cynic passes away at 23

David "cynic" Polster has passed away at the age of 23, current coach Tommy "Axed" Ryan has confirmed in a statement on X. A cause of death has not been made public at this time.

cynic will be fondly remembered for his numerous contributions to the North American Counter-Strike scene, starting his career in earnest back in 2018 at the age of 18 years of age under the tag Sneaky. cynic made his debut at the top of the domestic NA scene during ESEA MDL Season 27, joining CheckSix. Even in these early days, cynic was viewed as a potential prospect in the scene, putting on very strong performances that set him apart amidst the new guard of NA CS:GO players.

After finding his place in the scene with smaller squads throughout 2018 and 2019, including a second-place finish at the NCS Grand Finals 2019, cynic truly broke out as a player at the start of 2020. With teams like Levitate, Positive Vibes Only, and Rebirth, he played with a number of future top NA names like Justin "FaNg" Coakley, Brendan "Bwills" Williams, Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk, and Carson "nosraC" O'Reilly.

If 2020 was cynic's breakout year, 2021 was where he really found himself as a player. It was during this year, which saw the NA scene undergo a metamorphosis following the release of VALORANT that cynic became a mainstay at the top of the NA scene. This period would see cynic continue to rub shoulders with, and later lead, the upper echelons of the NA scene while playing for Triumph, Party Astronauts, Gaimin Gladiators, and later Nouns.

Nouns is likely where most fans got to know cynic, as the organization made a huge investment in the team, enabling cynic and his teammates to notably attend the Intel Extreme Masters Road to Rio 2022: American RMR, BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: American RMR, IEM Dallas 2023, and ESL Challenger Winter 2023, helping to further entrench cynic as a name to watch as he emerged into the international scene.

After exiting Nouns at the end of 2023, cynic quickly found a new home on orgless squad BOSS. While his time with the team would ultimately be short, cynic made his final significant contribution to the wider scene, helping the squad to qualify to the PGL Major Copenhagen Americas RMR, which the squad had been preparing for at the time of cynic's passing.

Following the announcement for cynic's untimely passing, tributes have poured in from the NA scene towards cynic, remembering him as an amazingly skilled player who was shy but incredibly kind and passionate about the scene.