It will be a severely weakened OG squad that will take on the Swedes from Ninjas in Pyjamas at BLAST Premier Spring Showdown as they will have to do without their absolute star player Abdul “degster” Gasanov.

Due to sickness, degster is set to be on the sideline why OG have decided to bring in a replacement in the form of Owen “smooya” Butterfield, the organization confirmed on [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/OGcsgo/status/1641045563578757121","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitter "}]today.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/smooya_dsjzlm","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL Adela Sznajder"}]

smooya hasn't been on a team since his benching on Fnatic one year ago

In addition today’s unfortunate news, OG is also still without their in-game leader and captain Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic who stepped back from the team temporarily in mid-February. That means OG will have to field both Smooya and the former OG player Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen for the time being.

The match between OG and NIP will is set to be played at 16:30 (CET) today.

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{cflag:DK} Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen (stand-in)

{cflag:GB} Owen “smooya” Butterfield (stand-in)

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degster

smooya

Counter-Strike 2 is here, and now the first people have access to the beta.

The professional Counter-Strike player, Owen "smooya" Butterfield is playing the game right now. 

23-year-old Owen "smooya" Butterfield announced on his Twitter that he will be competing in professional CounterStrike once again. However, Which team he will be playing for is still unknown as the announcement is pending. 

It's been over a year since smooya has been on an active roster. The last time we saw the Britsh AWPer in action was at Into The Breach where the AWPer played as a stand-in. Since then the 23-year-old has been streaming full-time.  

From 2018 to 2022 Smooya played for seven different teams. It all started back in 2018 when 18-year-old Owen "smooya" Butterfield signed his first contract with the German organization BIG. However, after just eight months as a BIG player, smooya moved from BIG to Renegades and then back to BIG within just seven months. Later in his career, smooya joined Fnatic as their new main AWPer. During his time in Fnatic, the British AWPer managed to accomplish first place in the REPUBLEAGUE Season 2 and first place in BreamHack Open in November 2021.

Despite a long career Owen "smooya" Butterfield is only 23 years old and has many years left on the competitive stage. 

Owen "smooya" Butterfield has gathered his team to take part in the BLAST Paris RMR squad. The winners of the open qualifiers will receive half of the spots in the closed qualifiers for the RMRs. The rest of the places will go to the leaders of Valve's Regional Standings. The open qualifiers take place from Feb 13th - Feb 15th.

The line-up going into the Europe RMR looks as follows:

Smooya has in recent months been playing as a free agent since his departure with Benched Heroes back in Sep 2022. The 27-year-old is currently living his life on Twitch where he is steaming full-time.

FPL is known for tryhard and funny moments as the pros can join each other's Team Speak channels to speak with each other while in-game. 

Doing a late-night FPL game, s1mple and smooya was in the middle of everything as always. s1mple took down three players of the enemy team but lost his duel to flameZ- and the round. Up 10-5 switching over to the CT side, smooya joined s1mples Team Speak and trash talked him. He offered him a duel in mid and the rest is for you to watch.

Check out this funny moment between smooya and s1mple:

s1mple ended the FPL game with 38-16 K-D / 1.46 K/R / 2.38 K/D.

s1mple

To be forced to do something is never fun, especially if you already have told your way of the story. In this case, the Benched Heroes AWPer Owen "smooya" Butterfield told why he and Fnatic never got to work together as a team. The things he got forced to, was far away from what he expected, even tho you have to believe that a big organization like Fnatic meant it in a good way. 

Check out the clip from Smooya´s steam right here:

[twitchClip:QuaintAstutePuppyCclamChamp-bSTTBtVzDu-8EIw1]

The CS:GO roster of Benched Heroes with MICHU, Calyx, smooya, Aunkere, and fear in the lineup will unfortunately be missing the RMR due to visa issues that has left the team without any possibility of attending the event.

In a Twitter post, 23-year-old UK AWP’er, smooya, announced the unfortunate situation.

The RMR would have been a good opportunity for the roster to show their potential against the top teams in CS:GO, which might have helped them get the backing of an organization.

