cynic exits Party Astronauts following bootcamp cancellation

19-2-2022 01:38

The team have five days to find a new player before the ESL Pro League roster lock.

David "⁠cynic⁠" Polster has stepped down from Party Astronauts, the 22-year-old announced on Friday. The player cited long-term internal issues and motivation problems within the team as the main reasons for his decision to leave.

The move comes shortly after Party Astronauts cancelled their upcoming European bootcamp as a result of confusion regarding Germany's travel regulations.

cynic already has a new team lined up

The team were originally set to travel to Germany for a period of two weeks in order to practice against European teams ahead of ESL Pro League Season 15 and the upcoming Americas Regional Major Ranking event open qualifiers.

However, after the Lufthansa website was updated on February 16th to include additional requirements for travel from the United States, team coach Joseph "⁠Muenster⁠" Lima cancelled the teams' flights as a player on the roster would not be able to satisfy the stated stipulations.

After cynic posted his announcement, which expressed a frustration with his teammates' alleged lack of motivation to play, Jonathan "⁠Jonji⁠" Carey weighed in with his views, accusing cynic of not playing seriously during practice as well as being the individual who would not meet the German travel requirements due to his alleged lack of full vaccination status.

Along with announcing his departure from the team, cynic also stated that he has already joined a new team and that an announcement would be coming in the following days.

Here is Party Astronauts' current lineup:

Josh "⁠PwnAlone⁠" Pigue
Ben "⁠ben1337⁠" Smith
Jonathan "⁠djay⁠" Dallal
Jonathan "⁠Jonji⁠" Carey (stand-in)

Joseph "⁠Muenster⁠" Lima (coach)

NA MOMENT

2022-02-19 01:38

31 replies

this was so bad man

2022-02-19 01:41

22 replies

Like it just hurts to read whole bootcamp situation, jonji's side of the story and same with cynic aaaaaa

2022-02-19 01:42

21 replies

this is the only fucking region that this attitude shit happens in as well like u never fucking see this in EU except for like FPL kicks also cynic already has a new team, watch it be fucking chococheck

2022-02-19 01:43

19 replies

You say that like they aren’t currently the number 4 ranked team in all of NA lol (yes I know EG and Liquid will gain points)

2022-02-19 01:47

2 replies

I can join Party Astronauts contact me via hltv dm thx

2022-02-19 03:04

They should be bullied at every opportunity (and usually are) though

2022-02-19 07:00

A lot of other regions are under contract or not as Big

2022-02-19 01:59

I mean depending on the country in EU there are so many more things that people can fall back on for income while they dont work and focus on getting over the hump and becoming a salaried professional where as in the US people dont have time to treat esports the same way as most are living hand to mouth. This extends not just to CS but most esports, look at how bad NA is in League and Dota. People dont have the free time to practice and pursue it.

2022-02-19 02:43

13 replies

excuses, don't tell me that SA has better opportunities than NA (they're better than NA in both cs and dota 2)

2022-02-19 04:00

Agreed

2022-02-19 04:22

Its actually that you have a better chance of a better life in SA by being a professional gamer than you do in NA. The money that someone like Guales or Fallen makes from their gaming career paths far outweighs what they would get from a traditional career path in SA. However in NA the difference isnt worth the chance and is often times lesser than a higher education career. This is also the case for most CIS countries. Someone like Hobbit is going to make far more money in his lifetime from getting a CS contract than he would working a regular career in Kazakhstan so its a chance with more value if it pays off.

2022-02-19 14:53

This doesnt explain why there is no young american talent. Or is it because in some EU countries every kid that has a PC plays CS? I mean 330m people and so few great players. CS isnt that popular?

2022-02-19 04:19

4 replies

Population isnt a good measurement. Take Germany 82 Million but only 1 good CS:GO Team. Back in 1.X you had a few more but also not as many as other small Nations. looks better in real-sports

2022-02-19 12:21

To answer: 1. CS is not popular at all. The American gamer mindset is fickle and very adhd, its all about whats new, play it for 6 months and forget about it. The people that said cs was boring and had boring gameplay are the same people that turned up out of the woodwork for Valorant bc it was the hot new game despite being cs-lite. If CS had the COD model of once a year release a new title (thats functionally identical) it would be an incredibly popular game. 2. PC gaming in America is similar to that of Japan where we were incredibly stunted from it by console gaming being the cultural norm here. PC gaming was a very very small fraction of the total % of gamers in the USA. When I was in HS I think I knew about 3 people that had a pc they could game on, it was all macbooks and xbox/ps.

