FaZe bench coldzera

The Brazilian player's future is up in the air ahead of the summer season.

Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David has been benched by FaZe, the Brazilian player has confirmed on Twitter. The decision follows increasing criticism over the team's poor recent form despite the high-profile signings of Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken and Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen.

"After our recent results, and also because my time on FaZe is expiring soon, I decided to go to the bench and analyse new offers for my future," coldzera wrote. "I would like to thank FaZe and all the fans and players."

It is currently unclear who will replace coldzera in the BLAST Premier Spring Final, FaZe's next tournament, though rumours suggest that Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer has been practicing with the team, which he left in February.

coldzera is out of FaZe's starting lineup

FaZe moved down to 25th in the world rankings on Monday following the shocking last-place exit in Flashpoint 3, the first Major qualifier of the year in Europe. This is the lowest rank for a FaZe lineup since the North American organisation entered the Counter-Strike scene, in January 2016.

coldzera has been in FaZe's ranks since September 2019, when he was signed from MIBR, fulfilling his wish to play alongside Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač. But the Bosnian ended up joining G2 in October 2020, leaving the Brazilian, a two-time player of the year, in charge of rebuilding the team.

Twistzz was signed from Liquid in January to replace Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye, who had been playing for FaZe since August, while karrigan was recruited only in February as a replacement for olofmeister.

In an interview with HLTV.org before karrigan's unveiling, coldzera stated that expectations for the team would "be very high" following the arrival of the new captain. karrigan is one of the most revered in-game leaders in the Counter-Strike scene and led FaZe to multiple titles during his previous stint with the team, between 2016 and 2018.

FaZe showed some encouraging signs in IEM Katowice, in which they beat OG and took a map off FURIA, but then results took a turn for the worse. The 2-1 loss to Sprout in Flashpoint 3 - the second tournament in a row that FaZe exited without winning a match - seems to have been the final straw for the team, who will face Natus Vincere in the first round of the BLAST Premier Spring Final, on June 16.

With coldzera being moved to the bench, FaZe now have:

Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard
Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants
Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken
Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen