smooya: "I'm not in a position in my career where I can demand a top 10, top 20 team"

One of the main attractions of Fragville 2025 was undoubtedly Ninjas in Pyjamas playing with Owen "smooya" Butterfield instead of Artem "r1nkle" Moroz, who had visa issues.

The British AWPer had a decent event and was NIP's second highest-rated player, helping them make the finals, which they lost to NRG. Our Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore interviewed smooya after Day One, and they talked about his career at the moment, his ambitions to go pro again, and how he felt about playing in the U.S again.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube, with key snippets underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for the sake of clarity.

I'm here with smooya, who's standing in for NIP, following their qualification to playoffs. So, two pretty easy wins despite that one map that went a little bit closer against No Radar. How are you feeling coming out of day one?

I'm feeling good, it's extremely hot here, as we both just discussed before the camera went live [chuckles].

It's a nice place, nice people, and the people we played were talking a little bit before we played. It was good to play against them, it was fun. It's nice to compete again, it's been a while.

And it has also been a long time since you've been in North America. I think the last time we saw you in NA was Flashpoint Season 1, all the way back in April 2020. How's it feel to be back in America? Obviously, you spent a good amount of time here, whether it was a stand-in for Pro League, playing in Flashpoint, and various other things over your career.

I've always said that I want to live in America when I'm older, for sure. But it's after my career, when I'm like 40, you know?

I really like America. I like how big it is. I like the big trucks. I like how everyone's so free, you know? Everyone's kind of just saying what they want, so yeah, I really like America.

Competing-wise, it's different. I forgot that people here don't do flashbangs, and it was the same this game, so it was a bit weird. People are just running around you. I'm excited to play the more advanced teams, so to speak.

How does FRAG compare to the UK's Epic.LAN, which you won recently?

I'd definitely say that the teams here are obviously better, like the upper end of the teams.

I'm not sure how usual Fragadelphias are, but this place is quite small. It's a bit smaller than the Epic.LAN hall, so for me, it was a bit of a shock.

It's off a highway, so it's a bit interesting. You kind of just pull off a 100-kilometer road into your event. But it's nice. It's a little bit warm inside. There are a lot of people in a small area, but it's good. It's an old-school feeling, everyone's shouting, hype, and stuff. So, it's quite nice.

We were quite surprised to see you filling in for r1nkle, who had visa issues. How did this come to pass? Who gave you the nod from NIP? Was someone kind of advocating for you to be the fifth?

I can't speak on that, I don't know the inside talks. I would assume it's Snappi, mostly because I've worked with him before, in c0ntact.

I announced a couple of months ago that I'm aiming to return to pro, so maybe they saw my results recently with fish123 and thought I was maybe the best candidate.

I'm not sure, I can't speak on that. I'm just here to do my best and hopefully return to pro.

So they just called you and said, 'Hey, smooya, do you want to come to America to play for us?', and you're like, 'Sure mate.'

[chuckles] Exactly like that, yeah.

Obviously, you've been kind of bouncing around in 2025, playing for a lot of different teams, whether that was WildLotus at the start of the year, fish123, and playing with a lot of different players. And, you've won that one event with Iberian Soul, the Spanish guys. Are you happy with where you are right now in 2025, having bounced between teams, or do you want something more stable?

fish123 is more like a mix with my friends. I'm trying to help players who don't have much experience gain experience to maybe get into teams. I helped two players do that: aNdu, who went to BC.Game, and stressarN, who went to SINNERS.

I'm very happy that I can play with people and give them a platform to show themselves. [But], it's quite annoying because I have to keep changing players all the time, because people keep taking my players.

But, I'm pretty happy. I think I'm in a good step of progress as a human. That's always been my problem. It's not my individual skill, it's my human skills. I'd say that I'm growing into an Okayish man these days, compared to how I was before. So I'm pretty happy.

In some way, I think that's been your biggest struggle in your player career, when you think about all the big opportunities that you've had in the past with teams like BIG. Reflecting on the last years of your career, do you think that's caused some missed opportunities for you?

100%. Along with burning bridges and doing stuff out of ego, which could come from childhood stuff, or maybe come from the company that I keep.

It's not OK to act the way I've acted at points in my career, for sure, and it's pointless to speak about it. It's just about me proving that I can be better, because actions speak much louder than words.

So, if any teams are interested in an AWPer, guys, I'm very serious about coming back. So, that's why I haven't been live on Twitch for four months, which is my main source of income. I've put that aside and I've only focused on competing.

I'm very grateful to NIP for giving me this chance to play, and hopefully get to come out on top.

What are you looking for in a team? Is it something international? Obviously, the UK scene is pretty much in the shit right now, but overall, what are you aiming for in terms of tier, in terms of HLTV rating, in terms of VRS rating, for your future prospects?

I don't have a parameter on it. I'm not in a position in my career to demand a top 10 team, a top 20 team. Whoever thinks that I'm suitable, they can speak to me, we can discuss, and if it makes sense on both ends, then it will work.