CYPHER: "Confirmed not playing the Major"

23-10-2025 18:58

The British rifler will be replaced by jackasmo for fnatic's StarLadder Budapest Major campaign.

Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson has confirmed he will not play for fnatic at the StarLadder Budapest Major after he was replaced by Nikita "⁠jackasmo⁠" Skyba at CS Asia Championships.

The Ukrainian rifler had stood in for Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson during fnatic's winning campaign at Fragadelphia Blocktober, which saw the team pull off a Cinderella run from a reported 2.5% chance of qualifying for the Major to lock in the final European spot.

After fnatic qualified, CYPHER was benched to make way for jackasmo at CS Asia Championships, where Rodion "⁠fear⁠" Smyk intonated that the team had a six-man roster and said "the decision [about the Major roster] will be made close to the Major."

fear on fnatic's Major roster: "The decision will be made close to the Major"

In a post on X, CYPHER has confirmed that the decision has been locked in, leaving him out of the roster for Budapest and denying him a return to the Major stage after two years.

"Kinda crazy to me to be honest, was a dream to qualify after not qualifying for 2 years, disappointed but what can I do," he said.

The Brit will still receive signature stickers in-game as jackasmo will be submitted as a substitute, with fnatic's roster once the Major kicks off expected to be:

Rodion "⁠fear⁠" Smyk
Dmytro "⁠jambo⁠" Semera
Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson
Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer
Nikita "⁠jackasmo⁠" Skyba

Miks "⁠Independent⁠" Siliņš (coach)

Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson (substitute)

L Fnatic

2025-10-23 18:58

245

7 replies

quite a common thing in their endeavors

2025-10-23 19:46

1 reply

CYPHER GOLD STICKERS STONK

2025-10-24 00:31

this happens on every team cypher is on, surely it's a problem with him and not the orgs

2025-10-23 20:01

4 replies

Same with nawwk i presume?

2025-10-23 20:44

3 replies

there is quite a big gap between getting replaced by both device and s1mple and getting replaced by jackasmo...

2025-10-23 21:00

2 replies

twas mere tomfoolery dear chap

2025-10-24 06:56

My sincerest apologies, old sport! I’ve been thoroughly bamboozled by this splendid bait!

2025-10-24 07:56

JUSTICE FOR CYPHER P.S. If you are reading this Cypher, start learning calligraphy I will put 5 Cypher golds on my m249 in honour of the man

242

15 replies

#JusticeForCYPHER

2025-10-23 18:59

Fanatic, You asked for it… you'll regret it. :)

2025-10-23 19:06

why only on such unimportant gun? fake fan?

2025-10-23 19:37

12 replies

Take that back

take yours back put on ak or knife and i will

2025-10-23 19:38

7 stickers on a knife, you got it boss

2025-10-23 19:39

lets gooooo

2025-10-23 19:45

maybe he plays Rust

2025-10-23 19:47

m249 is there?

2025-10-23 19:48

6 replies

Yeah it's the best gun in the game. Not easy to obtain so a mere sound of it attracts quite a bit of attention. Facepunch made M249 feel really good in every single aspect, the sound, damage, output, spray, just chef's kiss.

2025-10-23 21:13

5 replies

what tf is facepunch??

2025-10-23 21:40

lmgtfy.app/?q=Facepunch

2025-10-23 21:41

sus

2025-10-23 23:10

Average NavI fan IQ

2025-10-24 10:09

whats that got to do with this tho

2025-10-24 10:23

Unfair

fnatic hate watch

159

hate watching fnatic will definitely make stage 1 more interesting for me to watch now

2025-10-23 21:01

Fuck fnatic

132

Finally, a substitute for Falcons to hatewatch. fnatic it is.

2025-10-23 19:35

na, falcons hatewatch still strong

2025-10-23 23:36

Hate watch fnatic bomb out stage 1, then move into falcons hate watch. Standard progression through the major

2025-10-25 08:49

Gotta always have a team to hatewatch 🙏

2025-10-26 00:43

He still get's the sticker?

yes, thankfully. small silver lining

2025-10-23 19:00

SON 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

The fnatic hatewatch begins

Nice, stage 1 was missing a hatewatch team, now we got this covered

2025-10-23 21:28

British org btw. Praying for 0-3

109

Fr as soon as this org gets a good team that includes a british player they cut him immediately. UK CS truly cannot win if your name isn't Mezii.

