British AWPer smooya became a free agent today just days after Fnatic moved him to the bench following the team’s campaign in IEM Katowice.
Fnatic made it to the group stage of IEM Katowice, where they beat G2 before being sent home with losses to FaZe Clan and Astralis. Smooya was benched ahead of the European Regional Major Ranking (RMR) open qualifiers in favor of Iulian “regali” Harjău, the AWPer from Fnatic Rising, the organization’s academy project.
Smooya had been a part of Fnatic since October 2021 when he joined to take over Jack “Jackinho” Ström’s place on a trial basis. The 22-year-old had an immediate impact on the team, having good individual performances and helping them to win tournaments such as DreamHack Open November.
He couldn’t maintain his individual level, however. He went from a 1.22 rating in 2021 after he joined Fnatic to a mere 1.01 rating in 2022, according to HLTV. After his benching, smooya created a mixed team to attend the European RMR open qualifiers but has not managed to secure a spot in the PGL Antwerp Major Europe RMR so far.
Smooya has had a rough stretch finding a team to stick with since departing BIG in early 2020. He has played for Chaos, c0ntact Gaming, Movistar Riders, and Fnatic without staying more than six months on any of those teams.
