Seeing Stewie win IEM Dallas in front of his home crowd is one of those moments that reminds us why we love Counter-Strike.

Arguably NA’s greatest-ever player, the smoke criminal returned to the professional scene after an embarrassing stint with Evil Geniuses and an unremarkable stand-in period with Legacy to help G2 lift the trophy in the birthplace of NA CS. 

Ratings suggest that Stewie wasn’t fantastic within that run, although the eye test will tell you that he had a far higher impact than that rating suggests. Often acting as bait for his teammates, he was a valuable asset to their team during their time in Dallas.

However, we think people are getting a little carried away - winning this event doesn’t mean that Stewie is ready to come back to tier one.

An exceptional team

G2 may have failed to match their expectations thus far in 2024, but those expectations only exist due to the level of stars they possess and the standard they set for themselves in 2023. 

m0NESY has been playing like he’s the best player in the world, and that was no different during the run to the Dallas trophy. His 7.1 rating made him the highest-rated player at the tournament, and that’s always going to be a big boost to any team.

A little further down the stats leaderboard was NiKo, who recorded a respectable 6.6 rating despite picking up the role of IGL in the absence of HooXi. Even huNter-, who has been one of the most heavily criticised members of G2 in 2024 recorded a 5.8 rating, and just watching the games he visibly had far more impactful rounds than he has in previous events. 

The point of all this is to say that Stewie didn’t return on a normal team. Instead, Stewie returned on a team who are lucky enough to possess two of the greatest players to ever touch the game, and that means that if those players hit their stride, they can be almost unstoppable, negating the effect of Stewie’s comparatively poor 5.3 rating.

The American had his moments, and he had a higher impact than HooXi would have had in many of the situations, but let’s not pretend that G2 wouldn’t have been able to win Dallas had they been playing with their actual five. 

The fact that G2 were playing at such a high level made Stewie look better than he actually was, and that is an unfortunate situation we would all come to terms with very quickly if he is to be afforded a permanent berth on a tier one team.

A tactical problem

It has to be said that Stewie slotted into HooXi’s roles perfectly in Dallas. Due to the Dane’s poorer mechanical ability, he acts purely as bait for his teammates, especially NiKo. The IGL will jump around corners for his Bosnian superstar, and that was a role that Stewie was more than happy to fulfil. 

The problem is that not many teams play that way, and those that do aren’t fortunate enough to have a NiKo on the team. For Stewie to find a tier one team in which he could do that permanently, he would also have to IGL - and we all know how well that works.

Teams that typically utilise this sort of aggressive support player have AWP IGLs, think of TeSeS in cadiaN’s HEROIC, or br0 in the current Astralis team. Can you really see a team where Stewie becomes a viable option for something similar? cadiaN’s days on Liquid seem numbered, and even if they weren’t, YEKINDAR can do the job and so much more. 

Outside of teams like Liquid or Astralis, where Stewie has no hope of going, Stewie would be able to be baited by a player like blameF, but it’s hard to see fnatic giving up one of their players just to include Stewie. 

Of course, we shouldn’t immediately wipe out the possibility of G2 picking up Stewie permanently if they were to move on from HooXi, it’s not like they haven’t made questionable roster moves before for the sake of the vibes on the team. However, we’re sure that they know nexa hasn’t exactly been the wisest of moves, so it’s hard to imagine seeing them make the same mistake twice. 

The fact is, CS has simply moved on from players like Stewie. He’s not the player he once was, and tactically, there is very little place for him. The American would have to add much more to his game in order to be a valuable member of a tier one team, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be valuable to anyone at all.

Finding a place for Stewie

NA CS has been resurgent in the last couple of years with more and more organisations returning to the game to properly salary and support teams, however, their success is limited due to the distinct lack of leaders within the region. 

The three top teams have all had to look towards players from outside of American shores for leadership at the elite level, but Stewie could be an asset to those who don’t have the means to attract players to the continent. 

Stewie is one of the most natural-born winners Counter-Strike has ever seen, let alone North America. His winning mentality is one that not only could, but should be instilled into the new generation of NA players if they ever hope to find success on the international stage.

We may have criticised his IGLing skills earlier in this article, but domestically they wouldn’t be a problem. He could even become a new version of Daps, a figure capable of bringing together and nurturing great squads, eventually releasing them into the international wilds once they have outgrown his value. 

There is a place for Stewie, it’s just not in tier one, and that’s okay.