2025-10-24 11:21

ironically the only shining british player is in a French org lmao

2025-10-24 12:54

Truly a travesty.

2025-10-24 13:32

Hate watch on.

Absolutely unfair

fnatic hateclan here we go

fuck fnatic

@JusticeForCypher Fnatic will lose all games...

2025-10-23 19:02

Good.

Justice for Cypher. Fuck Fnatic

That's fucked up

Fnatic remembered that they're supposed to compete with NiP, or what?

2025-10-23 19:03

good for fnatic

2025-10-23 19:04

Nice!

Snakes

2025-10-23 19:05

Classic British org btw

2025-10-23 20:19

C*nts

ima be bulk buying CYPHER stickers, JUST FOR CYPHER. the hatewatch will be CINEMA <3

fnatic 0-3 for the pickems

i knew fnatic doesnt deserve major during rmr xD f*ck them

2025-10-23 19:07

All the best to blamef but I’ll be hatewatching these rats with P A S S I O N

whole situation sucks but don’t bully the players esp jackasmo if you get offered a contract like this you 100% take it no matter what

2025-10-23 19:09

no one is bulying the players, just the clown org

2025-10-23 19:14

people in his PERSONAL tg comments and on twitter are lowkey pissed at him for nothing, let bro live

2025-10-23 21:11

Evil

2025-10-23 19:12

And they said such things won't happen after brexit with jobs for brits ;)

2025-10-23 19:13

Let it go mate lol

2025-10-24 08:20

Don't understand why people are so angry - it's just business, and fnatic has a much better chance of making a run with jackasmo instead of cypher + We don't know how these players meshed together, maybe they just didn't like him?

They really don't lol. Not with Fear going 2-20 every game

It is more than unlikely but they have a far better chance now than before

2025-10-23 19:15

They still don't. Cypher has an X-factor of nuking once in a while. Jackasmo is just an above average player. UA nepotism here

2025-10-23 19:16

Thing is they need to build a team that functions. If cypher didn't fit in it well (which seems to be the case) - the X-factor means absolutely nothing. Respectfully

2025-10-23 19:27

1 rating in 3 months before the bench, what x factor?

2025-10-23 20:00

The new pronax! (Stats-wise anyway)

2025-10-24 11:28

because they wouldn't even go to the major wo cypher helping them qualify recently

2025-10-23 19:19

out of the entire team cypher did the least for that

2025-10-23 19:28

by outfraggin even baitF on frag final? while grandpa dodged another na event?

2025-10-23 19:33

grandpa played better overall over past 6 months in the final cypher got most of his kills on the maps they've lost, so all those frags didn't do much for them, and he was 2nd worst player on the decider

it really doesnt make sense if cypher was the one who went godmode on fragadelphia and helped fnatic secure the ultra unlikely major spot

2025-10-23 19:23

"godmode" 1.03 event rating. decider map: jackasmo 1.62 cypher 0.90

2025-10-23 19:31

nice try Adidon

Most entries in that bo5 match Still better rating than Jackasmo in the last 3 months as well as more firepower according to hltv

he's an entry. How can he not have more entries?

2025-10-23 19:42

The Brit will still receive signature stickers in-game as jackasmo will be submitted as a substitute Well, he can still grind in peace. Hopefully a decent team will pick him up, he's still a good player regardless

depends on the contract. Nawwk had to sue NIP for his share of the sticker money.

2025-10-23 21:43

Tbh, from a performance standpoint the change was justified. He wasn’t good at all in Fnatic or any of his previous teams.

2025-10-23 22:19

flair... go suck fnatic cock.

2025-10-24 08:45

500 iq marketing my Cypher... we all want Cypher stickers meow... But fr that sucks man. GG go gane.

A great pickup for ANY NA team btw

Why would he downgrade?