2022-02-19 15:00

CS or any PC game in general isnt that popular in the US. Consoles are cheaper and seem like a more popular choice for most people. COD and apex legends are way more popular due to their console playability, and CS doesnt like to promote their game. So unless you have a friend that recommends the game to you, you will most likely not find out about the game by yourself. In terms of pro players i think that there are a lot of good players that could make it to the na pro scene, my college cs team is cracked, davenport csgo team is way better than them. And thats just shitty college teams, imagine actual players that are signed to small orgs. I just think that there isnt any bridge for new pro players to show their skill in a tourny and then get picked up.

2022-02-19 17:54

1 reply

I guess you are right. EU CS has shitloads of tier 2-3 tournaments. While NA has only tournaments for tier1??

2022-02-19 19:27

I don’t fly with that - I think it is more of a cultural thing.

2022-02-19 09:48

Average salary in Albania is 550USD per month. For a kid to grind a video game and get signed to a European org for even a small 1k Euro contract they are ahead of the game. In the US a 1k per month USD contract wouldnt even cover rent. American players need to be paid many times more than low tier orgs are offering bc the cost of living in the USA is many times more.

2022-02-19 15:05

3 replies

I am not Albanian and, rest assured, I am very well paid (live in London btw). My experience with the cultural differences is that Americans are more competitive (as are the British), but the win-at-all-costs mentality is short sighted and stunts long-term development. Europeans broadly are more driven by the passion for the game, but the win-or-lose mentality fundamentally produces a more well-rounded player.

2022-02-19 15:29

I used your flag as an example of a country where a player has more to gain by being tier 3 player in EU because the low tier salaries are enough to support them where as that is not the case in the US. Its also not the case in the UK either and look at how few UK players there are in CS. The exception being countries in Europe like Denmark but they have social programs that allow them to not be homeless while grinding CS to make it to a professional level. The countries with the most high level esports players are consistently 2 types of playes. 1. Countries where either the cost of living is low enough that foreign orgs or foreign investment money is pennies to them but living wages to the players from that country or region. We see this in BR/SA and CIS/RUS. And 2. Countries where non-home PCs are easily accessible via cafes. We see this with CIS, China, Korea with League, Dota, Starcraft, and back in 2016 even OW boomed in Korea because of it. There are exceptions like the French scene that lived on in CS because of their early national success, but who are now basically dead at a tier1 level, same with the Polish scene thats also on life support. The 'must win' mentality in places like NA is because simply there is no alternative if you want to make a living off of playing a game here, you need to simply be tier 1 out of the gate or else you cant get enough of a salary to support yourself at all. There is no time to grind and get better over time in the US, youre too busy trying to work 2 jobs and pay back a 50k student loan when youre 18-24. Low tier salaried teams here dont exist simply because anyone that wanted to salary a team here would have to wildly overpay in the tier 2/3 scene compared to Europe or SA. Why pay BnB 3k per player a month when you could go get a much better team in Europe for the same price? BnB arent turning down 1k salaries bc they are greedy, its because that simply is not enough here to commit to an org anymore.

2022-02-19 16:46

I do not really agree with you. Yes, there are differences between salaries and social systems in the different countries but I do not think that explains the dearth of talent in the US by contrast to the rest of the world of CS. In any event, most of the new talent is teenagers who presumably live at home and not twenty-somethings with financial obligations. Kids get good first - the contracts and the salaries come second. As I explained in my previous post, in my view it is the mentality in the scene as a whole (and that comment applies to the society at large and not just CS) that fundamentally produces a larger quantity of exceptional players. Even if you paid your average T2 team player a living salary I do not think they would produce the same number of exceptional players as other parts of the world do.

2022-02-19 17:33

According to Dust2US Jonji tweeted at Cynic and wished him good luck match fixing, so there's actually a really good chance he might be.