Aunkere

fear

MICHU

Calyx

BenchedHeroes

Owen “Smooya” Butterfield and his mix team “Benched Heroes” is in danger of missing out on the important Major qualifier IEM Road to Rio RMR, due to several players having trouble obtaining an eligible visa to travel to Malta.

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It has been confirmed that Eugene “Aunkere” Karyat won’t attend the event and now it looks like Buğra "Calyx" Arkın is facing the same destiny, with things “[link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/CalyxCSGO/status/1574546988523192320","isNewTab":true,"text":"not looking good"}]”. With Benched Heroes, and every other team at the RMR, only having one substitute, it means their RMR participation hangs on a very thin thread.

Something, Smooya decided to comment on yesterday on Twitter.

Smooya and company are not the only team facing these issues. Friday it came out that multiple CIS teams may end up being disqualified as well due to a large number of players having had their visas denied prior to the Regional Major Ranking. That included Aurora, K23 and 1WIN.

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ESL has issued a statement following the many visa difficulties saying they have taken a “precautionary measure”, and that there’s no team which have been replaced per Monday evening.

- We have two first-in-line replacement teams with Illuminar Gaming and Forward, therefore measures being taken are only in the event that additional replacement teams are required. In order to determine a replacement order, we’ll be reaching out to the eight teams who lost in RO16 in the 4th European qualifier about participating. Once teams for the replacement matches have been confirmed we’ll be announcing more details, the ESL statement said. 

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The European mix called Benched Heroes, which features Owen “Smooya” Butterfield on the AWP, may soon play under a new banner and with an organization as backing.

Because according to team member Evgeniy "Aunkere" Karyat, the roster has received an offer from an unidentified British organization to represent them going forward, Aunkere recently said.

- Smooya got contacted by [a] British organization. He and fear talked with them about signing us. In theory, if we will come to an agreement on price, we will be competing under their tag instead of Benched Heroes. They gave us a really good offer, we are still thinking about it. If it will not work out, I will definitely share or at least hint at how much we got offered, but the sum is very good. I'm glad me and fear decided to make this team and such guys got interested in us - Transcript by [link:{"url":"https://escorenews.com/en/csgo/news/37946-smooya-and-aunkere-stack-benched-heroes-is-in-talks-with-british-organization","isNewTab":true,"text":"EscoreNews.com"}].

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With a five-man side of Smooya, Aunkere, fear, Michu, and Calyx, Benched Heroes managed to qualify for the European RMR tournament in Malta next month. Here they will compete against the CS:GO elite for a spot at the prestigious IEM Rio Major taking place in October-November this year. 

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Fear

Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhaylov has made many headlines this year - From being accused of taking drugs by his wife (now ex-wife), to being kicked by NAVI, just to announce that he wants to pursue a career as a rapper simultaneously with playing CS:GO.

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But what is his top priority? CS:GO or rap?

According to Rodion "Fear" Smyk from Benched Heroes, which also includes Owen “Smooya” Butterfield and Michał “MICHU” Müller, boombl4 declined an invite from the profiled mix because “he was recording a track”.

Something Fear revealed on a [link:{"url":"https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1576969251","isNewTab":true,"text":"stream"}] with Konstantin "LENINIW" Sivko. (Transcript from [link:{"url":"https://escorenews.com/en/csgo/news/37748-apparently-smooya-and-aunkere-stack-wanted-to-invite-boombl4-but-he-declined-because-he-was-recording-a-track","isNewTab":true,"text":"escorenews.com"}])

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Last week, Smooya and the rest of Benched Heroes managed to secure a ticket to the prominent RMR tournament before IEM Rio later this year. 

Boombl4

Natus Vincere

That was Owen “Smooya” Butterfield’s words when talking about his CS:GO colleagues Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte and Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov and their wages on Evil Geniuses. 

Because according to Smooya, the EG duo is being paid more than $30k a month each by their North American organization.

It was on the latest episode of [link:{"url":"https://www.twitch.tv/hltvorg","isNewTab":true,"text":"HLTV Confirmed"}] where smooya decided to spill the beans. You can watch the sequence in the video below.

