FaZe Clan will miss IEM Cologne Major 2026, ending a streak that defined the org's Counter-Strike identity since they entered the game in 2016. Ten years and sixteen Major appearances later, the runway ran out: a group-stage exit at DraculaN Season 6 on March 31 dropped FaZe to 31st in the VRS, and a grand final loss to BIG at HLC Belgrade PRO on April 5 ended the last realistic path to recovering ranking points before the April 6 cutoff.
How the streak ended
FaZe were runners-up at four of the last seven Majors, including StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 where they pushed Vitality across five maps in the grand final just four months before the Cologne cutoff. The turnaround from Major Grand Finalist to absent in two consecutive events is one of the sharpest declines in recent Major history — the kind of organisational drop that traditionally triggers roster review.
karrigan and apEX swap the Major-appearance crown
karrigan was the player with the most Major appearances in Counter-Strike history while FaZe held the streak. With FaZe absent from Cologne, Vitality's Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire overtakes karrigan in total Major appearances if Cologne plays out as scheduled — karrigan himself still attends Cologne, but with Falcons rather than FaZe, after the in-game leader moved to the Saudi org earlier in 2026.
SINNERS get their first Major
The downstream effect: the FaZe absence opened a slot in the Cologne 32, taken by SINNERS after their BC.GAME Masters Championship Season 1 victory. It is SINNERS' first-ever Major berth — a first-time appearance contrasting against FaZe's ten-year run breaking on the same ranking cycle.
