faveN (Josef Baumann) - Biography, settings, configs

Josef “faveN” Baumann (born February 8, 2000) is a German professional Counter-Strike 2 player of Kazakh descent. In January 2026, BIG brought him back to complete their CS2 roster for the 2026 season.

He started playing competitive Counter-Strike in Germany in 2017, first with DIVIZON and then EURONICS. With EURONICS he won ESL Meisterschaft Spring 2018 and built his name in local leagues. In September 2018 he moved to Sprout, where he spent several years proving himself against stronger opposition. A clear example of that progress came in 2020: after winning a national title, Sprout qualified for ESL One Cologne 2020 Online (Europe), reached the playoffs, and finished 5th–8th after losing to Team Vitality.

At the end of 2021, he transferred to BIG in a move described as a record buyout for a German player, and he finished that year by winning ESEA Season 39: Premier Division (Europe). In 2022, BIG had their best stretch with him: they won Roobet Cup 2022, took 2nd at Elisa Masters Espoo 2022, placed 3rd–4th at IEM Dallas 2022, and finished 12th–14th at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022. In June 2023 he was moved to the bench after BIG failed to qualify for the final Major of CS:GO.

He restarted with BLEED in December 2023 and reached the grand final of MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2024, finishing 2nd. After leaving BLEED in 2024, he joined 9INE in early 2025 and helped them earn LAN results such as 3rd place at Glitched Masters 2025 and a tournament win at Birch Cup 2025.

BIG describe faveN as calm and team-first, with experience across different teams and roles. For CS2 players, that usually means you can rely on him to stay composed in tense rounds and do the teamwork-heavy jobs that make star plays possible.