FUT Confirm SunPayus Signing as Spanish AWPer Replaces cmtry

FUT have officially completed the signing of Álvaro “SunPayus” García, bringing the Spanish AWPer back into active competition after his spell on the G2 bench.

The move, announced on October 1, 2026, puts SunPayus into the primary AWP position previously occupied by Nikita “cmtry” Samolotov and completes a transfer that had been reported by HLTV in September.

For FUT, the change adds an experienced tier-one AWPer to a roster that reached the Esports World Cup 2026 grand final only weeks earlier. For SunPayus, it opens a new chapter just two days after his departure from G2 was officially confirmed.

Quick Summary

Detail	Information
Team	FUT
Player signed	Álvaro “SunPayus” García
Role	AWPer
Previous team	G2
Player replaced	Nikita “cmtry” Samolotov
Announcement date	October 1, 2026
Transfer status	Official
SunPayus age	27
Reported additional role	Secondary caller
Next confirmed FUT event	PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Event dates	October 24–31, 2026
First match with SunPayus	TBD

What Happened?

FUT officially announced SunPayus as their new AWPer on October 1, ending several weeks of speculation surrounding the Spanish player's future.

HLTV first reported on September 16 that FUT were close to completing a deal for SunPayus, who had been on G2's bench since June. That report identified cmtry as the player expected to make way and also stated that FUT had considered other AWP options during their search.

The move became significantly more likely on September 29 when G2 officially announced SunPayus' departure after approximately 14 months with the organization. Two days later, FUT completed the final step by confirming him as part of their active lineup.

SunPayus takes over the dedicated AWP position from cmtry.

HLTV's current FUT team page lists the new five-player lineup as SunPayus, xfl0ud, dem0n, Krabeni and dziugss, with András “coolio” Fercsák remaining as coach.

FUT Roster After the SunPayus Signing

Player	Position / Status
Álvaro “SunPayus” García	AWPer
Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija	Active player
Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko	Active player
Džiugas “dziugss” Steponavičius	Active player
Yasin “xfl0ud” Koç	Active player
András “coolio” Fercsák	Coach
Nikita “cmtry” Samolotov	Bench
Laurențiu “lauNX” Țârlea	Bench

The signing therefore represents a direct change at the AWP position rather than a wider rebuild.

Background: Why SunPayus Was Available

SunPayus had been inactive since G2 changed AWPers during the summer break.

G2 benched the Spaniard on June 25, 2026 and signed former Ninjas in Pyjamas AWPer Artem “r1nkle” Moroz on the same day. The move followed G2's run at the IEM Cologne Major 2026, where SunPayus was still part of the starting lineup.

G2 coach Eetu “sAw” Saha later explained that the organization wanted a more aggressive element in its lineup. That context is important: the change was presented as a question of how G2 wanted its AWP role to function within the team rather than simply a matter of replacing one sniper with another.

SunPayus subsequently spent roughly three months outside active competition.

G2 formally ended his tenure on September 29, clearing the way for the FUT move to be completed.

SunPayus' Road From G2 to FUT

Date	Development
July 2025	SunPayus begins his G2 tenure
2025	G2 win BLAST Open London with SunPayus
June 2026	SunPayus plays with G2 at the IEM Cologne Major
June 25, 2026	G2 bench SunPayus
June 25, 2026	G2 sign r1nkle as their new AWPer
September 16, 2026	HLTV reports that FUT are close to signing SunPayus
September 29, 2026	G2 officially announce SunPayus' departure
October 1, 2026	FUT officially sign SunPayus
October 24–31, 2026	PGL Masters Bucharest 2026 — FUT's next confirmed event

The chronology separates the two stages of the story: SunPayus had already lost his active position at G2 in June, but his contractual and competitive future was only resolved at the end of September and beginning of October.

Why the FUT SunPayus Signing Matters

This is not a rebuild of a struggling lineup.

FUT are changing one of Counter-Strike's most influential positions after producing their biggest international result of 2026.

The organization reached its first Big Event grand final at the Esports World Cup in August. FUT defeated MOUZ in the playoffs and then survived a three-map semi-final against FURIA before facing Spirit for the championship.

Spirit eventually won the final 3-1, but three of the four maps were competitive: FUT won Cache 13-10 before losing Anubis 13-16 and Ancient 14-16, with both defeats requiring overtime. Spirit then closed the series 13-5 on Nuke.

That run established FUT as a team capable of reaching the late stages of major international events.

The SunPayus signing therefore looks less like an attempt to repair a broken roster and more like an attempt to change the ceiling and structure of an already competitive one.

Tactical Impact: What SunPayus Could Change for FUT

The most obvious change concerns the AWP.

SunPayus arrives as an established dedicated AWPer with extensive experience in international lineups and high-pressure LAN environments. He has competed deep into tier-one events and now joins a considerably younger FUT core.

HLTV also reported that SunPayus is expected to contribute as a secondary caller. That is not the same as FUT officially announcing a leadership change, so Krabeni's existing leadership structure should not be assumed to have been replaced. Instead, SunPayus could potentially provide another experienced voice during mid-round situations.

That may become particularly relevant in close playoff maps.

FUT's EWC final showed how narrow the margins can become against elite opposition: the team lost consecutive overtime maps against Spirit before the series finally broke open on Nuke.

SunPayus' experience could help in those situations, although the actual effect can only be judged once the new lineup has played official matches together.

There is also a trade-off.

HLTV's analysis of the move noted that while SunPayus represents an AWP upgrade on paper, cmtry offered stronger rifling production.

FUT may therefore be changing the distribution of firepower rather than simply adding it.

The cmtry Factor

Replacing cmtry is notable because the Ukrainian AWPer was part of FUT's breakthrough run.

He had previously developed through NAVI's academy structure before the core eventually moved to FUT in 2025.

