Passion UA End Season Early Amid CS2 Roster Instability and Poor Results

Passion UA withdraw from competition after disappointing 2026 campaign

Ukrainian CS2 organization Passion UA have officially ended their season early following a difficult first half of 2026 marked by roster instability, disappointing tournament results, and failed Major qualification hopes.

The organization announced its withdrawal from BC.Game Masters Championship Season 2, confirming that the team would not compete again before the summer player break. The statement was published on the club’s official X account. 

The decision comes shortly after Passion UA finished last at IEM Atlanta 2026, where they suffered defeats against Natus Vincere and SINNERS Esports. The event ultimately became the team’s final tournament appearance of the season.

Passion UA’s ambitious CS2 rebuild failed to deliver

Heading into 2026, Passion UA were viewed as one of the most ambitious rising projects in Counter-Strike 2 after signing Santino 'try' Rigal and adding Azbayar 'Senzu' Munkhbold on loan from The MongolZ.

The roster moves generated significant attention across the CS2 scene, with analysts expecting the international lineup to challenge for Major qualification and become a consistent top-30 team.

Instead, Passion UA struggled throughout the season. The team failed to qualify for the Cologne Major and dropped to 48th place in the Valve Regional Standings. Their campaign was further damaged by an early exit at BC.Game Masters Season 1, where upset losses against Basement Boys and Tricked severely hurt their ranking position and qualification chances.

Constant roster changes hurt Passion UA’s progress

One of the biggest problems throughout the season was roster instability. Multiple players departed the active lineup during crucial periods of the year, preventing the team from building long-term chemistry.

Among the notable departures were:

Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli

Michael 'Grim' Wince

Azbayar 'Senzu' Munkhbold

Senzu later joined BC.Game Esports, linking up with Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev and the organization’s rebuilt roster.

To stabilize the lineup, Passion UA brought in Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhev on loan from ENCE. However, the move came late into the season and did not significantly improve results.

JT admits Passion UA were “in limbo”

Following the team’s elimination at IEM Atlanta, in-game leader Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou openly discussed the roster problems in an interview with HLTV.

According to JT, Passion UA repeatedly changed lineups throughout the season and had almost no time to properly practice with their final roster before Atlanta.

“We need to know the plan for the future, what the set five is, we need to sign some players and complete the roster,” JT said.
“Right now we’re kinda just in limbo, and we keep making the same mistakes.”

JT also praised sdy’s impact on the team, describing the Ukrainian veteran as an experienced player with “a good mind for the game.”

Earlier in the season, coach Tiaan 'T.c' Coertzen described the roster situation as “very chaotic,” especially after transfer interest from NRG affected the lineup.

What’s next for Passion UA?

At the moment, the future of Passion UA’s Counter-Strike division remains unclear. The current active lineup includes:

JT

try

Vladyslav 'Kvem' Korol

Nick 'nicx' Lee

sdy (loan)

It is still unknown whether Passion UA will keep the current roster intact for the second half of 2026 or pursue another rebuild before returning to competition.