Q1 2026 Esports: NEO Leaves FaZe; Saksa, Demon1 Sign
FaZe coach Filip ‘NEO’ Kubski stepped down in March 2026. Martin ‘Saksa’ Sazdov signed with Team Yandex. Maximilian ‘Demon1’ Mazanov joined ENVY in February 2026.
Filip ‘NEO’ Kubski stepped down as FaZe Clan’s head coach in March 2026. NEO joined FaZe as a temporary coach in summer 2023 and later took the role full time. Under his tenure FaZe won IEM Sydney 2023, the CS Asia Championships 2023 and IEM Chengdu 2024, and reached three Major finals from 2023 to 2025. Dominik ‘GruBy’ Świderski was named interim head coach after NEO’s departure. FaZe finished last at BLAST Open Spring 2026 and at PGL Bucharest 2026, dropped in VRS rankings and did not secure a likely direct invite to IEM Cologne Major 2026. Reports link in-game leader Finn ‘karrigaN’ Andersen to Team Falcons.
Martin ‘Saksa’ Sazdov was signed permanently by Team Yandex after serving as a stand-in at the end of 2025. With Saksa on the roster Team Yandex placed second at BLAST Slam V and won DreamLeague Season 27 in December 2025; the organization earned more than $300,000 in prize money that month. In March 2026 Team Yandex won PGL Wallachia Season 7 and reached the grand final at ESL One Birmingham 2026. Saksa won The International 2022 earlier in his career. Team Yandex recorded wins against teams including Tundra Esports, Team Spirit and Team Liquid during its run.
Maximilian ‘Demon1’ Mazanov joined ENVY in February 2026. He was named MVP at VALORANT Champions 2023 while with Evil Geniuses and later had stints with NRG, Cloud9 and Leviatán. ENVY qualified for VCT Americas through the 2025 Ascension promotion. The team placed 9th–10th at VCT 2026: Americas Kickoff. Despite that placement, ENVY recorded higher total watch hours than G2 Esports while playing fewer matches. ENVY competed in VCT 2026: Americas Stage 1 with Demon1 on the roster.
Los Ratones announced the end of its project in February 2026. The roster, assembled by Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont from former professionals and streamers, won three Northern LoL Championship splits and two EMEA Masters titles in 2025. In the LEC Versus 2026 format the team lost its first four matches, finished ninth and missed the playoff bracket. Most of the former Los Ratones roster continued under the Witchcraft name and later competed at EMEA Masters 2026 Winter.
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