FaZe coach enkay J on the broky-to-JBOEN swap

FaZe replaced broky with JBOEN, and the team's coach Niclas "enkay J" Krumhorn gave a detailed explanation of the decision in an HLTV interview after the quarter-final win at XSE Pro League Guangzhou 2026 (the interview was published on July 10, 2026). The team advanced to the semi-final, where they fell 1-2 to PARIVISION, and over the course of the conversation enkay J explained why the AWPer left the lineup at this particular moment — and why a little-known 20-year-old Dane was brought in to replace him.

Why the decision had already taken shape in Barcelona

According to enkay J, the rotation wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to a single bad tournament. The coach gave a direct answer when asked exactly when the decision took shape:

"It was very clear that broky would need to be replaced after our last event in Barcelona."

The second point matters even more than the first: the call wasn't made by the coaching staff alone.

"It was very clear not only to me but also to the upper management that he needed to be replaced," enkay J added.

Both the sporting staff and the organization's management were talking about the need for a lineup change at the same time — the rotation call wasn't enkay J's decision alone.

Helvijs "broky" Saukants, a 25-year-old Latvian AWPer, had played for FaZe for nearly seven years — a rare tenure at one club by CS2 standards. He was pulled from the starting lineup on June 25, 2026, just a few weeks after the Barcelona event enkay J referenced. The timeline matters here: the coaching staff didn't drag its feet once the conclusion was reached, and acted on it quickly rather than stretching the process out over half a season. Even so, the decision clearly wasn't easy for the people who made it.

"It was a very hard choice, but it was inevitable," enkay J said.

There's more regret than relief in that line — the coach isn't trying to paint the rotation as an easy call, but he leaves no doubt that FaZe had no real alternative.

Who is JBOEN, and why him

Jason "JBOEN" Boe Nielsen, a 20-year-old Dane, stepped into broky's role — FaZe brought him in on loan from BIG Academy through the end of 2026. For a player that age, moving to a top organization, even on loan, is already a major career step. JBOEN made his FaZe debut roughly two weeks after joining the team, and he did it at a major event: XSE Pro League Guangzhou 2026, where the team's start was rough. FaZe opened the tournament with two straight losses, to TYLOO and MIBR, which put extra scrutiny on the newcomer's play. But after that the team won four series in a row, reaching the quarter-final and winning it. It was against the backdrop of that turnaround — from two losses to a winning streak — that enkay J gave his interview to HLTV.

On JBOEN's debut stretch, enkay J didn't hide his surprise:

"I didn't expect JBOEN to put up that performance, but I knew what he was capable of."

A detailed breakdown of JBOEN's settings, crosshair and gear is already available in the esblitz database.

What's next for broky

An important nuance that often gets lost in the headlines: broky hasn't left the organization. He remains under contract with FaZe — this is a lineup rotation, not a release or a transfer to another team. That sets his situation apart from a typical CS2 transfer window, where a player is first benched and then announced at a new club. In the HLTV interview, enkay J spoke specifically about this decision and the reasoning behind it, but didn't touch on broky's future plans — that topic stayed off the table. About two weeks passed between broky being benched on June 25 and enkay J's interview. broky's profile, with his in-game settings and results history, remains a relevant reference regardless of his current roster status.

For FaZe itself, the AWPer switch has already paid off on the scoreboard: the team won its quarter-final at XSE Pro League Guangzhou 2026, though it then fell 1-2 to PARIVISION in the semi-final. The turnaround from an 0-2 start to the playoffs speaks in favor of enkay J's call, but the final verdict on how well JBOEN has settled into the lineup will only come after several more tournaments, not one good run. For now, JBOEN's loan runs through the end of 2026, and for that entire stretch FaZe will be testing enkay J's and management's decision through tournament results. Follow FaZe's lineup and other top-team roster moves in esblitz's transfer feed.