Why Stewie2k Is The New nitr0
After Nick “nitr0” Canella has called quits on Team Liquid and CS:GO altogether, Jake “Stewie2k” Yip has taken over the IGL position within the team. But does he have the necessary skills for that? His professional history suggests that he is capable of leading a team to victory, considering that he was part of the Major-winning Cloud9 roster. His career also bears a striking resemblance to that of nitr0, the player he is trying to replace.
Let’s start with the similarities between these two players. Both nitr0 and Stewie2k started out as entry fraggers. In the case of nitr0, he worked on those round openings long before he ever became an in-game-leader. In 2015, when he first joined Team Liquid, he had a strong 1.13 opening KDR. But as soon as he got the leading reins, his form started to drop.
Obviously, having to process all the events of a round and then deciding on the best course of action takes a lot of brainpower away from the most direct task at hand - fragging. That’s why we hardly ever see the great in-game-leaders post incredible individual results. Sure there are instances like Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo in 2016 and 2017, or more recently Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander. But they are the exception to the rule, demonstrated by players like Markus “pronax” Wallsten, Finn “karrigan” Andersen, Fatih “gob b” Dayik, Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen, or Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas.
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There are still four slots left in a team to fill with star players. That’s what it’s all about and karrigan himself always made it crystal clear that he wanted to make his individuals shine, not himself. So when you’re leading the team and also supposed to be the one getting those crucial early kills, that’s almost a conflict of interest. In most cases, players won’t be able to simultaneously do both of those jobs to their best abilities.
That’s precisely what happened with nitr0. As he took over the IGL position in Liquid, he was considered a relatively weak in-game-leader. His opening KDR also took a nosedive at 0.93 in 2016. He admitted in interviews that he was neither happy with his individual form, nor was he happy with his calling style. He blamed the duality of his role within the roster. Apart from the highlight moments with Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, Liquid were quite a shaky team in this period.
In 2017, Liquid decided to switch things up. After OpTic Gaming had announced themselves to the world stage with deep tournament runs and a first-place finish at ELEAGUE Season 2 over Astralis, Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz was regarded as the best IGL in North America. Team Liquid were quick to pick him up and placed him alongside nitr0. Adding Russel “Twistzz” VanDulken as well, nitr0 was suddenly relieved of most of his former duties. While stanislaw did the leading, Twistzz worked on those opening duels. In 2017, the player recorded a 1.24 opening KDR.
Click to enlargeSo far, we have only talked about nitr0. But what about Stewie2k? Taking a look at his career reveals that he has walked a similar route in his professional CS:GO life. When he joined Cloud9 in 2016, he was initially misused as a lurker. He struggled massively in that position, until Ryan “freakazoid” Abadir took a step back and let Stewie take over in the entry department. The “smoke criminal”, as he was known back then, immediately became one of the centrepieces of his team. His individual form propelled them to new heights, and he became one of the hottest prospects of North America.
But Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert struggled in his IGL role. Similarly to nitr0, Stewie2k had to take over the leading reins. While Cloud9 did feature leaders like Eric “adreN” Hoag and Alec “Slemmy” White in between, Stewie2k was now tasked with making the crucial calls during the round. This put a lot of pressure on the otherwise individually strong player - and his performance deteriorated.
Back to nitr0 for a bit. After stanislaw Lucas “steel” Lopes had their stints with the Liquid roster, it was time for nitr0 to become the in-game-leader again. But this situation was different. In early 2018, Keith “NAF” Markovic became part of the roster. In that year, he recorded a 1.25 opening KDR. His entry kills brought Liquid to the forefront of CS:GO, where they remain until today. In 2019, as Liquid started sweeping tournaments left and right, he achieved a ridiculous 1.35 opening KDR. The key for Liquid’ success wasn’t taking the leading reins off of nitr0, and it was allowing him to fully commit to this role.
The same holds true for Stewie2k. In Cloud9, he was never really able to fully commit to either of his positions. As he joined Liquid, he took a background role. Now, with Twistzz and NAF on the roster, he doesn’t need to worry about entry fragging at all. He can dedicate most of his computing power to making the right calls for his team.
Remember the 1.13 opening KDR of nitr0? Well, Liquid’s newest addition, Michael “Grim” Wince, has been sitting on a 1.20 opening KDR in the last six months. Stewie is making the smart move and letting the other guys take over the entry fragging, even though this was his most successful role historically. From watching nitr0 play, he has learned very well that in-game-leading and entry fragging just don’t mix very well. Replicating nitr0’s journey within the roster, he can now fully commit to calling the shots, and leading his team to victory.
Click to enlargeSo far, this has worked out beautifully. Granted, Liquid have been unable to best Evil Geniuses in their regional competitions so far. With so little time to prepare after a severe roster change, however, this hardly comes as a surprise. The fact that Liquid were able to bring EG to the very brink of defeat in a 2-3 Grand Finals at ESL One Cologne NA goes to show that the team certainly has a bright future ahead.
If Stewie2k manages to go the nitr0 road and becomes a similarly strong in-game-leader, Liquid might be able to regain their former glory. Who knows, maybe a Major trophy is waiting for them somewhere.
Images via ESL
