What is next for stanislaw?

Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz is one of North America's most successful in-game leaders to date, leading Evil Geniuses to the top of the world rankings back in 2019 alongside first-place finishes at that year's ESL One New York and StarSeries i-League Season 8.

Despite this, the 28-year-old has spent the past six months in ESL Challenger League with Disconnected/BHOP - a significant drop in the caliber of opponents compared to when he competed against international heavyweights such as Astralis, FaZe, and NAVI.

Whilst it isn't uncommon for players to move on from teams where they reached their peak, stanislaw has been out of Evil Geniuses for well over eight months and, apart from a post expressing an interest in getting back on the saddle, little has seemingly happened to suggest that the Canadian will be back on the big stage any time soon.

This, therefore, begs the question: What is next for stanislaw?

stanislaw's ascent and decline

As aforementioned, stanislaw has quite the résumé when compared to his North American peers, first leading a squad to victory at ELEAGUE Season 2 back in 2016 while with OpTic, the first Big Event trophy for the Canadian captain.

The playoffs of the event were OpTic's playground, seeing stanislaw and company take down mousesports, FaZe, and Astralis with ease — earning themselves the trophy in the process. Whilst it can be argued that OpTic faced relatively weak competition, notably avoiding a clash versus both the world's first and second-ranked teams in Virtus.pro and SK, it's still important to note that the teams that OpTic had to overcome had already moved past the above titans, legitimizing their victory even more.

It is true that in an alternate timeline, OpTic could have found themselves up against Virtus.plow or the Brazilian Major champions in SK, but stanislaw's men can only ever beat the teams they face — which they did with few issues.

Fast forward a few years and stanislaw once again had the roster to challenge for titles when he joined NRG. While his brief three-month tenure there failed to bring home any trophies, he did lead his squad to a top-four finish at the StarLadder Berlin Major — only falling to eventual victors, Astralis.

The entire roster's signing to Evil Geniuses, however instantly paid dividends, seeing the side bring home the silverware (and on home soil no less) with a convincing performance at ESL One New York 2019 mere days after linking up with their new home. The North American side then travelled to Turkey for StarSeries i-League Season 8 where, once again, they claimed the first-place prize and did so with conviction. In both events, the Canadian in-game leader helped bring out close to career-high form from both Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte and Ethan "Ethan" Arnold who secured MVPs at ESL One New York and StarSeries, respectively. Even now, since stanislaw's departure, both Brehze and Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov have failed to return to that form, even with the additions of a new coach in Damien "MaLeK" Marcel and IGL in Jake "Stewie2K" Yip.

Regardless, it's also important to note that EG's time atop the world rankings would eventually come crashing down. The COVID-19 pandemic decimated North American Counter-Strike, and the roster soon suffered setback after setback, reaching its climax when the stanislaw-led quintet bowed out of the PGL Stockholm Major in last place after three quick losses.

This defeat summed up what had been a disastrous year and a half for both Evil Geniuses and stanislaw. The squad went from the top of the world with two consecutive LAN victories and the title of "best team in the world" to a team many felt were undeserving of a spot at the most prestigious event there is. This isn't even slanderous to say, as the side bowed out of the Stockholm Major with an 0-3 record, a far cry from its semifinal placement just two years prior. Even if COVID-19 had caused a significant drop in both motivation and the level of practice, it's no surprise that the EG organization opted to shake things up, eventually parting ways with the captain in November 2021.

Farming in ESL Challenger League?

In the time since his exit from the Seattle-based organization, stanislaw has been keeping busy, spending the past two seasons playing with Disconnected/BHOP in ESL Challenger League. Unfortunately, while it was expected that the 28-year-old might be able to regain some of that lost confidence, perhaps even showcase himself to potential organizations looking to invest in a competent and experienced leader, that is far from the truth.

Firstly, stanislaw has only averaged a modest 1.02 rating in the past six months — hardly inspiring given the drop in opponents he's faced since his time in tier one. Moreover, in his first season of ECL, his squad were sent down to ECL Relegation and even then, they barely managed to cling onto their spot in the top division after a hard-fought battle versus North America's tier two. Admittedly, stanislaw came out to say that his first season was with a more relaxed approach, and to his credit, this second season was far more optimistic, seeing the side finish 5th-6th overall to easily maintain their spot in the league.

