FaZe launches Up Next academy CS:GO roster

FaZe announced FaZe Up Next, an academy Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster, naming former professional player Nicklas ‘gade’ Gade as head coach. Robert ‘RobbaN’ Dahlström will serve as Head of CS for the academy division and oversee coaching and roster development.

Gade played for OpTic, North and BIG during his career. He appeared at three CS:GO Major tournaments and was on the team that won DreamHack Open Sevilla 2019. FaZe assigned him to day-to-day coaching duties for the academy roster.

The five-player lineup is Alan ‘yoom’ Groot, Antal ‘Cher1on’ Lubbers, Gert ‘klyrO’ Truupõld, Stefan ‘k0rdy’ Trudic and rec1se.

Alan ‘yoom’ Groot is 19 and has recorded 82 competitive maps with stints at Genk, Fisher College and most recently FUT Academy. He was part of a team that finished fourth in United21 League Season 44 earlier this year.

Antal ‘Cher1on’ Lubbers has competed mainly in the United Kingdom regional circuit. Gert ‘klyrO’ Truupõld has competed primarily in the Baltic regional scene. FaZe listed HLTV profiles for ‘yoom’, ‘Cher1on’ and ‘klyrO’; ‘k0rdy’ and ‘rec1se’ do not appear on those public records.

The organization did not provide a match schedule, additional staff details or a timeline for player promotion in its announcement.

The release aligns with a wider practice among esports organizations of fielding academy teams to provide younger players with competitive minutes and a pathway into professional rosters.