There is no official information on the actual contract arrangement between Evil Geniuses and the two players, nor when the contracts were signed. Nonetheless, it's still quite compelling that a team is paying such a high amount of money for two players who've been playing way under their top level for such a long period. 

The entire HLTV Confirmed episode featuring Smooya:

Brehze

CeRq

Evil Geniuses

The controversial and profiled figure of Owen “smooya” Butterfield has together with his five-man mix roster secured a spot at the European RMR qualifier for the upcoming Major in Rio de Janeiro in November.

Under a banner called Benched Heroes, smooya and company yesterday managed to defeat the Poles from Illuminar in a very close 2-1 series, grabbing the last two tickets for the RMR event together with GamerLegion. 

Something they have done right in front of the noses of profiled teams such as Entropiq, Movistar Riders, Finest and Apeks, who all failed to qualify after a disappointing showing in the four open qualifiers. You can watch smooya's quite unusual celebration down below. 

Here is the full team list for the European RMR:

FaZe – Spirit – NIP – Cloud9 – MOUZ – NAVI – ENCE – BIG – Vitality – Heroic – Outsiders – OG – G2 – Fnatic – Eternal Fire – forZe – Falcons – K23 – Monte – Sangal – FANTASY – Sprout – B8 – Bad News Eagles – Aurora – ECSTATIC – Astralis – Benched Heroes – HEET – SAW – 1WIN - GamerLegion

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GamerLegion

Today’s #POTD is made by the British AWPer Owen "smooya" Butterfield. In a FACEIT level 10 match, smooya managed to win an insane 1vs5 clutch against the enemy team with both the AWP and the AK-47.

The REPUBLEAGUE Season 3 continues with the rest of Group B today.

Here Fnatic will take on Into the Breach. An interesting matchup, where Fnatic will field their new trial player Ludvig "HEAP" Alonso alongside the revamped roster against their old AWP'er Owen "smooya" Butterfield, who is currently playing for the British team, Into the Breach.

16.00: Fnatic - Into the Breach (REPUBLEAGUE Season 3)

16.00: BLUEJAYS - Apeks (ESEA Advanced Season 41)

17.00: EC Kyiv - SKADE (ESEA Advanced Season 41)

18.00: GTZ Bulls - OFFSET (ESEA Advanced Season 41)

18.00: Tricked - LDLC (ESEA Advanced Season 41)

19.00: Finest - SINNERS (REPUBLEAGUE Season 3)

19.00: Coalsce - ROYALS (ESEA Advanced Season 41)

HEAP

Fnatic

Here are the most profiled matches on today's CS:GO schedule.

Owen "Smooya" Butterfield is known for being a very potent AWPer in Counter-Strike. However, in a match yesterday for Into the Breach, the former Fnatic player proves he's extremely capable with the rifle in hand. 

Watch Smooya and his ace in today's Pley of the Day!

Owen "smooya" Butterfield has found himself a new home for the next month. The 22-year-old AWP'er has been announced on Into the Breach.

Owen "smooya" Butterfield has been without a team after he first got benched and later released from his contract with Fnatic.

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Into the Breach has never been in the top 50 of the world rankings. The UK-based team will announce its permanent roster in due course.

{cflag:GB} Owen "⁠smooya⁠" Butterfield (trial)

It was a heavily decimated Fnatic roster who arrived in Düsseldorf last week to compete at the 15th season of ESL Pro League. The Swedish-based team were set to play without their star duo in Brollan and KRIMZ, as they also lacked a permanent AWPer due to the release of Smooya.

Fnatic ended up picking their two Fnatic youngsters, Peppzor and Banjo, alongside the former Complexity AWPer, poizon, as replacements for the $823.000 event. Something that worked out pretty well for Fnatic, as they managed to take down G2, MOUZ and LFO to secure a playoff spot. 

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Before the final round of Group A, Fnatic head coach, Jamie “keita” Hall spoke with ESL to talk about playing with three stand-ins and still managing to qualify for playoffs.

