You usually hear from him in the distance—a resounding gunshot, another desk slam heard across a LAN hall, echoing like a warning. Or maybe it’s his voice in Discord, buried five layers deep in an argument about a map veto, or a schedule, that no one really cares about. This time, zyk doesn’t yell, doesn’t slam, doesn’t argue. Just a quiet mop drop from someone finally stepping away from the grind.

Q: So… why are you doing this interview? Honestly, who really cares about what you have to say? 

ZYK: I think the people that I don’t care for, are the ones who don’t care about what I have to say, so that evens out. But yeah, mostly to clear my head. Also to give the community a break from reading panther’s opinions. Maybe even to make a point. I’ve used this platform to talk about other players for a while now, sometimes seriously, sometimes not. This time it’s a bit selfish. I’m stepping away from competition, and I wanted to say a few things before I go quiet. 

Q: What’s changed? Why stop now? 

ZYK: It’s not a dramatic moment or anything. I just don’t have the drive anymore to be the guy who puts in the hours, watches demos, theory crafts, and most importantly, lives around scrim times. That version of me has probably run its course. I’ll still care about the game, but I can’t fake being all-in when I’m not. And that means being the backup’s backup on Janitorz. 

Q: How does it feel to be cut a third time—and to add insult to injury, getting cut once by Caseman?

ZYK: I want the boys to be as successful as possible. 

Before LAN, I met a Mexican chiquita who, for all intents and purposes, seems to be my future wife. Yeah. Crazy. Going the Caseman route. Harold was aware after LAN, and after some roster shake ups with Hostage on a short hiatus, having three ‘lurky’ players on the same team was clearly an issue. We realized our psyche couldn’t take it. Gl4d had been whoring himself out around town for a couple of weeks, and the consensus was: time to put a ring on that finger. 

Q: You’ve had a successful run as a role-player in a dead game. Why not keep going casually? 

ZYK: I don’t think I can ever fully stop playing this game. But I’ve enjoyed spending time doing other things, other than holding a 0.99 KDA and playing mediator. I think whatever success I had was highly dependent on Harold, Nick, and Blake. I was never a flashy player, and we enabled each other to be who we were for a long time. 

Q: You’ve said you played mediator. Was that a role you chose or one you fell into? 

ZYK: Probably both. I don’t like seeing things fall apart when they don’t have to. Sometimes that means being quiet. Sometimes it means stepping in. I definitely didn’t always get it right, let my emotions cloud judgment, but I tried to keep things moving, sometimes with diplomacy, sometimes with a flamethrower. Depends on the day. 

Q: So what matters to you now? What is there to live for? 

ZYK: The health of the community. That’s always been the point, whether it’s rule changes, league decisions, or just the direction of the game. Whether I’m involved or not, I want to see it stay alive. New teams, old names showing up just to watch, whatever keeps the heart of it beating. I will and always will respect anyone who loves this game. That doesn’t mean I don’t actively dislike some of the egos in the community. You know who you are by now. 

Q: What does “having fun” look like for you now? And do you have any funny anecdotes from your long stint in Janitorz?

ZYK: It’s changed. It used to mean competing, being part of the grind, playing with people I trust, finding edges. Now it might just mean watching a game, casting (if I even have a knack for it), and ringing for a non-panther-led team. Writing for entertainment which is also dear to my heart. That’s enough, I think.

Also, great question. It’s not leading in the slightest.

Before LAN we had internal issues. I don’t think that’s a secret to anyone at this point. We had a team deep-dive on Dawnville, using the church as ‘the talking stick’. If you’re not in the church, you can’t speak. Loosened us up for the hard discussion and comments that needed to be heard from all sides. I doubt we would’ve gotten through LAN at all if it wasn’t for that evening. 

Q: Final question. What do you want people to take away from your time here? 

ZYK: Honestly? Nothing too serious.

I don’t think people will take away much from my time here. Half the old heads have no idea who the F I am, and I’m very comfortable with that. But on the flip side, I’ll take away an incredible amount from my time, pseudo-competitively, but more importantly, socially. I’ve met an absurd number of solid human beings, and some charmingly dysfunctional ones too. Seeing all these nerds on LAN, after spending a good part of the last five years building a community with them, whether playing pugs, scrims, or just hanging in Discord, man, my heart was soaring all weekend. I love everyone. Even the brittle-boned egomaniacs that scourge the Discord. If you take time out of your day to play this game, I have no choice but to respect you.

Also, shameless plug, I’ve just released my ‘frag’ video yesterday. Youtube nuked it so had to host it on Rumble. Bottom link on this page.

Mostly only matches, cups, drafts, a couple of scrims, one pug, and LAN. I’ve lost hundreds and hundreds of demos so this is all I could muster up but I really think it’s worth the five minutes of your time, even though I’m not a flashy player.

PLEASE 1080p or a desk is slammed somewhere in the world.

Good day nerds.

That’s it. No victory lap, no tearful goodbyes. Just thanks—to the teammates, the opponents, the late-night pugs, the broken desks, and everyone who stuck around long enough to hear the echo. The mop’s down. I’m out.

Keep CoD2 alive.