When talking about the best players in the history of North American CS, Stewie2k is undoubtedly a name that cannot be overlooked. At just 23 years old this year, Stewie2k has already amassed numerous prestigious titles in his 5 years of professional play, including the Grand Slam and Major championship. Let’s dive into the life of this 23-year-old!
Jacky Jake “Stewie2K” Yip was born on January 7, 1998, in the United States and is now 23 years old. Stewie2k began his professional career in 2015 with some lesser-known teams but made a significant impression in the North American CS scene with his aggressive, unpredictable playstyle and surprising smoke pushes.
Less than a year later, Stewie2k officially joined Cloud9 alongside top stars of the time such as n0thing, Hiko, and Shroud. Playing with these experienced teammates, Stewie2k quickly matured and became a true star within the team.
However, it wasn’t until 2018 that Stewie2k and his teammates achieved significant success. At the Eleague Boston Major held in their hometown, they created one of the most thrilling Majors in history by defeating a series of formidable opponents to reach the grand finals. At the Agganis Arena, a nail-biting final took place, and after 3 maps, the Cloud9 members made history as the first (and only, as of now) North American team to win a Major.
However, shortly after, he left this North American team to join MiBR. A few months later, he reunited with former teammate tarik under MiBR, but by early January 2019, both players departed after a period of unsuccessful performances. Stewie2k returned to North America to join Team Liquid, and he quickly proved to be the perfect fit for this team.
In just over two months (from May to July), they won 4 consecutive major tournaments and completed the Grand Slam Season 2 challenge with a prize pool of $1,000,000 in just 63 days. Following this success, Stewie2k also became the first North American player to surpass the milestone of earning $1,000,000 in prize money, an achievement that only 11 players have accomplished to date.
Since then, Stewie2k’s performance, as well as that of Team Liquid, has declined; they have often been defeated by their European counterparts and have been eliminated in the playoff rounds. Moving into 2020, Liquid continued to fall as they even struggled to maintain their dominance in North America against regional rivals like FURIA and EG. Liquid finished 2020 in second place at the IEM Global Challenge 2020 after being defeated 0-3 by the members of Astralis in the grand finals.
Now at just 23 years old and at the peak of his performance, the road ahead is still long for Stewie2k to conquer new milestones in his career.