Stewie2K is back: Remember his last outing as a CS2 pro
Jake "Stewie2K" Yip is set to make a much-awaited return to the professional CS2 scene, this time downing Wildcard's colors.
Despite being one of the most decorated pros from North America, most of Stewie2K's experience comes from the CS:GO days, when he helped Cloud9 and Liquid win trophies, including the ELEAGUE Boston Major 2018. When it comes to CS2, Stewie2K has just 24 maps recorded in HLTV, so let's revisit some of his numbers and what he accomplished.
Stewie2K in Legacy
As weird as it looks, Stewie2K briefly played alongside Eduardo "dumau" Wolkmer and Bruno "latto" Rebelatto under the Legacy banner in April 2024. He stood in for the Brazilians at the Esports World Cup 2024 North America Closed Qualifier, in which they lost to Liquid and M80, and only won against Elevate. He also played in a handful of ESEA Advanced League NA matches, helping them secure an 8-0 record.
Stewie2K's trial was cut short at the beginning of May 2024 as Legacy signed Guilherme "saadzin" Pacheco as their fifth. Stewie2K averaged a 0.95 rating after the eight maps played in the Esports World Cup 2024 NA CQ.
Stewie2K in G2
G2 called Stewie2K as an emergency stand-in for Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen, who had to skip IEM Dallas 2024 to attend his sister's wedding. Making playoffs would already be considered good enough, but G2 went far beyond that.
They won versus Falcons in the opening round and deservedly lost to Vitality next. One more loss would mean game over, but the G-Stew squad survived best-of-threes against MOUZ and Liquid to reach the IEM Dallas playoffs.
The rest is history as G2 and Stewie2K went on to beat FaZe, 9z, and Vitality to win IEM Dallas 2024. While Stewie2K averaged a timid 0.85 rating across the 16 maps played in IEM Dallas, this number doesn't tell the whole story.
He had good moments in the elimination game v. Liquid in the group stage, got a positive rating in the two maps played versus FaZe in the quarterfinals, and had a good contribution in the final map versus Vitality in the grand finals.
But, Stewie2K's impact in G2 can't be solely measured by numbers. He brought good vibes to a team that wasn't playing well prior, as pointed out in our interview with G2's head coach Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas at the time. It was unlikely that G2 would have lifted that trophy with HooXi, given they had not made it past any semifinals in 2024 before IEM Dallas.
Are you excited for Stewie2K's debut with Wildcard? The ELEAGUE Boston Major champion will debut at the PGL Astana 2025 North America Closed Qualifier, which kicks off this Thursday, April 27th.