This time away from tier one play may do more to hinder stanislaw than to help him. He may come back to tier one (if possible) more refreshed, but he's also helped reduce his stock as a capable leader. A mediocre 1.02 rating versus teams way below his previous heights coupled with an inability to lead teams to greatness in divisions that should be his playground — it's easy to see a world in which a team opts to go down a different road for their IGL needs.

What options does stanislaw have?

Nonetheless, stanislaw is one of North America's most seasoned callers, it also helps that he is a native English speaker and the Counter-Strike world is currently suffering from a drought of competent IGLs — see G2 as a prime example.

One potential home for the Canadian is to return to Complexity. It's no secret that Complexity's decision to sign the Extra Salt roster has failed to bear fruit. While their commitment to North America should be applauded, many expected to see far greater from the Johnny "JT" Theodosiou-led team and the blame can not always be pointed at the weakest link in Paytyn "junior" Johnson.

Complexity have three great stars in Justin "FaNg" Coakley, Michael "Grim" Wince, and Ricky "floppy" Kemery and what could really elevate the squad is a fresh pair of eyes, someone who is up to date with the meta, and who has the experience to further enhance the trio's play. Let's remind ourselves that Complexity's average age is an astoundingly young 21.9 years old. His experience and veterancy could prove to be just what the doctor ordered for Complexity, and help steer the ship back on course. They have a wealth of talent already, they just need to unlock it.

Admittedly, JT is young himself and has plenty of time to grow as a captain and lead his squad to the same greatness as stanislaw once did all those years ago, but things do need to change and fast. JT currently sits with a dismal 0.89 rating in his time with Complexity, and the underwhelming performance by the NA young guns can't all be placed on a few missed shots by their AWPer. Perhaps it's time for grim and company to look elsewhere for a leader, a captain who is tried and tested, and one whose most recent stats look more promising than their current South African IGL. And even though stanislaw's stats don't paint the prettiest picture, it might be better for Complexity than what they currently have.

The Canadian could find luck as a skipper as well, like many former IGLs do. Think of Fatih "gob b" Dayik or stanislaw's Canadian compatriot (and rival) Damian "daps" Steele who now stand behind both BIG and Liquid with their respective teams currently sitting at 12th and 14th in HLTV's world rankings.

Often times, former IGLs and players lack the firepower to go up against the best of the best, and they are perhaps best utilised in a brains over brawn role. In daps' first couple of months in the Liquid role, he's already helped that squad secure a top-six finish at IEM Cologne and hopes are high that Liquid will build on that performance even more.

The Godfather of German Counter-Strike, gob b, has returned from his time in VALORANT and instantly elevated the side to a 2022 peak of seventh best in the world by the time IEM Cologne rolled around. Whilst the Germans have since slipped to twelfth, it's still a strong indicator of how much impact a big-brained coach can have on a roster.

North America would also benefit massively from stanislaw coaching. While NA may have the crisp aim and the confidence that comes with it, it lacks the disciplined culture seen elsewhere around the world and it's evident that NA requires father figures to take charge and guide the youngsters of today. This, in turn, has the ability to elevate the North American Counter-Strike scene out of its current state should a potential team under his coaching be able to participate on the world stage.

Moreover, another benefit of stanislaw's fluency in English is his ability to coach international rosters. Neil "NeiL_M" Murphy is an Irish skipper who has been behind a vast amount of teams from a variety of different backgrounds, such as the Australians of Grayhound and the Poles of x-kom in 2019, to the European mix of c0ntact a year later. The need for a strong coach can be worth its weight in gold, see Danny "zonic" Sørensen who is often touted as being one of the world's most influential coaches and who was instrumental in helping Astralis be one of — if not the — best team of all time. stanislaw's legacy in-game can easily be extended should he opt to take a step back from playing in lieu of a career fostering and educating the talent of tomorrow.

Perhaps stanislaw isn't ready to hang up the mouse just yet. It's possible he still believes he has more to give and more fuel in the tank, but much like daps (even with their often unfortunate crossing of paths), it's worth a thought.

stanislaw is one of the more valuable pieces available for North America. He's a seasoned captain with a vast array of experience under his belt. He's brought out strong performances from the stars within his team and he's currently on the market. Despite the past couple of years of his career obviously being disappointing, stanislaw isn't past it just yet and it's possible we'll see him in the server again sooner rather than later.