Following a failure to make it out of the groups at the Six Invitational 2020, FaZe Clan has decided to drop one of its players, Gabriel "cameram4n" Hespanhol, after its coach, Marlon "Twister" Mello. While regarded as a fearsome team in Latin America (LATAM), FaZe Clan has been unable to secure a strong international result since Season 8 of the Pro League, and these changes are likely in attempts to fix that.
The original Santos Dexterity roster which cameram4n debuted on in November 2016. (Photo: Santos Dexterity)
Cameram4n had first appeared on the scene alongside Leonardo "Astro" Luis on the then-Santos Dexterity roster, winning the LATAM qualifiers for the Six Invitational 2017 and going on to beat Euronics Gaming before losing to Continuum (now Evil Geniuses) at the event itself. Avoiding relegation in Season 4, the roster returned to domestic dominance in Season 5 under Team FONTT, finishing top in LATAM before nearly beating the eventual champions of PENTA Sports in the semi-finals of the Pro League Finals.
Another semi-finals appearance followed in Season 6, with another loss to the eventual champions -- this time ENCE eSports -- and cameram4n then returned to the Six Invitational in 2018 after FONTT was signed by FaZe Clan, but failed to progress past Evil Geniuses in the quarter-finals. Continuing to dominate domestically, cameram4n once again helped his team get to the Pro League Finals, but FaZe failed to get to the semi-finals like in both prior seasons. What's more, FaZe could only secure one win at the Six Major Paris and crashed out in the groups.
Season 8 was when the team got the closest, though, making it to the grand final for the first time, but shot itself in the foot by assuming the ban phase went in a "Ban-Ban-Pick" order instead of "Ban-Pick-Ban" and thus lost to G2 Esports. Crestfallen, cameram4n and his team headed to the Six Invitational 2019 with Twister in tow but could not better its Paris performance, only beating Ninjas in Pyjamas before losing narrowly to Team Reciprocity in the decider match after a devastating loss against Fnatic.
Once again, the team dominated domestically, but could not repeat its grand final appearance at the Season 9 Finals -- though did show signs of promise with its win over LeStream Esport. Third at DreamHack Valencia then followed, and FaZe finally made it to the playoffs of a Major again at the Six Major Raleigh but could not progress past eventual champions Team Empire. Season 10, though, was particularly bitter after the team once again made it to the Pro League Finals but lost Ronaldo "ion" Osawa to visa issues and had to play with former Rainbow Six pro Nino "ninexT" Pavolini as a stand-in.
FaZe Clan suffered seemingly due to an underperforming cameram4n, amongst other reasons, who was especially poor.
The Six Invitational 2020, though, was by far the team's lowest point since Season 4, where FaZe lost both its group stage matches to DarkZero Esports and Fnatic, crashing out without a win. At the event, cameram4n was rated as the seventh-lowest player at 0.73, just a hair above G2 Esports' loanee, Ferenc "SirBoss" Mérész. The statistics were especially damning, as the Maverick and Jaeger main only had 0.52 kills per round, a survival rate of 19% (out of all rounds played), and an impact on the round a mere 52% of the rounds (KOST).
Now, FaZe Clan will be looking for a new player, but it is probable that someone is already lined up. As for cameram4n, it is likely he finds a place on another team, with his experience likely to be an important factor, though it is unclear as to which team will be taking him on.
FaZe will now be finalising its roster soon, with its first game back against Six Invitational finalists Ninjas in Pyjamas on the 24th of March with the following provisional roster:
Leonardo "Astro" Luis
Ronaldo "ion" Osawa
João "yoona" Gabriel
Rafael "mav" Freitas