Although it is also a European country, the CS:GO scene in the United Kingdom is not as developed compared to other countries like Sweden, Denmark, and France. However, in recent years, a young talent has emerged with all the qualities of a star: Owen “Smooya” Butterfield.
Like many other young talents, this British player born in 1999 became well-known through FPL with his streams and impressive highlight plays with the AWP. Smooya began playing for semi-professional teams and lower-tier teams at just 17 years old. After wearing the jerseys of teams like Endpoint, Radix eSports, CeX, and Epsilon eSports, in 2018, his career took a new turn when he joined BIG and officially entered the world of professional CS:GO.
Just three months later, Smooya and his teammates surprised the world by defeating several top teams and reaching the grand finals of ESL One Cologne 2018, one of the most prestigious tournaments of the year. Cheered on by his home crowd, BIG was unable to defeat Na`vi, a team that was also performing at a high level at that time. Although they finished as runners-up, it was an incredible achievement for BIG members, and for Smooya, this final was particularly special as he became the first British player in history to reach a final at such a major LAN event.
Sadly, that was the last time we saw Smooya and his teammates reach the grand finals of a major LAN event. Smooya’s aggressive playstyle and constant movement on the map were studied and countered by opponents, preventing this British talent from showcasing his skills as before. At the same time, the members of BIG were also not performing at their best. Additionally, continuous drama related to Smooya’s toxicity, such as altercations with Mousesports members at StarSeries i-League Season 6 and being banned from FPL for toxicity, added to the disappointment. In February 2019, Smooya voluntarily benched himself on BIG just before the Major IEM Katowice 2019.
“I am very happy with what I have achieved, but recently I feel that I have not made any progress in the [AWP] position. And I am not the type of person to drag the team down, so I told my teammates I was ready to sit on the bench if nex could return to play at the Major, and everyone agreed.” – Smooya shared with hltv about his decision to bench himself before the Major IEM Katowice 2019.
During the six months he spent on the bench, Smooya stood in for several teams like Renegades and achieved some success; by August, he officially returned to play for BIG after veteran Gob B retired. However, this second stint with BIG didn’t last long as at the beginning of this year, he officially left BIG to make room for K1to and Syrson.
Just a few days later, he joined Chaos Esports Club, but once again, misfortune struck as he faced visa issues and had to sit on the bench only two months after joining the team. Smooya left Chaos at the end of March and was preparing to join TIGER, a team from Mongolia, but this deal fell through as TIGER unexpectedly performed very well recently, winning ESL One: Road to Rio in the Asia region and would lose many points if they changed their roster at this time.
“I have officially become a free agent and am ready to play for teams from Europe/North America. I hope that I will have an opportunity to prove myself, especially since my time playing for Chaos ended in such a way.” – Smooya shared on Twitter.
Success and fame came too early, which may be part of the reason why Smooya became arrogant and toxic. However, over time, Smooya has gradually matured and reduced his negative traits. We hope that this “talented but flawed” player will soon find a new home suitable for him to develop into a true star of the professional CS scene.