There was much fanfare leading up to Counter-Strike 2‘s return to U.S. shores at IEM Dallas, but it’s safe to say all eyes were on G2 Esports and stand-in Stewie2K on opening day. Unfortunately, results didn’t pan out for the American Major winner in his return to tier one CS.
With in-game leader HooXi ruled out due to a commitment at home—his sister’s wedding—superstar NiKo took the captaincy armband while Stewie slotted into HooXi’s roles on day one of IEM Dallas, with G2 overcoming a fast-finishing Falcons 13-10 to book a slot in the upper bracket qualifier. There, G2’s day took a turn, however, as the squad was brought back to reality by ZywOo and Vitality, who demolished Stewie and co. in a swift 2-0.
Stewie did his best to slot into the Counter-Strike squad; he’s had minimal practice with the team given his late addition as a roster stand-in, and only just returned to competing in CS2 as a whole after an extended stint as a VALORANT player and streamer. His earlier dabbling into pro CS2 came with the likes of Mythic and a stint with Brazilian squad Legacy—this time, however, it’s against the big boys in LAN play.
Above all, Stewie’s main focus is on enjoying the experience. “Playing with NiKo, playing with one of the best AWPers in the world [in m0NESY], how can you not enjoy it?” Stewie said after the team’s best-of-one CS2 win over Falcons. M0NESY shared a similar sentiment after the win and was full of praise for the 26-year-old star. “It feels really good to play with Jake [Stewie]. He talks a lot, brings plenty of ideas, brings a lot of energy.”
Hosting a stand-in is never easy, especially when the sidelined player is the shotcaller, but m0NESY said integrating the basics with Stewie was key and something they were focusing on above all. “We just play the same CS; we rely on each other, we take more duels, we don’t have the best structure because of our stand-in but we try to play the games by our rules.”
Errors crept into G2’s play against Vitality in the upper bracket semifinal, however. After a one-sided Inferno, G2 looked to rebound on Anubis but despite winning both pistols, Vitality claimed the second-round force to reset G2 and all but end each half. Stewie could only muster 11 kills while Vitality put the European squad to the sword.
G2’s run to the playoffs won’t be any easier: They’ll need to overcome the winner of the MOUZ-Complexity eliminator, then likely face Falcons in a best-of-three rematch. G2 and Stewie will return to the server at 6pm CT tomorrow to keep their hopes for the Dallas stage alive.
