America’s hope at first, its scapegoat for the regions continued shortcomings second, to finally becoming the backbone of North America’s very first CS:GO Major-Winning team! This is Skadoodle’s evolution.
Skadoodle was only 18 years old when he decided to halt his education to go all-in on CS:GO in 2012. Back then, the game was a mess, a far cry from what it is today – the most exciting title in all of esports.
Most traditional sports offer financial security if you make it to the top. But when it comes to Counter-Strike in 2012, making it to the top meant barely enough to get by, and the prospect of a better future wasn’t too great either.
In other words: Tyler took a huge risk. A risk only individuals with an almost irrational belief in their own abilities take. A risk that requires an unshakable mind-set. The mind-set you need, when you want to be an AWP player in the game of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Almost every single time Skadoodle finds himself opposite an interviewer - one of his least favorite situations to find himself in by the way - and the question about his goals in the game pops up, his answer is always the same: “Winning”.
That answer was the same during the times where he was mainly losing, and it remains the same today, right after his biggest win.
Skadoodle’s international Counter-Strike career began in 2013 when he was picked up by Team iBUYPOWER, alongside Todd “anger” Williams, Eric “adreN” Hoag, Sam “DaZeD” Marine and Keven “AZK” Larivière.
Right from the get-go, the roster showed its potential by beating Titan, considered one of the world’s best teams at the time, in the finale of the ESEA Global Finals Season 15. And Skadoodle already let the Counter-Strike world know that there’s a new, lethal AWP-Force in town.
Halfway through 2014, iBP brought in Braxton “swag” Pierce and Joshua “steel” Nissan to replace anger and andreN, a move that cemented the team’s status as NA’s best side. Internationally however, Skadoodle and his boys were far from the elite. They failed to make it past the group stages of all four major events they attended. Frustration and toxicity spread among the players and caused them to commit the biggest mistake of their careers – the iBP betting scandal. With the exception of Skadoodle, who didn’t participate, all of iBP’s players received a lifetime ban for match fixing.
This left Skadoodle without a team and all by himself. But by now, his incredible skills, especially with the AWP, were well known, and a player of his calibre need not fear unemployment.
Early in 2015, Cloud9 recruited Skadoodle, and this is when his individual performance hit the next level. Alongside Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert, Sean “seang@res” Gares, Michael “shroud” Grzesiek and Ryan “fREAKAZiOD” Abadir, Skadoodle became famous for his flashy AWP flicks and one of the best players in the world, even making HLTV’s top 20 players of the year list.
It was Skadoodle’s absolute insanity with the AWP that made Cloud9’s miracle run in the summer of 2015 possible, where they reached three second places in the span of as many weeks.
FLICK OF DA WRIST
But overall, C9’s team effort was lacklustre. NA’s struggles against international competition continued, and the dream of North America winning a major international CS:GO title in over 9 years wasn’t any closer.
Changes were needed, and that’s when Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip took seang@res place on the roster. A huge gamble, young Stew was famous for his break-neck RankS playstyle, but untested against tier-one international opposition. The gamble payed off for C9, as Stewie2K turned out to be a world-class player. But for Skadoodle, it marked the beginning of a long and painful adjustment period in which his individual performance suffered tremendously.
Skadoodle has always been a player that thrives in a closed and very strict tactical system. DaZed and seang@res provided exactly that, giving Skadoodle precise instructions of what to do each round. But Stewie2K implemented a more free flowing system. Skadoodle looked lost at times, not knowing what to do. The once hailed Skadoodle had to face an angry community that, at times, even demanded he be removed from the roster. C9 never listened to those voices and continued to have faith in Skadoodle’s abilities.
And after bringing in Timothy “autimatic” Ta for fREAKAZOiD halfway through 2016, Cloud9 finally brought that elusive major international title to North America after winning the ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals in Sao Paolo. The team now had enough individual talent that it could overcome SK Gaming in front of their home crowd even with a struggling Skadoodle.
Finally, NA had a team that could compete with the top Euros… or so they thought. History did what it likes to do most, repeat itself. Just like in 2015, Cloud9 failed to follow up on this success.
Now, not only Skadoodle struggled individually, but all of C9’s players did. Trying to get to the top, C9 did what no one anticipated, replace shroud and n0thing with Will “RUSH” Wierzba and Tarik “tarik” Celik in what would turn out to be a MAJOR roster move only six months later.
This move prompted Skadoodle to find his stride again. Under tarik’s leadership, Skadoodle took a more supportive role, which is very unusual for a team’s main AWPer. But, within C9 it makes sense. Raw, individual skill is abundant, and depending on the situation, any of the team’s players can rock the AWP as well.
With this dynamic and young roster, Cloud9 made their trip to this year’s ELEAGUE Boston Major one month ago. Hope for a shot at gold has never been higher and more realistic for a North American team.
But, Skadoodle entered the tournament holding a negative record. Eight group stage exits at Majors in a row. He entered the tournament a man possessed, a man on a mission. The night before the grand-finals, Skadoodle was seen sitting in C9’s practice room at 1 AM watching demos all by himself.
And the following day, he brought his AWP with him and wrecked anyone who dared to peek into his crosshair in what turned out to be the best series in Major history. A third map that left the viewers, the players, the casters and just about anybody else breathless and in absolute awe.
Skadoodle won a Major six years in the making. He was awarded the MVP Award for the grand-finale against FaZe Clan. In the final round, Skadoodle got the last kill on GuardiaN to seal the deal. “The smell of gunfire and freedom in the air”, to quote our beloved Anders Blume.
And then, Skadoodle was interviewed. Was the victory worth the dreaded two minutes of answering questions that followed? Of course it was, it’s not even close! “I’m not crying, you’re crying”, he said to smixity, as he was giving his best to fight the tears that wanted out – in vain.
Now the real work begins. Now is where Skadoodle and his brothers prove to the world that their victory wasn’t simply the result of stars aligning, but because they are the best.
Skadoodle himself failed this task twice. And it won’t get any easier with that target that says ‘Major-Champ’ on his back. But then again, he’s never looked more equipped to fend off all comers! We cannot wait to see how he, and the rest of Cloud9, will perform at IEM World Championship Katowice.