OverDrive: rain to leave FaZe

According to unofficial reports, 31-year-old Norwegian esports athlete Håvard "rain" Nygaard will soon be departing FaZe's Counter-Strike 2 roster. Insider and scout Alexey "OverDrive" Birukov reported this via his Telegram channel. The club itself has not yet confirmed this information.

Nygaard has represented FaZe for almost ten years, since January 2016. rain's average rating over the past three months is 1.09 (in 44 maps). Over the course of his pro Counter-Strike career, which kicked off in 2013, Håvard has earned over $1.8 million in prize money.

The vacant position on the FaZe roster will be filled by Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken – the Canadian esports athlete will leave his current team, Liquid, after the end of FISSURE Playgrounds 2, which is currently underway in Serbia.

Notably, FaZe placed 7th-8th at IEM Cologne 2025, failed to qualify for the BLAST Bounty 2025 Season 2 LAN finals, and finished in the top 8 at the Austin Major. The squad currently sits ninth in Valve's world ranking. FaZe will compete at ESL Pro League Season 22 with the updated starting five.

Current FaZe's lineup looks as follows:

Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard
Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants
Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen
David "frozen" Čerňanský
Jakub "jcobbb" Pietruszewski
Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken