Goodbye to a great: Stewie2k

Last month, North American Counter-Strike saw a significant shift in the scene following the departure of perhaps the most profound and outwardly passionate players in our young history, Jake “Stewie2k” Yip.

After seven years of amateur, semi-pro, and professional CS:GO, one of NA’s greats announced the end of his new adventure as no longer a pro player, but a streamer, one that would focus on another path.

Although he flirted a return by saying “Notify me when it’s ready”, seemingly hinting at the circulating rumors of Source 2 coming to the game, but for now, Stewie2k professional status is inactive.

There is no way to know if he will return, and if he doesn’t, he will still place as one of the most exciting and successful players in our history. In light of his retirement, let’s look back on the championed career of Stewie.

The Ascension of Yung Stew

Stewie first graced our screens on historically recorded matches in March of 2015 with the fan favorite organization SKDC after making a meteoric rise through the ranks of ESEA leagues, ladders, and ten-mans. After five months and five recorded events with the team, Stewie was on to the next lineup with respected names in the region such as Peter “ptr” Gurney and Alec “Slemmy” White for four months, with a singular event pairing with another respected talent in our scenes history, Joshua “steel” Nissan.

This event with Torqued, the RGN Pro Series Championship, was the first time the audience saw Stewie in an interview and the first time we received a look into the mind of the next great talent in our region. In his first interview, Stewie directly attributed his big break on a team after just a few months to long-time NA CS favorite, Kyle “OCEAN” O’Brien.

Well, I first started playing in the Summer of 2014 and I began ESEA around October. I was originally supposed to start an Open team with a bunch of friends and then during midseason OCEAN’s team were getting- they were making roster changes and they tried me out and that's pretty much how I got exposure because OCEAN gave me a chance.

The assumed four-month turnaround of starting out fresh in the summer and being team-ready that same October is nothing short of impressive, especially at age 17. Besides his stunning mechanical ability, Stewie also showed the first glimpse of his competitive character which would later become the staple of his identity inside and outside the server.

I feel I let steel down because steel was playing out of his mind and I know he wanted to win but we couldn’t pull through.

I know that a lot of people support me and want me to do well at this LAN but there’s also a lot of people who don’t but I never let it get to me.

Although Stewie lacked the eye-popping event performances while on these teams, he still carried a shine by way of his character, competitiveness, and consistent dominance inside of domestic competition (like ten-mans) that not only kept him relevant beyond his questionable event stats but earned him an opportunity on Cloud9. After the exit of tenured IGL Sean “seang@res” Gares, the North Americans needed a spark. Little did Cloud9 know, they were on the cusp of something historic.

The Smoke Criminal arrives

Stewie’s acquisition by Cloud9 was met with fair speculation after the previous lineup competed at nearly a 64% win rate and replaced their veteran leader with a rookie entry. The conversation was bolstered within just a week of his signing when the community swarmed to a released YouTube video that would later become a part of CS:GO history known as “Everybody hates Stewie2k”.

The video was Stewie2k, personified. The awkward timings, aggressive tempo, courageous peeks, and mechanical genius culminated to a new mythical being inside of NA CS that would soon transcend the domestic scene. Less than a month after his signing, the Smoke Criminal would be unleashed at ESL Pro League S3, with Stewie finishing the 22 maps with a 1.18 rating (1.0).

The impressive performance from EPL was carried through the next set of domestic events and qualifiers. After a strong 2 months with Cloud9, Stewie would experience his first instance of growing pains at MLG Columbus 2016, exiting his first Major with 20 frags and a .69 rating over two maps.

The Major misstep would serve as a growth opportunity for Stewie and would be the driving force of perhaps the best individual run he had in his whole career. After the Major, Stewie went on a ten-month tear ending in February 2017 that resulted in nearly 30 straight events with a positive rating, as well as a 1.20 rating in total. Needless to say, the Smoke Criminal had arrived.

Stewie’s growth was met with the surging synergy of the new-look lineup that was finalized after the departure of C9 legends Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert and Mike “shroud” Grzesiek, culminating in five first-place finishes in their first four months together. The new group had hit its stride and looked like it could become a title contender to end 2017. The team was looking tough, but little did anyone know that Stewie and his teammates were on the brink of something historic.

Against all odds

For most teams, the 2018 season kicked off in Boston, Massachusetts at the ELEAGUE Major. Before gracing the Major playoffs, Cloud9 needed to secure one of nine available spots in the Legends Stage. Stewie and his teammates made quick work of the Challengers Stage, going 3-0 with him and two other teammates finishing top eight in rating.

Despite the clean entrance into the Legends Stage, the No. 6 ranked American hopefuls were not on many’s radars as favorites or even underdogs. After the first two rounds, you would have suspected it was for good reason. Cloud9 had fallen down 0-2 after losses to G2 and Space Soldiers, with Stewie offering minimal impact in both maps.

With his team on the brink of elimination, the Smoke Criminal came to and took the fate of the playoffs into his own hands to reverse sweep 0-2 to 3-2 and secure playoffs. In these three matches, Stewie averaged a 1.54 rating with 1.75 impact, 99 ADR, and 1.03 KPR to take the team to the top eight. Despite the late-stage surge, Stewie and company still had three top five teams left to conquer before reaching the top of the mountain.

The first stop was a revenge game against G2 after losing to the French in round one of the Legends Stage. Cloud9 made quick work of G2 in their rematch, keeping them to fifteen rounds total over the two maps. Stewie was in form for the rematch and was back to showing steez in the post-game interview.

I personally did not feel (Overpass) would be this easy.

I think our confidence is definitely through the roof. I think it's a different Cloud9, especially with the crowd behind our backs, so it gives us a lot of energy.

On the prospects of playing SK in the semis, Stewie had no doubts they were beatable:

It's better for us to play SK, just because we practice against them a lot. They also have a stand-in that they haven't been practicing with for a while now, so it would make life a little bit easier for us.

It took three maps, but Stewie’s confidence saw confirmation after he and his team successfully overcame their regional foes and best team in the world to set up an unlikely final against a dominant No. 2 ranked FaZe.

The international stars at FaZe entered the final on a nine-map win streak, as well as a one-sided 8-0 map advantage over Cloud9 the year prior. With just FaZe left, there was just one obstacle separating Stewie and Cloud9 from history on their home turf.

After going down 0-1 on the biggest stage of his career, Stewie did what Stewie does, he flipped a switch. His performance in the final two maps was night and day difference, with the Smoke Criminal delivering one of the most memorable plays in the history of Inferno to take map three to overtime, edge out FaZe, and win the ELEAGUE Boston Major against all odds.

The in-server storylines made the journey a historic achievement, but the rumored roster turmoil that surrounded the team before the Major did not go away after the victory. It was never truly confirmed if there was a personal fallout in the roster and if Stewie had any role in it, but just shy of three months after winning the Major, the Major winning roster had run its course and Stewie was ready to undertake another challenge.

Taking a leap

Stewie jumped to the SK ship at the tail end of March 2018 with championships on his mind. He was moving to the illustrious Brazilian core that won two Majors, which led many to believe the upside could mean even more titles for both regions.

The switch to SK netted minimal results to start, with the team failing to place top four in any of their first five events. After struggling at bigger events, SK settled in at the four-team Adrenaline Cyber League to take a much-needed first place.

This would serve as the primary theme for the lineup, as they failed to show the same level in big events that they showed at the smaller tournaments they participated in. Just months later, the team would win the six-team Moche XL Esports event but could not replicate the results at ESL’s Belo Horizonte or Cologne events.

Overall, Stewie and the rest of the team didn’t find the initial chemistry they hoped for, and the results showed. After just three months together under SK, the team shifted brands to MIBR and also welcomed another American to the team in the form of Major-winning teammate Tarik “tarik” Celik. With another piece of Boston added to the team, things looked better for Stewie’s prospects.

On paper, things were looking better for the team. They no longer bombed out of events like the previous roster, and even won ZOTAC Cup Masters a month into forming. Despite the team having a higher floor, they were still failing to get over the hump against top teams.

After about four months of treadmilling, the team was stuck despite the strong individual numbers from Stewie and his team. The Brazil project netted Stewie experience and some trophies but didn’t culminate to its fullest potential. With the project DOA, Stewie had his sights set on another venture and would soon be at the top of the mountain once more.

Making history, again

Stewie officially joined the Liquid roster on December 2018 ahead of the season, forming what would become the greatest lineup in the history of NA CS. It took no time for the new look Liquid to get the ball rolling, winning their first event together at iBUYPOWER Masters.

After beating top teams in January, the team would fail to lift the trophy in four straight events before hitting their stride in April for IEM Sydney. Sydney would be the win the team needed to flip the switch, wreaking havoc on the whole scene over the next few months to win six straight events including the illustrious Intel Grand Slam in record time.

There is no way to quantify the impact Stewie brought to Liquid’s lineup in 2019. Although it can be measured through his individual stats of a 1.07 rating with 1.10 impact and nine first-place trophies, it simply doesn’t do it justice. Him being able to come into a Liquid team that historically chokes and help turn them into not just winners, but the greatest lineup in NA’s history is a testament to his undeniable will and how much of a winner Stewie is.

All CS empires unfortunately end and Liquid was no different. After a historic 2019, the team failed to replicate any of the success the year after and eventually would see a shakeup. Lineup experiments over the next two years including former teammate Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and rookie Michael “Grim” Wince unfortunately did not net the same results, and by the end of 2021, the Grand Slam iteration was a thing of the past.

With Stewie’s third major team venture done and dusted, it was time for one of the region’s greats to find another opportunity to get back to winning, something he was familiar with doing. The scene’s landscape did not allow for a lot of options, but by the start of 2022 Stewie was back in another NA jersey.

Stewie’s last dance

Just a month on Liquid’s bench Stewie had found a new home in the form of Evil Geniuses. The organization was looking for an injection of players that can bring the team back to the winning ways it had previously enjoyed years prior. The lineup was met with much criticism, leaving many fans and spectators wondering the true ceiling of the roster.

The concerns were met with comparable results, as the team looked flat from start to finish and more news surrounding the team outside of the server as opposed to inside. Drama and poor results added too much pressure to the lineup and could not net the expected results, causing an insane shakeup in EG’s CS:GO division that saw Stewie step away just three months in.

Goodbye sweet prince

Stewie cleared the air in July with a historic announcement, retiring from the game to become a content creator for EG. After seven years of CS:GO, fifteen LAN wins including NA’s first and only Major, and two MVPs, the smoke criminal had subsided.

In very Stewie fashion, he came out the same way he came in a fiery ball of passion and raw emotion, with nothing on the brain but victory. Between reshaping the way a prospect makes a top team, taking over the Cloud9 culture, winning a Major, winning the Grand Slam, all of the instances of unwavering confidence, and everything in between; there will never be another Stewie2k.