As first reported by Arran “Halo” Spake and confirmed in an exclusive with VLR.gg, FunPlus Phoenix have benched both Tobias “ShadoW” Flodström and Dmitriy “dimasick” Matvienko from their starting roster.
The moves come after the team’s recent exit from the Europe, Middle East and Africa VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs. FunPlus Phoenix, along with ShadoW and dimasick bombed out of the event after losing to SuperMassive Blaze and forZe. The team did not earn enough VCT circuit points to qualify for the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, at 105 points, so the organization decided to start anew ahead of the tournament circuit’s second year.
“We at FPX are constantly striving to reach the top,” FPX manager Petar “peca” Marković said in a statement to VLR.gg. “Unfortunately, we have failed to do so this season. Therefore, we are about to make some changes and prepare ourselves for the next season with a fresh lineup.”
ShadoW and dimasick on FPX
ShadoW has been a starting player for FPX since its earliest days, when the organization signed players from amateur rosters FABRIKEN and PartyParrots. He competed with the squad in its semifinals run at First Strike: Europe and has started every match across all three stages. While ShadoW has played a plethora of agents for the team, he mainly stuck to supportive characters. He would often play Astra and recently transitioned to Initiators, specifically Skye and Breach.
Dimasick, on the other hand, was a late addition to FPX. He joined the team in January of 2021 after the organization let go of Johan “Meddo” Renbjörk Lundborg. The player from Kazakhstan routinely played Cypher for the team but also flexed into a Duelist role on certain maps.
The two players are currently listed as inactive and peca has expressed interest in trying out new players for the open spots.
The FPX roster currently consists of:
- Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov
- Pontus “Zyppan” Eek
- Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky
