CS: GO pro Stewie2K looking to move to VALORANT
Jake “Stewie2K,” a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional player, is now aiming to join the VALORANT professional team.
On August 11, while playing VALORANT on Twitch, the player stated that he wanted to grind VALORANT almost nonstop in preparation for the official launch of Riot Games’ sponsored league in 2023. He hopes a team will eventually recruit him and doesn’t appear to mind missing certain deadlines.
Stewie2K, also known as the ‘Smoke Criminal’ in the CS: GO community for his daring smoke pushes, is one of the most skilled North Americans, ranking ninth in tournament earnings with approximately US$1.2 million.
In addition to grinding the game’s ranked ladder on a daily basis, he planned to participate in high elo and professional scrims if the opportunity arises. He understands that there is still a long road ahead of him before the offseason, which is the most likely time for him to be picked up by a team before the next pro season.
“I’m gonna try to get into scrims, and then LCQ will happen, Champions will happen, offseason comes, franchising comes.”
VALORANT franchising
Riot Games’ professional VALORANT scene will transition to franchised leagues in 2023. With franchising, it will encourage higher-paying jobs for players.
Riot also announced that, in addition to its three new international leagues, 2023 will include expanded regional leagues, that will feature domestic leagues similar to the existing Challengers tournaments.
Riot’s goal for these regional tournaments provide opportunities for new talent to showcase their skills and gain attention from international league teams. Only teams that become Riot partners will be able to compete in these leagues and international events.
Fewer teams mean fewer opportunities for players, particularly those just breaking into the professional ranks. Stewie2K claims he is unconcerned about missing out on franchising and is instead focused on streaming and watching professionals play until he is hired by a team
“Even if I miss franchising, I’m down to keep streaming, watch and be a student of the game, and then get picked up. We’ll try, we’ll see how everything pans out.”
With Stewie2K seemingly committed to VALORANT for the long haul, it appears that his illustrious CS: GO career has come to an end. It will be fascinating to see if and when he is recruited by a professional VALORANT organization.
With the rise of VALORANT, many players from the CS: GO and Overwatch communities have made the switch. Nitr0 is the first major pro esports player to join Valorant from CS: GO. There were also notable names such as Vincent “Happy” Cervoni Schopenhauer, Spencer “Hiko” Martin and Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom who made the shocking transition.
Evil Geniuses benched Stewie2K
Stewie2 K’s move to VALORANT was most likely the result of him being benched by Evil Geniuses.
Former Evil Geniuses CS: GO assistant coach Paolo “EVY” Berbudeau claimed that the 24-year-old was unprofessional in a number of situations when he was kicked off the team on July 28.
Stewie2K defended himself and said that the comment “twisted and overly dramatic,” but later apologized to EG and the fans for “playing a massive role” in the early project’s failure.
Stewie2K previously played for Cloud9, which won the 2018 ELEAGUE Major Boston. He joined Evil Geniuses earlier this year after a three-year stint with Team Liquid, which won the 2019 Intel Grand Slam Season 2. The new roster, which reunited Stewie2K with former C9 teammates ‘autimatic’ and RUSH, fell short of expectations, prompting EG to take a risk with the Blueprint project.