2022-02-19 04:57

what is jonji's side of the story

2022-02-19 23:22

NA CS drama at its best lmao

your best team played on NA almost their entire time so i dont understand the mockery

2022-02-19 03:24

NA delivers drama, not results

2022-02-19 01:46

Lmao

2022-02-19 07:39

Bruh

2022-02-19 01:53

JKS is a god, playing so good for faze as a stand in

2022-02-19 02:46

jks

2022-02-19 02:47

literally who

2022-02-19 04:17

whow ho who

2022-02-19 01:39

Flag doesn't check out

2022-02-19 02:15

na moment

2022-02-19 01:40

Cynic is a tactical genius

7 replies

he is best known for "faking b then not getting vaccinated" as well as "going to epl but then pussying out" top 3 igl 4 sure

2022-02-19 02:11

6 replies

haha im saving this

lmao

2022-02-19 07:42

heheheh I spilled some water now

2022-02-19 11:20

ahahahaha so funny NA humour so hilarious ha ha

2022-02-19 14:17

lmfao high quality, thank you brother

2022-02-19 14:23

2022-02-19 18:46

DRAMA

NA CS SMH

This guy is so underrated

jks should standin for party astronauts honestly

20 replies

He should not, Jks is capable of delivering T1 counter-strike, not the NA cs

16 replies

well yes but he would atleast get to play EPL, he doesnt have any contracts so he is free to play wherever he wants, he has nothing to lose tbh

2022-02-19 01:44

15 replies

no no no, once he gets sucked into the NA CS - there is just no way back out of it

9 replies

Uhm... JKS already sucked into NA CS. Remember 100T & Complexity?

2022-02-19 01:45

8 replies

No, he thinks JKS is a god or something. +4 in a game, T1 level confirmed.

2022-02-19 01:48

Eh probably more like 2 time top 20 in the world, major semi finalist, literal GOAT of Australian CS. That’s what makes him a T1 player

2022-02-19 01:49

But insulting NA cs in the way, since elige, naf, stewie didnt play any t1 cs. Save jks bs. JKS is so above of those players.

5 replies

Eh when people say “NA CS” I don’t think they really mean teams like Liquid or EG (who haven’t been fully NA in years) I think they are more referring to NA T2 and general player base which is awful. And I say this as someone from NA

2022-02-19 01:54

Honestly, I dont think so. Ppl likes to insult "NA CS". I like JKS, he deserves a team, COL was a bad times for him, but I just hate the nosense hate against NA.

2022-02-19 01:58

The hate against NA sucks but some of it is warranted. Overall most players here simply don’t take the game as serious. Believe me I wish they did, but I literally have to play valorant to get a good matchmaking experience because matchmaking in game and Faceit for NA is so dead. And look at what our EPL representative team is doing right now lol Also a lot of it just comes from EU historically being better at PC games. Obviously NA has made strides, but the stigma will always be there NA will get hate no matter what game you go to. Valorant has a waaaay stronger NA scene and still gets shit on lol it’s just a meme at this point

2022-02-19 02:03

I know. Na t2 is horrible, you cannot deny it. It just col (the new one) is losing one game. 30 threads about them. What about making thread about ecstatic, 777 and all others t2/t3 team. Cph had a horrible run after the majors. Market wise its make no sense for col to sign cph. Anyway I agree with you. Na cs is a meme. Even liquid make odd moves.

there are threads about every team when they lose, haters will troll. dont take it personally most of them are 16 y:o kids or degenerates or bettors

2022-02-19 10:59

He is contracted with Complexity ... That is the main reason why he isn't playing right now ... Nobody can afford his buyout

he is? i thought he was already free.

2022-02-19 02:00

He’s transfer listed

He would look terrible playing with them lol. Not even his fault but they are worse than BNB who got 0-10 maps in EPL last year

PA were much better than BNB. Also it's funny how Jonji gets to play 2 EPLs as a stand in.

2022-02-19 08:23

name checks out

If u don't carry e Doing this, your stock will go down in the pro team and probably never returning

2022-02-19 02:54

Why would he though, his recent performance on faze showed that he is still capable of contesting with the top 10 of the world, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets an offer from another team after his stint with faze or even get back on to the coL roster as a lurker since they are kinda not working rn as a team

2022-02-19 06:09

wow didn't expect hltv to cover this clown fiesta

+1 its under their standard to cover petty shit like this

2022-02-19 02:08

I fail to see how a roster change for a team in ESL Pro League isn't noteworthy news

2022-02-19 06:25

People just love to make fun of NA CS, dont even mind them bro

2022-02-19 06:37

not all teams in EPL are equel mens ahaha

2022-02-19 11:52

RIP NA hopes in EPL

na drama when emos meet fellow emos

So childish

fr. Reminds me of tenz being kicked from cloud9 because he didn't want to practice

2022-02-19 04:05

Haha remind me of this funny video youtu.be/kjp3f8u4xBI

2022-02-19 04:15

he seems to be a bit of a... cynic

RIP NA CS... so what now? Jks to stand in again? LUL

Call up oBo ig

2022-02-19 01:51

Actually the best option. They even look kinda similar

2022-02-19 01:56

Lul oBo not vaxxed either

2022-02-22 17:28

Is that confirmed anywhere?