More importantly, cmtry produced significant performances during FUT's strongest tournament run.

In the Esports World Cup semi-final against FURIA, cmtry finished 55-41 with a 1.16 Rating 3.0 as FUT won the series 2-1 and reached their first Big Event grand final.

That makes this more than a straightforward case of replacing an obviously non-functional player.

FUT are altering a lineup that had already demonstrated the ability to challenge elite opposition.

Key Details

Category	Before	After
Primary AWPer	cmtry	SunPayus
SunPayus status	Former G2 player / inactive	FUT active roster
cmtry status	Active FUT player	Bench
Core leadership	Krabeni	No official change announced
Coach	coolio	coolio
Secondary calling	Not specified	SunPayus expected to contribute, per HLTV
Next confirmed event	—	PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
First official match	—	TBD

Tournament Impact

FUT's next confirmed tournament is PGL Masters Bucharest 2026, scheduled for October 24–31 in Bucharest, Romania.

The event has a $1.25 million prize pool and a 16-team field. HLTV's event page currently includes FUT alongside teams such as Spirit, Vitality, MOUZ, G2, FURIA, Aurora and BETBOOM.

That gives FUT several weeks between the announcement and the start of the event.

Assuming the announced five-player lineup remains intact, Bucharest should provide the first meaningful competitive benchmark for the SunPayus version of FUT.

The exact opening opponent and match time are TBD at the time of verification.

Ranking / VRS Impact

No specific post-transfer Valve Regional Standings impact should be claimed yet without an updated ranking calculation following the roster change.

Current roster-change VRS impact: TBD.

This should be updated once Valve publishes the relevant ranking or tournament qualification implications become clear.

Historical Connection: SunPayus Has Already Played Against FUT

There is an interesting recent connection between the new AWPer and his new organization.

SunPayus faced FUT while representing G2 at the IEM Cologne Major 2026.

HLTV's match data records G2 and FUT meeting during the event, meaning SunPayus joins a roster he competed against during his final tournament period with G2.

That adds another layer to the transfer: FUT are not signing an unknown quantity from outside their competitive environment, but an AWPer they have recently encountered directly on the server.

Impact Analysis

For FUT

FUT gain an experienced primary AWPer without dismantling the rifling core that powered their rise during 2026.

SunPayus also provides substantially more tier-one experience to a lineup that HLTV described as having an average age of just 20.3 before his arrival.

The central question is whether that experience improves FUT's late-round decision-making and AWP impact without disrupting the aggressive style that helped the team reach the EWC final.

For SunPayus

The move restores SunPayus to an active starting position after approximately three months on G2's bench.

Instead of joining a project at the beginning of a rebuild, he enters a lineup that has already demonstrated playoff-level potential against established international teams.

That creates a very different environment from his final months with G2.

For cmtry

cmtry loses the primary AWP position despite being part of FUT's most successful international run.

His next competitive step is not yet confirmed.

Next team / future role: TBD.

What Changes Now?

The immediate change is simple: FUT's AWP responsibility moves from cmtry to SunPayus.

The broader consequences will take longer to determine.

FUT must integrate a new sniper into an existing tactical system, determine how much secondary calling responsibility SunPayus receives, and establish how the team's spacing and resource distribution change around a different AWP profile.

At the same time, the organization is retaining the core that reached the EWC final.

That continuity should make the coming matches particularly useful for comparison. Unlike a full rebuild, there are enough unchanged pieces to examine how much one positional change alters FUT's approach.

What to Watch Next

The first priority is SunPayus' official FUT debut. PGL Masters Bucharest is currently the next confirmed tournament on the team's calendar, but the opening matchup remains TBD.

Several questions will be worth tracking once official matches begin:

• How aggressively will FUT deploy SunPayus compared with his previous systems?

• How much secondary calling responsibility will he actually receive?

• Will FUT maintain the aggressive identity displayed during their EWC run?

• How quickly will SunPayus establish AWP chemistry with Krabeni, xfl0ud, dem0n and dziugss?

• Can the new lineup reproduce FUT's EWC-level playoff results?

The answers should become clearer once FUT begin playing full series with the new roster.

Related Teams, Players and Events

FUT: The organization enters another stage of its rapid rise after reaching the Esports World Cup 2026 final.

SunPayus: The 27-year-old Spanish AWPer returns to an active lineup after spending the summer on G2's bench.

cmtry: FUT's previous primary AWPer moves out of the starting five after being part of the team's EWC runner-up campaign.

G2: SunPayus' former organization had already replaced him with r1nkle in June before officially ending his contract situation in September.

r1nkle: The Ukrainian AWPer took over SunPayus' position on G2 and remains part of G2's active lineup.

PGL Masters Bucharest 2026: Currently FUT's next confirmed tournament and potentially the first major test of the new lineup.

FAQ

Did FUT officially sign SunPayus?

Yes. FUT officially announced the signing of Álvaro “SunPayus” García on October 1, 2026. The move had previously been reported by HLTV on September 16.

Who did SunPayus replace on FUT?

SunPayus replaces Nikita “cmtry” Samolotov as FUT's primary AWPer. cmtry has moved out of the starting lineup.

Why did SunPayus leave G2?

SunPayus was benched by G2 in June 2026 when the organization signed r1nkle. G2 coach sAw later explained that the team wanted a more aggressive element in the AWP position. G2 officially announced SunPayus' departure on September 29.

What is FUT's roster with SunPayus?

FUT's active five consists of SunPayus, Krabeni, dem0n, dziugss and xfl0ud, with coolio as coach.

When will SunPayus debut for FUT?

The exact debut match is TBD. FUT's next confirmed event is PGL Masters Bucharest 2026, which runs from October 24–31, but the opening matchup has not yet been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this article.