After The Witchers disbanded at the beginning of the year, Owen “smooya” Butterfield has been seeking a new team. Even though he has not found a permanent home yet, UKCSGO can confirm he will return to the limelight at ESL Pro League Season 19 with FORZE.
Since being removed from fnatic at the beginning of 2022 smooya had a short stint on Into the Breach until he made the Blast.TV Paris RMR with Benched Heros. Unfortunately, the roster could not compete at the event due to Visa Issues. The Brit powered on though and ended up standing in for OG at the BLAST Spring Showdown 2023, replacing Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov.
For the rest of the year, smooya found a home with The Witchers mainly playing in mostly lower-level tournaments. The squad almost made it to the Closed Qualifier for the PGL Major Copenhagen RMR, but fell at the final hurdle to EYEBALLERS 1-2, ultimately disbanding afterwards.
Even though he has been focusing on his stream and FPL this year, UKCSGO understands that smooya will be standing in for FORZE who recently benched their roster. UKCSGO can’t confirm who he will play with or if he will play on the roster permanently, however, Team Spirit scout Aleksey “OverDrive” Biryukov tweeted what the potential roster could look like, but UKCSGO can only confirm through trusted sources that smooya will be a part of the roster at ESL Pro League.
FORZE EPL lineup: Tn1r, SELLTER, Shalfey, Smooya, Nickelback!
— OverDrive (@ABOverDrive) April 12, 2024
smooya will be playing in Group C alongside fellow countrymen Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen on Monte, and GamerLegion duo Sebastian “volt” Maloș and Ashley “ash” Battye. This season of ESL Pro League will feature even more Brits as in Group B we have William “mezii” Merriman on Vitality, Rory “dephh” Jackson coaching M80, and finally coach Jamie “keita” Hall for fnatic plays in Group A.
The group stage will commence on the 23rd of April and end on the 5th of May. If FORZE want to make it out of the group stage they will need to place within the top four.
UKCSGO reached out to FORZE for an official comment, but as of the time of publication has yet to receive one.
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