Neo (gamer)

Filip Borys Kubski (born June 15, 1987),[1] better known as NEO, is a Polish professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coach and former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Counter-Strike player.[2] NEO is considered to be one of the best players in Counter-Strike history.[3] He was also one of the "Golden Five" group of Polish CS players.[4] Most recently he was the coach for FaZe Clan.[5][6] He has played for Virtus.pro, AGAiN, Universal Soldiers, ESC Gaming, Frag eXecutors, Vitriolic, Wicked eSports, Meet Your Makers, and Pentagram G-Shock. Kubski has been playing professionally since 2004.[7]

NEO
Current team
TeamFaZe Clan
RoleCoach
GameCounter-Strike: Global Offensive
Personal information
NameFilip Kubski
Nickname(s)nijo
Born (1987-06-15) June 15, 1987
NationalityPolish
Career information
Games
Team history
2004–2007Pentagram G-Shock
2007–2009MeetYourMakers
2009Wicked eSports
2009Vitriolic
2009–2010AGAiN
2010–2011Frag eXecutors
2011AGAiN
2011–2013ESC Gaming
2013Universal Soldiers
2013–2014AGAiN
2014–2019Virtus.pro
2019FaZe Clan (Trial)
2020ARCY
2020-2023Honoris
2023–presentFaZe Clan (Coach)
Career highlights and awards

NEO is considered to be a mechanically gifted player, with an intelligent mind for the game. Kubski is also considered to be very good at Counter-Strike 1.6's in-game movement,[8][9] which makes him difficult to counter. In 2010, HLTV users voted Kubski the greatest Counter-Strike player of the decade.[10] He also won the eSports Award for eSports Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and was rated by HLTV.org as the best player of 2011.[11][12][13]

Counter-Strike 1.6 career

NEO first started playing Counter-Strike at the age of 12. NEO wandered around some Polish teams before joining Pentagram G-Shock, along with what has been called the "Golden Five" lineup of Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas, Łukasz "LUq" Wnęk, Mariusz "Loord" Cybulski, and Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński. With this lineup, they won 4 majors, World Cyber Games 2006, ESWC 2007, ESWC 2008, and WCG 2009. Even though there were no Valve organised tournaments in 1.6, generally, ESWC, CPL, WCG, and IEM are considered to be a CS 1.6 major.[14] LUq was eventually replaced by Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski in 2010. The previous Golden Five lineup is considered one of the best of all time in 1.6, and NEO was by far their best player.[15] Following this change, the lineup would hit a slump. The team ended up winning the last 2 majors in CS 1.6 with ESC Gaming. NEO would be called by many the greatest CS 1.6 player ever.[16][17] He was also given the #1 spot on the HLTV top 20 ranking in 2011.[11]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive career

2012–2018

NEO continued playing with ESC Gaming, in Global Offensive. He found little success at first, winning only 2 StarLadder events. Loord and kuben were replaced by Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski and Paweł "byali" Bieliński. Loord reacted negatively to this, but said NEO was the only one he didn't hold a grudge against.[18] It wasn't until EMS One Katowice 2014 that NEO won a big tournament, this time with Virtus.pro.[19] At the end of 2015, NEO was awarded the #17 spot on HLTV's top 20 of 2015.[20] Despite this, NEO was no longer by far the best player on his team. His individual skill had dropped off significantly from his performance in 1.6. In May 2016, Virtus.pro won the first season of ELEAGUE, one of the biggest prize pools at the time.[21] In early 2017, Virtus.pro came second to Astralis at ELEAGUE Major 2017. They followed this with a win at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017.[22] Despite these results, VP eventually hit a massive slump. They had a few decent results after this, including a semifinals finish at PGL Major Kraków, and a second place appearance at EPICENTER 2017.[23]

2018–present

At the ELEAGUE Major 2018, Virtus.pro went out in last place, losing 3 games and winning none.[24] Following this, Virtus.pro ended the longest standing roster in CS:GO history by replacing Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas with Michał "MICHU" Müller. Him and NEO had been playing together for 12 years by this point.[25] Despite this, Virtus.pro would continue their slump, and NEO was replaced in February.[26] His individual form continued to drop off since 2017, but he was signed by FaZe Clan, replacing Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev. FaZe needed an In-Game Leader, and NEO had previously been one of the IGLs for Virtus.pro.[27] With FaZe, NEO came second at BLAST Pro Series: Los Angeles, but at the major, he would once again exit in the group stage.[28] His trial with FaZe Clan eventually came to an end, and his contract was not renewed.[6] Before IEM Cologne 2023 FaZe's long time coach, "Robert "⁠RobbaN⁠" Dahlström" surprisingly decided to quit coaching. FaZe then registered NEO as their full time coach.[29]

