STYKO enters free agency

The Slovakian rifler joins the player market freely, unbound by a contract.

Apeks has announced the parting of ways with Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk, making the rifler a free agent effective immediately.

"I feel pretty relieved," STYKO said in a video on his YouTube channel. "Like I'm leaving a sinking ship."

The Slovakian rifler had initially lost his place in the roster last October, but was brought back to try and make a run to the first CS2 Major — which the team did, all the way to a 1-3 finish in the Opening Stage.

STYKO had a condition to stay in Apeks, for the team to make changes in the roster, but as that was not happening the player decided to cut short his contract extension, which was running until the end of the season.

"Even if we would have won ESL Challenger Melbourne, I was just going out," he says in the video, which can be viewed below.

This puts an end to a partnership extending over two years, during which STYKO saw the rise of the likes of Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski and Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius, and played under the orders of Jakub "⁠kuben⁠" Gurczyński and Torbjørn "⁠mithR⁠" Nyborg.

The crown jewel of his time in Apeks was the BLAST.tv Paris Major semi-final run and propelled the team into the spotlight, although similar results have since become hard to come by.

Looking forward, STYKO hopes to keep competing, as he still believes he has what is necessary to improve tier one and tier two teams with his experience, expertise, and professionalism.