A big chance to prove himself.
Owen “smooya” Butterfield has joined Renegades on a temporary basis for ESL Pro League Season Nine. The british AWPer will be taking the place of Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai who is unable to compete due to visa issues.
Smooya stepped down from BIG’s starting lineup at the start of February and has been on the hunt for another team to represent for a while now. In an interview with hltv.org he states that “an issue with the in-game environment in the team” developed over time, and in many ways, he wasn’t enjoying himself or improving at the game anymore.
Announcement: Roster changes for ESL Pro League Group Stage – https://t.co/HqY8Zxdt7o
— Renegades (@Renegades) April 9, 2019
In another blow to the roster, Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad may not be able to make the ESL Pro League’s opening stages due to passport issues. Stephen “reltuC” Cutler has been drafted in just in case jkaem can’t make it.
Renegade’s loss of Gratisfaction – and potentially jkaem – will likely hurt the squad’s chances of progressing to the season finals, but it’ll be a chance for smooya to prove that he can still be a difference maker on the big stage.
In terms of recent results, Renegades has been on a roll lately. The team emerged victorious at the Katowice 2019 Asia Minor Championship and surprised everyone when they fended off top teams to reach the New Champions stage at the 2019 IEM Katowice Major.
Although Renegades will have lost Gratisfaction and potentially jkaem, it’ll be interesting to see if the adjusted roster can pull off some upsets.