Notable Results

Bold denotes a CS:GO Major

Placement Tournament Location Date
Counter-Strike
With Pentagram G-Shock
1st place, gold medalist(s) World Cyber Games 2006 Monza, Italy 2006-10-18 – 2006-10-22
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) CPL Winter 2006 Dallas, United States 2006-12-16 – 2006-12-20
1st place, gold medalist(s) IEM I Hannover, Germany 2007-03-15 – 2007-03-21
1st place, gold medalist(s) ESWC 2007 Paris, France 2007-07-03 – 2007-07-08
With MeetYourMakers
1st place, gold medalist(s) Dreamhack Summer 2008 Jönköping, Sweden 2008-06-15 – 2008-06-17
1st place, gold medalist(s) ESWC 2008 San Jose, California, United States 2008-08-24 – 2008-08-27
2nd place, silver medalist(s) IEM III Hannover, Germany 2009-03-06 – 2009-03-08
With AGAiN (2009)
1st place, gold medalist(s) World Cyber Games 2009 Chengdu, China 2009-11-11 – 2009-11-15
With Frag eXecutors
4th ESWC 2010 Paris, France 2010-06-30 – 2010-07-04
1st place, gold medalist(s) World eSports Games: e-Stars 2010 Seoul, South Korea 2010-08-13 – 2010-08-15
2nd place, silver medalist(s) IEM V Hannover, Germany 2011-03-01 – 2011-03-05
1st place, gold medalist(s) World eSports Games: e-Stars 2011 Seoul, South Korea 2011-08-18 – 2011-08-20
1st place, gold medalist(s) Samsung European Championship 2011 Warsaw, Poland 2011-10-07 – 2011-10-09
With AGAiN (2011)
4th ESWC 2011- CS 1.6 Paris, France 2011-10-20 – 2011-10-25
With ESC Gaming
1st place, gold medalist(s) World Cyber Games 2011 Busan, South Korea 2011-12-08 – 2011-12-11
1st place, gold medalist(s) IEM VI Hannover, Germany 2012-03-06 – 2012-03-10
Counter-Strike: Global Offensivve
With ESC Gaming
1st place, gold medalist(s) StarLadder StarSeries IV Kiev, Ukraine 2012-12-20 – 2012-12-23
With AGAiN (2013)
1st place, gold medalist(s) StarLadder StarSeries VIII Kiev, Ukraine 2013-12-20 – 2012-12-23
With Virtus.pro
1st place, gold medalist(s) EMS One Katowice 2014 Katowice, Poland 2014-03-13 – 2014-03-16
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Copenhagen Games 2014 Copenhagen, Denmark 2014-04-16 – 2014-04-20
1st place, gold medalist(s) FACEIT Spring League 2014 N/A 2014-04-30 – 2014-06-01
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gfinity G3 London, United Kingdom 2014-08-02 – 2014-08-03
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Dreamhack Winter 2014 Jönköping, Sweden 2014-11-27 – 2014-11-29
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) ESL One Katowice 2015 Katowice, Poland 2015-03-12 – 2015-03-15
1st place, gold medalist(s) Copenhagen Games 2015 Copenhagen, Denmark 2015-04-01 – 2015-04-05
1st place, gold medalist(s) ESEA Season 18 Finals Dallas, United States 2015-04-17 – 2015-04-19
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Gfinity Spring Masters 2 London, United Kingdom 2015-05-15 – 2015-05-17
1st place, gold medalist(s) CEVO Season 7 Finals Columbus, United States 2015-04-24 – 2015-07-26
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) ESL One Cologne 2015 Cologne, Germany 2015-08-20 – 2015-08-23
1st place, gold medalist(s) ESL ESEA Pro League Invitational Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2015-09-10 – 2015-09-12
2nd place, silver medalist(s) PGL CS:GO Championship Series Season 1: Finals Bucharest, Romania 2015-10-02 – 2015-10-04
1st place, gold medalist(s) CEVO Season 8 Finals Columbus, United States 2015-08-16 – 2015-11-08
1st place, gold medalist(s) StarLadder i-League Invitational #1 Kiev, Ukraine 2016-05-19 – 2016-05-22
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) ESL One Cologne 2016 Cologne, Germany 2016-07-05 – 2016-07-10
1st place, gold medalist(s) ELEAGUE Season 1 Atlanta, United States 2016-05-24 – 2016-07-30
1st place, gold medalist(s) DreamHack Open Bucharest 2016 Bucharest, Romania 2016-09-16 – 2016-09-18
2nd place, silver medalist(s) ESL One: New York 2016 New York, United States 2016-09-30 – 2016-10-02
2nd place, silver medalist(s) EPICENTER 2016 Moscow, Russia 2016-10-17 – 2016-10-23
2nd place, silver medalist(s) ELEAGUE Major 2017 Atlanta, United States 2017-01-22 – 2017-01-29
1st place, gold medalist(s) DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 Las Vegas, United States 2017-02-15 – 2017-02-19
1st place, gold medalist(s) Adrenaline Cyber League 2017 Moscow, Russia 2017-06-18
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) PGL Major Kraków 2017 Kraków, Poland 2017-07-16 – 2017-07-23
2nd place, silver medalist(s) EPICENTER 2017 Saint Petersburg, Russia 2017-10-24 – 2017-10-29
2nd place, silver medalist(s) StarLadder i-League Invitational #2 Shanghai, China 2017-11-02 – 2017-11-05
2nd place, silver medalist(s) V4 Future Sports Festival - Budapest 2018 Budapest, Hungary 2018-03-23 – 2018-03-25
2nd place, silver medalist(s) CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 Shanghai, China 2018-06-14 – 2018-06-18
With FaZe Clan
2nd place, silver medalist(s) BLAST Pro Series: Los Angeles 2019 Los Angeles, United States 2019-07-13 – 2019-07-14

