After benching Havard ‘rain’ Nygaard from its active lineup, FaZe Clan announced over the weekend that he’s back on the squad for the remainder of ESL Pro League Season 22.
rain is replacing Jakub ‘jcobbb’ Pietruszewski for this time period, sending jcobbb to the bench as a result of a requirement from ESL.
On September 29th, FaZe Clan announced that Rain would be benched ahead of the ESL Pro League Season 22 after signing Russel ‘Twistzz‘ Van Dulken from Team Liquid. This ended rain’s nearly 10 years of competing alongside FaZe Clan, upsetting fans.
Why Did FaZe Clan Bring rain Back For ESL Pro League Season 22?
FaZe Clan announced on Saturday, October 4th, that it was bringing rain back to its active roster for ESL Pro League Season 22, which started on September 28th and is running until October 12th, 2025.
FaZe Clan’s earlier a match against G2 Esports ended in a technical forfeit due to ESL’s tournament regulations. According to ESL’s rules, teams must compete with the same roster that it qualified for the tournament with. FaZe Clan was invited to the event in July, which means it needs to compete with the lineup it had as of that time:
- Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen
- David ‘frozen’ Čerňanský
- Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken
- Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants
- rain
- Coach: Filip ‘NEO’ Kubski
rain’s temporary return has been met with excitement from FaZe Clan’s fanbase. One fan said that this is the roster that will win the entire tournament, while another said rain should remain on the roster permanently.
However, FaZe Clan clarified that rain will return to the bench after ESL Pro League Season 22 wraps up. It said in its tweet: “Following EPL, rain will return to the bench, and we will attend CAC 2025 with a roster of karrigan, broky, Twistzz, frozen and jcobbb.”
rain plans to keep competing, even taking on an In-Game Leader role.
“My journey in CS2 is far from over. I’m not retiring,” he said. “I will keep competing and growing as a player. I’m open to offers for any role, and while stepping into the IGL role would be a new challenge for me, it’s one I’m eager to embrace.”
