A recent report suggested that SK Gaming is looking toward to Stewie2k as their potential fifth replacement. They have also been linked to a potential move by S1mple and Flamie to the team. But Na’Vi publicly confirmed that S1mple and Flamie will not be leaving the team.

Addition of Stewie2k to the SK Gaming roster definitely is an interesting proposition. Stewie2k is one of the rare cases in Counter-Strike. When he was added to Cloud9 several years ago, there were a lot of doubts about his skill and ability to play at the highest level. Of course, he has adapted really well to the top bracket of Counter-Strike and is considered to be one of the best today. His role in Cloud9’s miraculous run at the Eleague Boston Major cannot be emphasized enough.

SK Gaming – The team with great potential, but a lack of results

Ever since the Brazilians were brought onto the CS GO landscape, they have dominated the leaderboards. Consistently featuring amongst the top ten, Fallen and his teammates have carved a name for themselves. The team has won a collective two Major titles, once as LG Gaming and the second one was ESL One Cologne as SK Gaming. Apart from the Majors, they have always been near the top Five teams in Counter-Strike.

But recently, their results have been suffering due to poor strategies as well as teamwide loss of form. TACO and Boltz are the two players who have obviously been severely underperforming. When Coldzera and Fer do not have the godlike performances, the team’s individual skill level is laid bare. Their persistence to be the best team in the world obviously leaves little room for error.

A few days ago, TACO announced his departure from SK Gaming. With Boltz staying on as a player in the team, SK Gaming is on the lookout for a fifth player on the roster.

How difficult will it be for Stewie2k to join SK?

Stewie2k is obviously a great player and has been the primary driving force of the Cloud9 CS GO performance. He is definitely an upgrade over TACO, especially in his current form. However, his addition to SK Gaming will also come with its fair share of problems. There is no set answer to the question, it depends on how SK Gaming and Stewie2k decide to solve the various problems. Language barriers, Cultural differences as well as limited time on hand will have an adverse impact on the team’s performances.

Individually Stewie2k is one of the best players in North American Counter-Strike. His presence on the Cloud9 roster has helped the team develop, grow and lead their way into the first North American Major title. While some might argue about the lack of consistency in the team’s results, Stewie2k has put up strong and consistent performances since August 2016.

Language Barrier

The most obvious distinction between the SK Gaming players and Stewie2k will be the language barrier. While Stewie2k is efficient and used to communicate in English, the SK Gaming players obviously do not use English as their primary language.

Counter-Strike is a team game and it takes time to develop the team synergy. One of the most crucial factors while determining the integration of a player in the team is the language. Every millisecond matters in Counter-Strike, especially at the top level. There is very less distinguishing one professionals aim from another. However, the one millisecond of reaction time can be the difference between a round loss and a win.

Communication between teammates helps in giving out crucial information about the opponent’s position, their weaponry, and smoke usage. CS GO is a very tactical game and the small communications add up in helping teams to determine the opponents’ plan in a particular round. Slow communications due to language barriers will obviously be a hindrance to the team’s efforts.

Language differences can also manifest themselves outside of the game. A recent Overwatch league controversy was mainly due to cultural and linguistic differences which brought out the team differences out in the public. Of course, SK Gaming is the organization will be investing in hiring the support staff necessary to help Stewie2k adjust to the new environment. However, it will still take time to ease the new player into his role on the team.

Cultural Differences

Cultural differences are a crucial point of discussion whenever players from different regions come together to form a team. The differences between the two groups of players in this instance are not as large as other cases. The SK Gaming roster lives in the United States and they are comfortable in the way of life in the US. There will always be small differences which the management will be hoping to resolve in the quickest possible manner.

Time or the lack of it

The biggest disadvantage for the team with Stewie2k would be the amount of time that they can spend together. According to reports, SK Gaming’s current contract ends in July 2018. With the FaceIT London Major scheduled in September, that leaves just a few days for the team with the new member.

Can confirm, I just waited orgs to talk (should happen today) before reporting it.

Other rumors around about tarik are not true btw, it’s just about Stewie like DeKay says. https://t.co/fRE2P67s7Q — neL (@neLendirekt) March 26, 2018

There are reports that SK Gaming is already practicing with Stewie2k and it is obvious that they will be announcing their fifth player very soon. With TACO no longer on the team, SK Gaming has just four members on their active roster. SK Gaming will next be playing in the Dreamhack Marseilles 2018 tournament. Dreamhack Marseilles will commence on April 18th, 2018.

International Teams are not always the best option

SK Gaming is looking outside of Brazil to obtain their fifth player. The team which has had a Brazilian roster since a long time will now be changing to an international roster. The initial reports suggested Flamie & S1mple but now there are suggestions that Stewie2k will be joining the team. But is an International roster the right approach? Faze is one of the rare examples when an international roster has worked wonders. Even then, the Faze Clan roster has not been able to achieve success. They have proceeded to deep runs in Major tournaments, however, they had a problem in closing out matches. The team has been unable to win several big tournaments losing out in the finals.

If esports history is something to go by, International rosters take a lot of effort and rarely work. SK Gaming has a tough choice ahead of them. They have several problems awaiting them if they decide to go ahead with Stewie2k. But this does not mean that they will fail, instead, they can potentially rise to be one of the greatest teams in Counter STrike history.

If they announce Stewie2k, it definitely does fit the timeline required for a strong performance at the London Major. With a few months of practice, the team can grow into one of the strongest teams in the world. Of course that is if a new name does not pop up by tomorrow. At the current rate of new names every day, it will not be a big surprise to see another name joining the SK waiting list.