Sources: sScary benched by FunPlus Phoenix following VCT China Kickoff elimination

Eliminated from the VCT China Kickoff after three consecutive defeats, FunPlus Phoenix are already making a roster change, with Natchaphon "sScary" Matarat benched, according to sources close to Sheep Esports. The Thai player, who barely competed throughout 2025, had come out of retirement to play in the Chinese league, an experience that now appears set to end earlier than expected.

Announced in early November, sScary was coming off a full season without competing following the end of Bleed. At the start of 2025, he had even announced his retirement from professional play, before ultimately making a return just a few months later in VCT China with FunPlus Phoenix. With FPX, he managed to secure a respectable offseason showing, finishing third at the VALORANT Radiant International Invitational 2025, while also picking up notable victories against G2 Esports and Paper Rex, both coming off two exceptional seasons.

A promising start, however, that did not survive the turn of the year and the launch of the Kickoff, the first official tournament of the season and a qualifier for Masters Santiago. Heavily beaten by TYLOO in their opening match, 3-13 and then 4-13, FPX showed slightly more resistance against Bilibili Gaming. After an initial 9-13 loss on Pearl, sScary and his teammates pushed BLG to overtime on Bind, before eventually falling 15-17. Dropping into the lower bracket, FPX then faced JD Gaming, taking the first map 13-5, before collapsing 3-13 on Bind and failing to truly challenge their opponents on Haven, the decider, losing 7-13.

sScary, much like his teammate Qu "Life" Donghao, frequently found himself near the bottom of the statistical rankings. While the team’s poor results did not help, both players posted particularly low numbers, ranking as the fourth and second worst kill-to-death ratios of the event, with figures of 0.63 and 0.72 respectively.