2022-02-22 17:52

Not expecting hltv want to blow this up lol, gotta wait for the upcoming news from both perspective

sheeeesh we love na cs!

2022-02-19 01:52

who

What a fucking moron, guy has never made it to pro league and decides to quit, this guy is 100% a lan dodger. Jonji i didnt even read his tweets because he's cringe already and bitches alot, pz.

2022-02-19 01:55

Tldr on jonji tweets cynic has shit work ethic didn’t try and constantly threw in practices. Added Hf in Matchfix squad

2022-02-19 02:20

2022-02-19 08:20

He fucked up everything in the first place because he was unvacced

EU has the Kovač's, NA has the Novac

2022-02-19 04:39

Kkkkkk

2022-02-19 04:40

2022-02-19 06:51

But djokovic is from eu?!

2022-02-19 09:07

so you are one of those vaccine nazi

2022-02-19 15:06

No but the thing is that he didn’t get the vaccine knowing for 6 months that he’s gonna travel to Europe for epl

2022-02-19 15:24

feel bad for PwnAlone that he gotta play with those clowns

2022-02-19 01:57

2022-02-19 02:09

Pwnanlone should just go carry dignitas

2022-02-19 02:31

2022-02-19 03:00

2022-02-19 03:02

+1 he deserves so much better

2022-02-19 10:05

The most NA drama ever

NA CS!

Such a shame that countries still think it's a good idea to block unvaccinated people

+1 yeah it's a bit fucked + unethical

2022-02-19 09:13

brasil talking about unvaccinated people PEPELaugh

2022-02-19 10:17

We smart, we loyal, we friendly

2022-02-19 16:28

unless you lose against some NA Team with young unknown talents

2022-02-19 16:29

But of course it is, Bolsolixo

2022-02-19 11:24

Bolsonaro blocked unvaccinated people from returning to Brazil he's as dumb as you

2022-02-19 16:27

oBo should join these guys so they can go tbh. This could be a decent lineup for oBo as well. But man, f*ck Cynic, ruined this great chance for his teammates and coach and on top of that ruined his own career. No way a team will sign this kid, hes finished.

Where is oBo anyway? Top 5 NA Aimer if he plays

No clue tbh. He said he wanted to leave EU and go back to NA and after that just silence for soon 3½ months.

2022-02-19 03:29

Jonji is just a stand-in and he went off at cynic lmao

Bruh na moment

Leaving 5 days before roster lock in.. like bruh, how douchy can you be, even with low motivation, do it earlier.

2022-02-19 02:07

petition to shadowban cynic from ever competing in RMR and valve-related tournaments. gg no re

NA can't catch a break ...

2022-02-19 02:16

What an absolute mess

2022-02-19 02:19

it's on sight with cynic right now

Shady, all of it.

2022-02-19 02:37

Cynic has been a troll for a long time already, hes probably never getting a decent team again

2022-02-19 02:42

Cynic to chococheck

2022-02-19 02:48

Our parents had soap operas from Brazil, we have NA scene.

Is Brazilian Soap Opera popular over there? Lol

2022-02-19 03:03

I only know O clone, watched only one episode in 00s when i was a kid because i had nothing to do.

2022-02-19 09:52

Damn this one was like internationally famous xD

2022-02-19 13:05

it use to be. :D

2022-02-19 11:02

no fucking way latvians watch brazillian soap opera

2022-02-19 03:21

Esmeralda, Casa Blanca etc... 5 o clock programmes at some chanels back in 00`

2022-02-19 11:03

Name checks out

CSGO NA

2022-02-19 03:09

NA and blaming each others. LMAO

NA moment lol... still he isn't wrong about party astronauts doing the bare minimum days before important events

2022-02-19 03:47

'The team have five days to find a new player before the ESL Pro League roster lock." Hello English?

