North American organisation Wildcard has benched Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz and Love ‘phzy’ Smidebrant from its Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) roster.
The change follows the roster’s failure to advance from Stage 1 at the BLAST.tv Austin Major. This is the first time Wildcard has adjusted its starting line-up since Tim ‘susp’ Ångström joined the team in July 2024.
After making a run into the first stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major in 2024, the team struggled to maintain consistency this year. Notably, the roster failed to qualify for PGL Astana and PGL Bucharest. Moreover, the organisation recorded early exits from IEM Katowice and PGL Cluj-Napoca.
“Devastating. Invested almost two years into this project, and for it to end this way is heartbreaking,” said stanislaw in an X post. “I wanted to rebuild my way, but management had different ideas. I’m not finished with competing, especially when I was so close to being back at the top.”
The BLAST.tv Austin Major was seemingly the final straw for Wildcard. After wins over Metizport and Lynn Vision Gaming, the team lost to B8, BetBoom Team, and Legacy to be knocked out of the tournament in Stage 1.
What’s Next For Wildcard?
With Wildcard now looking for two players, the team is one of 16 teams set to compete in the first FISSURE Playground event. Thanks to its 27th place in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) from May 25th, the team will compete for a share of a $1m (~£730,315) prize pool.
The event takes place from July 15th to 20th, giving the North American organisation under two weeks to sign players to complete its starting lineup.
For stanislaw and phzy, the players are actively looking for new opportunities to continue competing within Counter-Strike.
