Home

Wildcard’s chaotic summer shuffle has taken yet another twist, with Swedish AWPer Love “phzy” Smidebrant recalled to the lineup just weeks after being loaned out to 9INE. The move comes as part of an ongoing roster crisis that has left fans baffled, especially after phzy revealed in an exclusive interview with Dust2.us that management allegedly used ChatGPT to help suggest roster changes.

The revelation has quickly gone viral, sparking ridicule across the Counter-Strike community and leaving Wildcard’s reputation in tatters.

A rollercoaster few months

Wildcard looked like a rising international force earlier this year, qualifying for back-to-back Majors and even reaching Legends in Shanghai. But after the break, the organisation stunned fans by benching three key players: phzy, Tim “susp” Ångström, and veteran IGL Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz.

The shake-up saw Sebastian “fr3nd” Kuśmierz and Jaxon “Peeping” Cornwell brought in, but results tanked almost immediately. The team plummeted down the world rankings and alienated much of their North American fan base, who had once embraced the mixed-region roster as a potential contender.

Since then, Wildcard have been in constant flux. stanislaw was recalled to the active roster, susp pushed to the bench, Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek departed for NRG, and Maciej “F1KU” Miklas was signed from OG. Most recently, fr3nd was dropped after just two months, paving the way for phzy’s dramatic return.

phzy speaks out

Speaking at Fragadelphia Fragville, phzy admitted he still feels betrayed by Wildcard after being blindsided by his benching.

“I think I knew a day before they announced it. It was handled very poorly,” he told Dust2.us. “We gave Wildcard a lot and exceeded our goals. I was very surprised it happened.”

More shockingly, he claimed roster decisions may have been influenced by artificial intelligence rather than player input.

“I heard ChatGPT was involved a bit with making suggestions for players,” phzy said. When interviewer Jeffrey “Mnmzzz” Moore pressed him, he doubled down, suggesting management may have literally asked an AI who to cut and replace.

While the rumour is unconfirmed, the very idea that a professional CS organisation would use AI chat prompts to guide roster decisions has sent the community into meltdown.

Community reaction: disbelief and memes

The Counter-Strike scene wasted no time roasting Wildcard. On YouTube, one fan summed up the mood: “Using AI to cut stanislaw is wild.” Another joked, “Guess the prompt was ‘generate me a full step-by-step guide on how to become worse than BIG.’”

HLTV’s forums also erupted, with users calling Wildcard a “clanker organisation” and suggesting the team was being run like a meme thread. “Not the first org ran by HLTV forum threads,” one comment read, while another laughed, “Expected out of NA CS.”

The story has already turned into a meme in itself, with many mocking the idea that ChatGPT had a say in one of the most controversial roster moves of the year.

What’s next for Wildcard?

Despite the chaos, Wildcard are soldiering on at Fragadelphia Fragville 2025. Their current lineup features:

  • Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz (Canada)
  • Love “phzy” Smidebrant (Sweden)
  • Josh “JBa” Barutt (United States)
  • Jaxon “Peeping” Cornwell (United States)
  • Maciej “F1KU” Miklas (Poland)

With Vincent “vinS” Jozefiak coaching, while susp and fr3nd remain on the bench.

phzy admitted it might take time to fully trust Wildcard again but says he is focused on doing his job. “I’ll try to save the sinking ship as they say,” he told Dust2.us.

Whether he can steady the roster or not remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: Wildcard’s decision-making process has become the talk of Counter-Strike, for all the wrong reasons.