Owen "smooya" Butterfield is known for being very open on his social media about his professional career, as well as for leaking things prior to official announcements. The latest teaser from his account is sure to turn some heads.
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NA link is nothing new
Smooya to NA is by no means a new rumor, so this tweet could be the preceding tidbit to an official announcement. The British AWP superstar was last seen in the IEM Chicago showmatch. But it was his social media presence around the event that led me to believe that he had business to attend to stateside. It wouldn't be as big of a deal to have travel issues if you were only coming for a couple of days of messing around, right? But what if you had business to attend to while in Chi-city...?
So where could he possibly go? My reasoning is as follows.
Team Liquid
I almost considered not even listing them for obvious reasons but to not list the greatest NA team in history in a list of NA teams is disrespectful. Why fix what's far from broken?
Waldo's probability score: 0%
NRG Esports
This is a scary thought. Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov hasn't been stellar as of late, and with NRG already in rebuild mode, this could be a frightening post-major move for a team trying to clear that final hurdle to enter grand final and trophy consideration.
Waldo's probability score: 25%
Cloud 9
They just went out and got Oscar "mixwell" Cañellas, who committed to AWPing full time. With a shiny new roster blending young blood with veterans, Damian "daps" Steel is known for assembling amazing rosters (and then getting kicked). Even Cloud 9 wouldn't make a change this soon.
Waldo's probability score: 2.5%
Complexity
Smooya in for Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland or Hunter "SicK" Mims could be interesting, but COL has been plagued with so many roster changes in the last year that I think they'll value stability more than anything right now. Could be a good fit though!
Waldo's probability score: 10%
Team Envy
They just went out and got Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek, specifically to AWP. Hard to see who would be benched, but perhaps Jacob "FugLy" Medina with Noah "Nifty" Francis moving to IGL. Additionally, I think smooya's personality would clash with Sam "s0m" Oh's in the server, chemistry can't be ignored!
Waldo's probability score: 2.5%
eUnited
They may be relatively underwhelming in CSGO, but eUnited as an organization could have the capacity to make a move capable of enticing smooya. Victor "food" Wong could be a candidate for the chopping block as well as Kaleb "moose" Jayne. Makes more sense than some moves on this list, but I don't know that smooya would want this kind of uphill climb with the roster currently in place.
Waldo's probability score: 15%
Lazarus
Would be a heck of a move for Lazarus to swap out Gage "infinite" Green for smooya, I just don't know that the organization would have the financial pull to entice the British free agent. But if anyone can be loud enough on Twitter to get Braxton "swag" Pierce unbanned, it's one Mr. Butterfield.
Waldo's probability score: 5%
New NA Roster
I think that the most likely scenario is the resurgence of an organization (like Team Solo Mid or Rogue) or the entry of a new team into CSGO (an organization like 100 Thieves if they weren't already so closely linked with the old OpTic roster). I think smooya would enjoy crafting a legacy with a new team if they had the resources to get the right talent.
Waldo's probability score: 40%
