 7 years ago.
read more
Karrigan has stated multiple times how much he values what NiKo would bring to the table, and him joining Falcons could be a great opportunity for the Dane to feel much more support in the calling department by someone he’s much more familiar with.
The choke and In-Game Changes
Throughout the course of 2025 and 2026 one of the Falcons’ biggest stumbling blocks has been the inability to close out tight games. Mistakes in advantageous situations, 4v2’s, 4v1’s, 5v3’s, as well as a serious lack of fresh ideas on T-sides in important games. Falcons do not lack firepower, however, they lack the killer instinct, the ability to thrive under chaos and turn crazy games around in their favor, and interestingly enough – that is exactly what karrigan could bring to the table.
FaZe Clan’s identity has always circled around the “bullshit wins”. A team with an immense amount of firepower, capable of clutching and winning every game under pressure, thriving in chaos, and outrunning their opponents in the long run. In that sense, a team with NiKo, m0NESY, kyousuke and TeSeS might be more reminiscent of what the FaZe brand has always been than FaZe’s current roster itself, especially with broky’s underwhelming performance, and jcobbb’s inability to shine.
read more
Moreso, after rain’s departure, karrigan had to take even more responsibilities. Playing roles like outside on Nuke’s CT-side, which would sometimes provide enemy teams with a great opportunity to punish the In-game-leader, abusing his position. On Falcons karrigan could go back to being an anchor on most CT-sides, providing NiKo and kyousuke with more space on CT, as well as even giving TeSeS the opportunity of returning to being the “big bombsite anchor” on some maps, where he was thriving back in the days, and where kyxsan currently is playing on Falcons.
Outside of potentially allowing the Danish rifler to get back to what he knows best, karrigan’s addition could be lifting some of the pressure from kyousuke’s shoulders on the T-side. Throwing himself in first, creating space, and allowing kyousuke to sometimes enter the bombsite as a second or third player.
With that in mind, Falcons is already used to playing the more default-based style of CS, which is also what karrigan seems to prefer. However, the extra pace that the “up in your face” Counter-Strike played by the 34-year-old veteran could switch things up for NiKo and co., make the team more proactive, and allow the individuals to thrive in a faster-paced game.
read more
In conclusion, I would say that there is no guarantee of karrigan’s addition fixing things for Falcons in the long run, but one thing is for sure – regardless of the “Just 1 more star” memes, and the team legitimately following the saying by example, this move could make sense. If there was a leader, capable of bringing that never-die mentality, as well as the so-called “FaZe bullshit” alongside him, that would be karrigan. One last hurrah, an opportunity to equip himself with some of the sharpest individuals in the world, a new-old secondary caller, a new coach, one of the best AWP-ers, and one of the brightest talents in the game. Even in Vitality’s era, karrigan could be just what Falcons need in order to become “The New FaZe Clan”.
