Owen "smooya" Butterfield, one of the first British players to ever reach the playoffs of a major at FACEIT London Major 2018, has returned to the professional scene after several years of hiatus. He joined his first team, Into the Breach, in 2022 with new goals and motivation. At the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, BLAST interviewed smooya about the new ITB lineup, his personal growth, and his goals for the future.
In 2022, smooya returned to ITB after a long period of focusing on content while maintaining his individual level of play. He participated in Pro League, FPL and various mixes, one of which even qualified for RMR. Smooya noted that he has always played the game because he loves it and has been waiting for the right opportunity to come back. With ITB, he got the chance to play with whoever he wanted to play with and bring in players of his choice. The organization supports him as a player without trying to change his indigenous qualities, which he believes is crucial to maintaining his playing potential.
Smooya also admitted that he took an active part in the formation of the team. He realized that this is his project and if it fails, the responsibility will be on him. The ITB organization gave him almost complete freedom of action, and he decided to take responsibility for the team's results.
So far, the team has already included players such as juanflatroo, sinnopsyy and Keoz. Smooya noted that he has not played with them in training yet as the team is still looking for a fifth player. He emphasized that Keoz is a Major finalist and a very good player, while juanflatroo and sinnopsyy are loud and ambitious players like himself. smooya is looking forward to competing in LAN tournaments with them.
As for the team's goals, smooya said that this is a long-term project. Due to the new rules, they can't get to Major through open qualifications, but they intend to work on qualifying for various competitions such as Cologne or ESL Challenger. The main goal for the team is to first qualify for such events, then to participate in them permanently, win and further develop.
Source: BLAST.tv
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