- I can’t say that we had the time to have 1-on-1 sessions with them (stand-ins). He literally landed on the day we were playing. We have been lucky that we had late games so we could practise before the games, looking at previous games and correcting stuff as we go, keita said to ESL and continued:

- They have just done a great job adapting on the fly, learning from their mistakes and improving their confidence as they go, the Fnatic head coach concluded.

You can watch a part of the interview down below. Here keita also touches on his coaching style and how he sees himself as a coach.

[twitchClip:DistinctHonestDiamondMoreCowbell-huAK_wVQNmz_SNLZ]

1. NIP | 12 Points / +45 Round difference

2. Entropic | 12 Points / +18 Round difference

3. Fnatic | 9 Points / +15 Round difference

6. Looking For OG | 0 / -77 Round difference

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Brollan

KRIMZ

poizon

Banjo

Peppzor

In the world of Counter-Strike things almost always boil down to who is better at aiming their gun and who gets the kill. Whilst this may be the ultimate aim when engaging in a fight with your opponent, a huge part of getting that kill is everything that goes on before the fight is engaged. Whether it be dodging initial fire, gaining an advantage due to position, or simply just peeking before your opponent, movement can win you fights. 

The British AWP'er of fnatic Owen "smooya" Butterfield, proved exactly how potent good movement can be when streaming CS:GO yesterday. Jumping on the heads of his two teammates he managed to execute two 'run-boosts' and gain a crucial amount of speed allowing him to have the advantage when peeking the 'window' position on Mirage. Already posted up, "smooya" collects an easy kill to start of the round - take a look: 

[twitchClip:PopularFriendlyGoblinOSfrog-lgcoG3LuvgCDTwqM]

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On Tuesday more than 750 CS:GO teams kicked off the first qualifying stage for the upcoming PGL Major Antwerp. Within the massive pool of registered teams, there was superstar teams like OG, BIG, and Fnatic but also completely unknown lineups, fielding nonprofessional players.

After the first day, only 16 team remains in contention for the four important Europe RMR spots. The big teams managed to dodge the upset, where the newly-benched Fnatic AWPer, Owen “smooya” Butterfield and his mix also was able to make it through.

PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR Open Qualifier 1

16.00: Dignitas – Benched Heroes (smooya, Espiranto, aunkere, fear, juho)

16.00: Fnatic – Los Reyes (alexsomfury, Buzz, jarko, Ryxxo, Patti)

All information about the PGL Major Antwerp Open Qualifier can be found right [link:{"url":"https://www.faceit.com/en/championship/53d3d882-22c1-4fd4-8e4b-b77fa4ea1e79/PGL%20Major%20EU%20Open%20Qualifier%201","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}].

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

smooya

Player stats

Articles mentioning smooya

Tough blow! OG set to miss degster in BLAST opener

World Premiere: Watch CS2 gameplay right now!

smooya hints at return: I am so excited to compete again

smooya teams up with Aunkere to qualify for BLAST Paris

Video: Smooya gets instant karma by s1mple

Smooya: Fnatic forced me to meet with Alex every Monday at 7 AM to try and build a relationship

smooya: Benched Heroes will be missing the RMR

Smooya hits out at TOs before RMR: Make it make f*cking sense

Smooya’s Benched Heroes in talks with British organization

Boombl4 allegedly declined an invite from Smooya and co. due to him “recording a track”

Smooya reveals the wages of EG players Brehze and CeRq

Mixed team led by smooya qualify for IEM Rio EU RMR

Pley of the Day: smooya with a 1vs5 clutch in FACEIT

Today in CS:GO: Tuesday 21/06 - 2022

Today in CS:GO - Monday 4/4 - 2022

Pley of the Day: Smooya clutches home sick 1v4 ACE!

smooya on trial on UK-based team

Fnatic coach: We’ve had to adapt and prepare on the fly

Clip: Incredible movement grants smooya an easy kill

OG, BIG and smooya mix remain alive at Major Qualifier

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