2025-10-23 19:17

Free major slot

With a guaranteed stage 1 exit. This cypher dude talks like a winner, he wants to actually play in a major not just get there.

And he'll play. Someone like Wildcard with a few changes here and there can be a decent choice and not 0-3 team, but rather 2-3 or even 3-2

2025-10-23 19:29

Bro, half the team at wildcard are marking "Days Remaining" on their calendars to gtfo out of that nightmare. Cypher can definitely do better.

#DESTROYFNATIC

Oh no, anyways

2025-10-23 19:20

Well, it wasn't because of nothing for sure. Should've played better. Respectfully

He literally carried them to a major lol

2025-10-23 19:30

VP carried them to the Major. Respectfully

By bottom-fragging every match?

2025-10-23 19:32

By dropping 91 when it truly mattered

2025-10-23 19:34

when it truly mattered he dropped 0.90 rating farming exit kills on the maps they've lost won't cover for that

2025-10-23 19:50

And when was it? Before VP's management shat themselves or after? Seriously, the cope is unrealistic. The guy got booted for a reason. Get over it already. Respectfully

2025-10-23 20:08

Right, what was the reason specifically? Why have neither cypher nor the fnatic org itself (coach or manager) explained what prompted the decision to bench him?

2025-10-24 08:50

JUSTICE FOR MY GOAT

Cypher better witbout em now he joins mongolz

He’s definitely not finding a new team with this temper tantrum over getting benched

especially with his girlfriend running her mouth

2025-10-23 20:35

what temper tantrum lmao

this is not a "temper tantrum" obviously, it's pathetic and if I were him I would do my best to slap fnatic with a lawsuit. Also, that blonde thing isn't his fucking gf. I AM and anyone who knows what's actually been going on with these esports players/orgs knows that is the fucking truth, so please take your own meds before you try to tell me to take them myself. ASS. HOLES.

2025-10-24 08:54

Doesnt matter, they are going to get bombed in first stage.

Reminds me of how a married couple in the UK took in a female Ukrainian refugee who then started dating the husband, and the husband ended up leaving the wife xD

how many multi accounts you are gonna make

2025-10-23 21:29

Did the couple have kids?

2025-10-24 00:45

Yeah, apparently yourtango.com/news/man-leaves-girlfriend..

2025-10-24 00:47

Understandable

2025-10-24 01:11

british or not, hatewatch against fnatic will go hard

Fuck Fnatic!

Justice for CYPHER

2025-10-23 19:44

W fnatic

a sad day

#kolesiostwoua

SnakeF is going 0-3

NPCs in the comment section

2025-10-23 19:51

At least he gets his sticker

2025-10-23 19:52

"all the best to blamef and rest" wtf is that supposed to mean

2025-10-23 19:53

The benched player is publicly wishing good luck to his former teammates — especially to BlameF, who was likely the leader or focal point of the team. While the message sounds polite, its phrasing (“BlameF and rest”) subtly separates BlameF from the others, hinting at distance or underlying tension. It’s both a farewell and a restrained statement about team dynamics, wrapped in a short, diplomatic tweet.

he looks Paul Dano (and only i see it) and this is his only advantage.

2025-10-23 19:54

So f*cking unluko Sadge

2025-10-23 19:58

incredibly fucked up

wow they really did a Astralis Bro dusch back move...

2025-10-23 20:04

great move, W fnatic

2025-10-23 20:12

It's such an insane move, like what the actual fuck.

2025-10-23 20:23

hatewatch and gonna start taking some black magic lesson especially for this

fnatic cunts

2025-10-23 20:24

Dauymn

2025-10-23 20:38

hopefully they go 0-3

2025-10-23 20:39

Everyone agrees Fantic L move He was so good making them qualify Krimz aint playing well he cud easily be replaced by cypher

2025-10-23 21:14

So that "final decision is not made yet" thing was PR BULLSHIT. I hope they fucking go 0-3 and fear and all his ukranian friends get benched in a contract prison: fuck your nepotism.

2025-10-23 21:19

BlameF is always an issue. No matter where the guy goes, his team ends up in pure garbage, but farm barely on the lowest point, enough for BaitF glazers.