s1mple to play for FaZe at BLAST.tv Austin Major, broky benched

The GOAT is back.

s1mple has a new team - albeit only for another loan period. The Ukrainian legend will now be turning out for FaZe, he'll be playing the upcoming IEM Dallas and BLAST.tv Austin Major tournaments with them.

This also means that broky has been benched, following a string of disappointing events for the Latvian in the opening months of 2025.

s1mple joins FaZe

The move marks s1mple's second loan period since the release of Counter-Strike 2.

The first came last year, when he joined Snappi's struggling Falcons team in a bid for them to make the Perfect World Shanghai Major. They missed out on that occasion, but his attendance in Austin is already confirmed thanks to FaZe's VRS ranking.

FaZe will enter the competition in Stage 2, alongside fellow European teams Virtus.pro, 3DMAX, and Falcons, as well as four teams from the Americas: paiN, FURIA, MIBR, and M80.

broky's benching by FaZe sees an end to a 2,048 day long tenure on FaZe's roster. Signed back in 2019, he joined the team alongside coldzera after the departures of NEO and GuardiaN.

broky had been a part of FaZe since 2019. Photo: Michal Konkol

Since joining, broky has won everything there is to win in CS with FaZe, including IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, and a Major at the PGL Major Antwerp in 2022. However, 2025 has been difficult for him, and he's been benched after recording a 1.05 rating in the first four months of the year.

s1mple's debut will come at IEM Dallas, which is set to kick off in 14 days on May 19th, 2025.