2022-02-19 03:52

lol this roster is so bad, how did they even qualify for EPL

2022-02-19 04:04

the opposition in NA is not that good either. To put a context, Junior and extra salt players got a contract in one of the most prestigious NA orgs, because there's not enough talent in that region to build a competitive team besides Liquid.

2022-02-19 04:10

I’m aware, the culture around league is super toxic here as well. I’ve only played with like two or three teammates that I’ve genuinely enjoyed. Nobody wants to practice, and when they pug, they statpad to get on better teams , where they just don’t take it seriously anyway. You have to be very lucky to find four other people that share a common goal to get better and rise through the ranks here

2022-02-19 05:48

I feel like Shakezullah is a hard working IGL. One of few..

2022-02-19 10:36

this dude and his whole team have been tier 5 for their whole careers, when he finally had the chance to play a LAN he dodges it. Why would you even grind your whole life in first place. I can only imagine that he matchfixed or something and doesn't really care about the game.

2022-02-19 04:06

my country is a embarrassment

2022-02-19 04:14

2022-02-19 07:13

who? 🤓🥴💩

2022-02-19 04:33

Gen Z moment

2022-02-19 04:56

good ol na cs work ethic

2022-02-19 05:15

living up to his name I see

2022-02-19 05:26

NA antivaxxers omegalul

2022-02-19 05:38

What an asshole

2022-02-19 05:39

After "xCeeD killing his team's chances of going to the major because he was taking a nap" comes "cynic killing his team's chances of progressing through ESL Pro League because he didn't get vaccinated" 10/10 NACS

2022-02-19 06:21

Poor xCeeD getting too much hate

2022-02-19 06:41

My man just wanted a nap, give him a break...

2022-02-19 10:38

gained all respect for cynic which i never had

2022-02-19 07:26

This is why ppl joke about na cs what a fucking delusional clown, gg your carrer go matchfix in esea cash cup you donkey

2022-02-19 07:48

cynical moment

2022-02-19 07:55

Another year - another oBo 😃 but different drama

Jonji clown omegalol

2022-02-19 08:41

Na never cease to amaze me.

2022-02-19 09:21

Jonji one of the biggest matchfixer ckowns in NA and he tweeting these things, omegalul.

2022-02-19 09:25

t3 version of obo

2022-02-19 09:28

Some harsh words

2022-02-19 09:29

who cars

2022-02-19 09:45

bro just bootcamp in serbia like all the rest, why pay extra to go to Jermeny

2022-02-19 10:58

NE Whalers core, why not get their old teammate? forgot his name now...

jonji 22 but acts like 5

2022-02-19 11:01

Man is so immature and toxic Actually believe that cynic is telling the truth here and Jonji is just mad Kind of a shit move for the other 3 though

2022-02-19 11:32

Right. Jonji deserved it tbh. He did nothing to be in EPL. He's just a sub.

2022-02-19 12:08

i wouldn't be that harsh on jonji.. like i couldn't care less on who's lying or telling the truth. i doubt both are telling the 100% correct story.. i'm just critizing him for falling into his bait. as a man, especially as a ''professsional'' you gotta learn to just let them talk and just not care. NA really lacks this in general, a lot of them with soyboy mentality crying about unnecessery things and creating drama like 13 y o girls

2022-02-19 12:46

type of these players will never be on top. Jonji is a clear example of being low bot trashtalker in twitter. Look at his raiting. Watch his games, he's awful dumb bot who's lacking on IQ. I do belive more to cynic than to botnji. And cynic will achive more than jonji in the future. And cynic will always beat jonji's team because jonji in it. Jonji playing like forever at this tier and never progress. It's just fun and cringe to see him talkin smth about "PROGRESSING, FORGET ME OLD" Meanwhile he's trashtalking. He's always promise and fail his promises. Like he just forgot about what he said couple of years ago. He's dirty and hypocrite.

2022-02-19 12:50

Totally agree on your last point. Thats what I meant with immature. I can see that a lot of people, especially in NA have this kind of problems, which is probably part of the reason why there are no successfull long running team expect the ones that are established like Liquid

2022-02-19 20:11

so u believe the guy who fucked over the entire team twice and dips to not have to deal with the mess, acting like he wasnt the problem?

2022-02-19 15:26

I don't wanna say that he isn't part of the problem. But with the immature reaction by Jonji u can clearly see that there is truth in what he is saying

2022-02-19 20:05