Owen “Smooya” Butterfield will step in once again for Renegades at ESL Pro League Season 9. The English CS:GO AWPer has been in Berlin International Gaming’s bench ever since he decided to bench himself last February. However, Renegades and the German organization have managed to come to an agreement. He will be playing for the Aussies in the second stage of the LAN tournament.
The tournament in question serves as a qualifying round for the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals, which will take place at the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, France from June 18 to 23. The finals event will also offer a $750,000 prize pool. As such, Renegades would probably be enthusiastic to play the last stage of the qualifiers with its full roster.
We're happy to have @smooyacs stand in for @GratisfactionNZ at #ESLProLeague! #RNGWIN pic.twitter.com/mUvisjzUKk
— Renegades (@Renegades) May 14, 2019
Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai’s visa, however, has not arrived yet. He, therefore, will not be able to compete at the tournament, which takes place from May 14 to May 16 in Burbank. In the first stage of the qualifiers, Smooya had to stand in for Gratisfaction for the same reasons. At least this will not be his first time playing with Renegades’ current roster.
The deal with BIG over the British player extends to two more tournaments, which will also be played on American soil. Cs_summit 4 and DreamHack Masters Dallas may see the Australian team playing with Smooya as well. In the one tournament that he played with Renegades, the first stage of the ESL Pro League Americas qualifier, things did not go too well.
Renegades could not automatically qualify for the finals despite all the effort. They did not bomb out of their group either, however. Instead, they advanced into the second stage they are now about to compete in. Their group is definitely a tough one. It features the dangerous likes of Complexity and MIBR, but Renegades will have to try as hard as they can. This is the last chance to qualify for Montpelier, and only the best from each group makes it in.
Let’s hope everything goes well for both Renegades and the Brit. However, fans would probably appreciate it if, once the finals came around, Gratisfaction was the one AWPing for the ever-surprising Australian team. Their first match with Smooya is scheduled to be played today at 7:20 p.m. CT.
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