Personal Awards
  • eSports Player of the Year: 2007, 2008
  • HLTV player of the decade
  • HLTV top 20: #7 of 2010,[30] #1 of 2011,[11] #15 of 2015[20]

See also

References
  1. "Player: NEO". SK Gaming. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  2. "NEO departs FaZe". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  3. Lingle, Samuel (July 31, 2014). "The definitive frag video of the best 'Counter-Strike' player ever". The Daily Dot. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  4. Podgórski, Wojciech (November 21, 2015). "Filip 'NEO' Kubski: Jeszcze do końca nie zwariowałem!". Polsat Sport. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  5. "NEO joins FaZe". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  6. "NEO departs FaZe". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  7. Kostaszuk, Marcin (March 4, 2012). "Poznaniak Filip Kubski: Małysz gier komputerowych". Głos Wielkopolski. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  8. emanko (2006-12-20), Pentagram neo amazing movement, retrieved 2016-03-04
  9. Mike! (2013-10-06), CS 1.6: Neo and Kuben amazing movement!, retrieved 2016-03-04
  10. "NEo voted Player of the Decade". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  11. "Top 20 players of 2011: Neo (1)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  12. Duda, Dominik (January 13, 2016). "Virtus.pro potwierdza obecność w Katowicach". itzaktv. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  13. Sobociński, Filip (September 2, 2015). "Counter-Strike - rozlosowano grupy europejskich eliminacji mistrzostw świata". NaTemat.pl. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  14. Duncan "Thorin" Shields. Thorin's Thoughts - The CS 1.6 Majors (CS). Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  15. Thorin's Thoughts - Who is NEO? (CS:GO). Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  16. Shields, Duncan "Thorin". "The Greatest player of all time: part 2 - NEO vs. f0rest". Fragbite. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  17. Abshner, Joseph (28 November 2016). "7 Best Counter-Strike 1.6 Players of All Time". 12up. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  18. Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Loord slams ESC mates, CS:GO". HLTV. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  19. Kovanen, Tomi "lurppis". "Virtus.pro win EMS One Katowice". HLTV. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  20. Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Top 20 players of 2015: NEO (17)". HLTV. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  21. "CS:GO Season 1 ELEAGUE". ELEAGUE. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  22. "DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017". HLTV. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  23. Kelemen, Luci. "Virtus.pro's five-act tragedy". Rivalry. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  24. Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Cloud9 send Virtus.pro packing in Atlanta". HLTV. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  25. Wolf, Jacob (6 February 2018). "Virtus.pro benches TaZ, MICHU to replace". ESPN. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  26. Bishop, Sam. "Neo is officially leaving Virtus.Pro". Gamereactor. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  27. Švejda, Milan "Striker". "NEO joins FaZe". HLTV. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  28. Geddes, George (31 August 2019). "Renegades edge out FaZe Clan in the StarLadder Berlin Major". The Dot Esports. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  29. "MEDIA: NEO RETURNS TO FAZE AS COACH FOR IEM COLOGNE". Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  30. Milanovic, Petar "Tgwr1s". "Top 20 players of 2010: Neo (7)". HLTV. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
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