Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras' departure to join mousesports left FaZe with a gap in the roster, and with Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson still taking time away from the game, the American org have picked up Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye, a 22 year old Danish rifler, to round out their roster. Kjaerbye joins this high-profile roster after two lengthy spells in Danish teams, Astralis and North respectively, making this the first time he will play in an English-speaking roster.
This is a fantastic move for Kjaerbye as it provides him with another chance to prove himself at the very highest level. The Dane is no stranger to the big stage, having already won a Major during his time in Astralis (ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017), though his form has waned in the years that followed. Time has not been kind to Kjaerbye, as his decision to join North and leave one of the most successful teams of all time continues to confound the CS:GO community to this day. While Astralis have gone on to even greater successes, Kjaerbye has become a shadow of himself, with North's continued failures during Majors reducing him to a mere footnote in the scene.
It's difficult to say whether there's any actual pressure on Kjaerbye at this stage in his career, though what we do know is that the move is a significant change of roles for the rifler, as in FaZe Clan's experimental roster, the Dane will no longer be the star player. It remains to be seen how Kjaerbye will adapt to this new role, though we won't have to wait long to find out, as FaZe face off against some of the best teams in Europe next week during ESL One Cologne (August 18-30).
FaZe's roster is now:
- Håvard "rain" Nygaard,
- Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
- Marcelo "coldzera" David
- Helvijs "broky" Saukants
- Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye
Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras is a 17-year-old Lithuanian player who made a name for himself as a stand-in in FaZe Clan. Not tied at the end of his interim mission, he became the sixth player of mousesports.
