CS:GO: FaZe Clan set to use stand-ins at IEM Sydney following visa issues

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad will play with two stand-ins, Janko ‘YNk’ Paunović and Karlo ‘USTILO’ Pivac, during their first day at IEM Sydney.

The FaZe CS:GO team has been on a path to rediscover their form after parting ways with former in-game leader Finn ‘Karrigan’ Andersen back in December of 2018.

The European all-star squad has not fallen to a defeat since their opening BLAST Pro Series: Miami match against Team Liquid – bouncing back from the loss to secure the tournament victory. However, they’ll need some help to just be able to field a team at IEM Sydney.

The new-look FaZe Clan squad is trying to recapture their place among the world’s best.

What is happening with FaZe?

On April 28, FaZe Clan announced that both Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev and Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač had been facing visa issues in getting to Australia and that the team would have to play with two temporary stand-ins for the first day of competition.  

• Read More: DeKay’s Mailbag: What to expect from Team Envy CS:GO, compLexity, and FaZe Clan

Those two stand-ins have now been confirmed as current FaZe coach Janko ‘YNk’ Paunović and former Renegades star Karlo ‘USTILO’ Pivac.

However, it’s not completely bad news for the FaZe squad as they’ll only be without NiKo and AdreN for their first match in which they take on Australian team Chiefs in a game that they’ll be expected to win without breaking a sweat, regardless of who joins the server.

YNk: FaZe Clan coach and stand-in

It also won’t be the first time that YNk has had to stand-in for the team. Back at StarSeries i-League Season 7, the former analyst-turned coach took the place of Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács for the opening day.

While having YNk as a part of the temporary line-up instead of a second alien stand-in player may provide some sort of normality for the FaZe boys, they’d probably prefer to have NiKo and AdreN by their side as they go in search of capturing a highly-coveted title.

• Read More: Top 20 highest earning CS:GO pro players

IEM Sydney kicks off on April 30, with FaZe set to be in action against Chiefs at 5:20 AM BST/00:20 AM EDT/21:20 PM PDT [April 29] and 14:20 PM AEST.