EUnited adds Call of Duty Veteran Faccento as Coach, replacing Saintt

After a disappointing top-16 showing at CWL Fort Worth (which followed a strong second place finish at CWL Las Vegas), EUnited have made a second change to their Call of Duty team, replacing their long-time coach, Brian “Saintt” Baroska with Brice “Faccento” Faccento via a statement of the team’s website.

Why Now?

Immediately after the CWL Fort Worth event, EUnited made a controversial move. The team replaced the two-time Call of Duty World Champion Jordan “Jkap” Kaplan with young up-and-coming star Chris “Simp” Lehr. The move seemingly improved chemistry issues on the team, as they played well in their cross-divisional matchups last week. EUnited lost only one very close match to CWL Fort Worth Champions Luminosity. However, EUnited General Manager, Matthew “Burns” Potthoff, felt that the roster needed more changes in order to reach its full potential.

Brice “Faccento” Faccento has had a decorated Call of Duty career, the most notable accomplishment of which was his storybook run to second place in the 2015 Call of Duty World Championships with the previously unheralded Team Revenge. Faccento has been known for his strong leadership and game-sense, especially in the Search and Destroy game mode, though his playing career came to an abrupt end when he was replaced on the struggling Evil Geniuses roster by Dillon “Attach” Price.

EUnited’s struggles at CWL Fort Worth, however, were in all game modes. They finished with a thoroughly underwhelming 4-11 map count (albeit in the toughest pool of the event). By replacing Jkap with Simp, EUnited traded in some experience and leadership for raw slaying talent. Interestingly, Faccento lives with Jkap in California. That said, the two are close friends and it is unlikely that this will be seen as more than just business between them.

What about Saintt?

EUnited’s move to replace their coach, Saintt, however, comes as more of a surprise. Saintt was one of the driving forces that turned around a struggling EUnited roster last year as they went on to a fourth-place finish at the Call of Duty World Championships. His accomplishments with EUnited will not go unnoticed, and it is likely that he will find a landing spot somewhere in Call of Duty. Whether as a coach, player, or adviser of some sort, look for him to stay in the scene.

Saintt, for his part, did not take his dismissal well. The ex-coach tweeted that he felt somewhat blindsided by the decision.

Really don’t have anything else to say, just found out this was in talks for over a month with no knowledge of the situation.

— Røkkr Saintt (@BrianSaintt) April 2, 2019

That tweet came after some cryptic and troublingly sad tweets last night, presumably around when he got the news.

Just been crying for the past hour

— Røkkr Saintt (@BrianSaintt) April 2, 2019

My life is actually a joke

— Røkkr Saintt (@BrianSaintt) April 2, 2019

Nevertheless, there is no question Faccento has the qualities necessary to excel in his new position. He is a proven veteran and strong game-strategist, and perhaps the infusion of new blood can help EUnited realize their full potential as true championship contenders.

Image VIA: MLG