kyxsan: “We were promised time. I was shocked”

kyxsan: “We were promised time. I was shocked”

Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski has again opened up about his sudden removal from Falcons, saying he was caught off guard by the timing and by the fact that the project had been presented internally as a long-term build rather than a win-now experiment.

The Macedonian in-game leader was benched after Falcons’ third-place finish at IEM Rio, ending a 16-month stint with the Saudi organization. HLTV reported that Falcons moved kyxsan to the bench shortly after FaZe benched Finn “karrigan” Andersen, with karrigan later taking over leadership of the roster. 

“I knew, like everyone else, that we were not playing our best Counter-Strike this season,” kyxsan said. “But this was a project we wanted to make long-term. It was never about winning here and now.”

According to kyxsan, the decision was not communicated to him in advance, and the timing made the situation even harder to process. Falcons’ move came around the roster-lock period for the Cologne Major, leaving him with no realistic path to attend the Major with another team.

“I was never notified about it. The timing made it even worse,” he said. “The roster lock was right at IEM Rio — the Major became impossible for me.”

The emotional toll was visible during Falcons’ final run in Rio. During the tournament, kyxsan had already told HLTV that his job was to “come here and play,” while trying to ignore the pressure and rumors around his future. 

Behind the scenes, however, the situation was far heavier. kyxsan admitted that he played the event knowing he was no longer part of the team’s future.

“Every second of this tournament, I knew I was no longer part of this team,” he said. “But I tried to give everything I had.”

He also spoke openly about the mental side of the situation, saying it was difficult to stay focused, find motivation, and even sleep after learning the news.

After the move, Falcons coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen said kyxsan has “a bright future” and that the decision “wasn’t deserved” in some ways, but pointed to karrigan’s experience managing star-heavy rosters as a key factor behind the change. 

NiKo publicly wished kyxsan luck after the benching, while analyst Professeur wrote that although he had previously argued Falcons should remove kyxsan, he still believed the Macedonian deserved another chance on a top-10 team.