Stewie2K is back in CS2 again, this time with Wildcard, the esports organization co-owned by content creator Amouranth. The legendary North American Counter-Strike 2 player hasn’t made a competitive appearance since last year’s iconic “GStew” run, in which he won IEM Dallas 2024 as a stand-in for G2.
Stewie2K to fill in for Wildcard
Credit: Helena Kristiansson | ESL
After initially teasing the announcement with a Smoke Criminal reference post on X, Wildcard revealed that Stewie2K would be filling in for the team throughout the upcoming PGL Astana 2025 North American closed qualifier. His return isn’t a permanent one, although the player has expressed interest in coming back to the competitive space in recent times.
Wildcard’s post was short on details, and did not confirm if his stint would extend beyond the PGL Astana closed qualifier. In fact, it didn’t even confirm who he would be filling in for on the roster.
The choice from Wildcard could prove to be a shrewd move. With the April 7th deadline for Major invites quickly approaching, the team seems set to secure the fifth Stage 2 Major invite from the Americas rankings. However, if they were to fall out of that between now and then (a possibility, given M80’s close proximity in points), their current roster would be required to play the European MRQ due to Valve’s rules on split-region rosters.
You can probably see where I’m going with this. If Stewie2K fills in for one of Sonic, susp, or phzy (and the team officially registers him), Wildcard could instead play the North American MRQ instead, which in theory would be far easier than the European equivalent. Again, this is only relevant if Wildcard falls out of the Stage 2 Major invites, but you have to imagine it’s something the organization is thinking about.
Stewie2K’s first competitive match since winning IEM Dallas 2024 will begin against Daaku on Thursday.
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