Astralis Could Be Forced to Play Singapore Major Without cmtry

Astralis could be forced to compete at the PGL Major Singapore 2026 without Nikita "cmtry" Samolotov following FUT Esports' elimination from PGL Masters Bucharest. FUT lost 2-0 to Nemiga on Thursday (October 29), leaving the Ukrainian player caught in a roster eligibility issue under Valve's ranking rules for Counter-Strike 2.

Astralis will likely have to field a stand-in at the Major. Despite joining the Danish organization on October 13, cmtry remains listed on FUT's roster in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) system.

Why Could cmtry Miss the Singapore Major?

The issue comes down to the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), the ranking system used to determine Major invitations. For a roster change to be reflected in the rankings, an incoming player must have appeared in at least five of the team's last ten matches.

FUT signed Álvaro "SunPayus" García to replace cmtry, but the loss to Nemiga was only the Spaniard's fourth official match with his new team. With FUT eliminated from Bucharest, they have no further matches scheduled before November 2, the cutoff date for Major invitations.

Because SunPayus has not reached the five-match requirement, cmtry remains part of FUT's VRS roster. Under Valve's clarified rules, if the same player appears on two Major-eligible rosters, only the higher-ranked team can receive an invitation with that player.

In this case, FUT hold the advantage, sitting three places above Astralis in the European VRS rankings. That means Astralis cannot simply register cmtry for the Major while he remains tied to his former team's roster.

Why Did Astralis Bring jabbi Back?

Astralis had already taken precautions. On Tuesday (October 27), the organization announced that Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard would return to the lineup for the remainder of Stake Ranked Episode 5 in Barcelona.

The move prevented cmtry from playing his fifth match for Astralis before Valve's cutoff. Had he reached that threshold while still listed on FUT's VRS roster, the Ukrainian could have appeared on two Major-eligible lineups, putting Astralis' invitation at risk.

jabbi had been benched on October 13 when Astralis announced the signings of cmtry and Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek. The Danish rifler could now remain in the starting five for the Singapore Major as well.

Can cmtry Still Play for Astralis at the Singapore Major?

There is still a possible way out, but it depends on FUT. The Turkish organization would need to play another eligible LAN match before November 2, allowing SunPayus to reach the five-match threshold and replace cmtry on its VRS roster.

One option would be entering a smaller event, such as EPIC 49 in the United Kingdom. However, FUT have given no indication that they intend to compete in another tournament before the deadline.

FUT coach András "coolio" Fercsák has publicly criticized the situation, calling on Valve to make an exception so both cmtry and SunPayus can represent their respective teams.

"We were 2-0 at PGL Bucharest and could've manipulated the outcome against Vitality to meet the requirements, but we chose competitive integrity instead. Both SunPayus and cmtry deserve an exception to be eligible for the Major with their respective teams. Rules should never punish players for doing the right thing. Please reconsider."

In a separate post, coolio pointed to the situation involving Dan "apEX" Madesclaire. The Vitality captain missed an event to be present for the birth of his child and, under the same rules, is expected to miss out on his own Major sticker, with stand-in Justinas "jL" Lekavičius set to receive one instead.

"After everything he's done with Vitality, he's missing out on his Major sticker just because he became a father and couldn't attend one event, while jL will get one instead. Nothing against jL, but how does this make sense?

These rules need exceptions. Players shouldn't be punished for situations like this" 

Even without meeting the five-match requirement, SunPayus will still be able to compete for FUT at the Major as a substitute, although he will not be eligible for his own sticker. Meanwhile, cmtry is expected to miss the tournament with Astralis unless the roster situation is resolved before the invitation cutoff.

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Featured image credit: Astralis

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