Fnatic rifler Cypher issued a statement confirming that he will not participate in the StarLadder Budapest Championship

British player Kai Watson (ID: CYPHER) confirmed on Thursday that he will not compete for fnatic at the upcoming StarLadder Budapest Championship.

The 2025 StarLadder Budapest Major is scheduled to take place from November 24th to December 14th, with 32 teams competing for a total prize pool of $500,000. Various indications suggest that Nikita Skiba (ID: jackasmo) will replace Cypher as the starting player for the Major.

Regarding this result, CYPHER expressed deep disappointment on the X platform: "Confirmed to miss the Major... Honestly, it's a bit crazy for me. After failing to qualify for two consecutive years, I finally achieved my dream, only to be excluded again. It's disappointing, but what can I do? I wish blameF and the rest of the team all the best in the future."

22-year-old CYPHER primarily plays rifler, having played for numerous Counter-Strike teams during his career, including CeX, ZJ, Aura, Into The Breach, TSM, BLEED, and BC.Game. He officially joined fnatic in May 2025 and has played in 94 maps and 2,084 rounds to date, achieving an average rating of 1.00, an ADR of 74.8, a KPR of 0.94, and a headshot percentage of 54.7%.

After helping fnatic qualify for the Major at the 2025 Fragadelphia Blocktober, Cypher was removed from the starting lineup to make way for 18-year-old Ukrainian rising star jackasmo, who had also represented fnatic at the CS:GO Asia Invitational.

Fnatic is expected to field the following roster at the 2025 StarLadder Budapest Championship:

Commander/Rifleman: Rodion Smik (ID: fear)

Sniper: Dmytro Shemera (ID: ⁠jambo)

Rifleman: Freddy Johansson (ID: KRIMZ)

Rifleman/Commander: Benjamin Bremer (ID: blameF)

Rifleman: Nikita Skiba (ID: jackasmo)

Coach: Mixus Silinesh (ID: ⁠Independent⁠)

Substitute: Kai Watson (ID: CYPHER)