Team
Liquid’s Jake “Stewie2k” Yip returned to the server during IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 North American regionals, but the Liquid leader’s best s1mple impression wasn’t good enough.
After a break from competition, Team Liquid returned to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive against Rugratz in their opening matchup in the regional competition. Liquid’s opening best-of-three series went its way, but Stewie’s attempt at Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s famous vent knife on Nuke went hilariously wrong. s1mple made the trick look incredibly this past summer.
In fact, the Natus Vincere star pulled it off barely touching his mouse and talking to his chat.
Unfortunately for Liquid’s in-game leader, he made a tiny mistake that led to an admittedly funny mistake that led to an even funnier clip.
Before getting into just how and why this happens, let’s let Stewie show CSGO players how they shouldn’t pull off what s1mple made look so easy. The round starts off in Liquid’s favor after trading the first several rounds back and forth against Rugratz. Up against a T-side eco, Stewie hopped down vents and caught the ladder in anticipation of the classic Nuke vent dive.
Then it all went wrong.
How did Stewie2k miss the knife kill against Rugratz?
Stewie made just two small mistakes that cost him his life in the round.
First, he’s too far to the center of the ladder. When s1mple dives into Nuke’s vent, he does two things that make sure his right-click connects with the back of the player’s hitbox. He moves as close to the right side of the ladder as possible and as high as he can without showing his head. Attackers that dive vents aim away from the ladder and into the far corner like seen in s1mple’s clip. s1mple also makes sure to look straight up, making sure that the only part of the hitbox he can hit is the back.
In comparison to s1mple, Stewie positions himself too far to the center of the ladder and looks outward from the vent, increasing his chances of hitting almost any other part of the attacker’s hitbox except for the player’s back. Stewie dies to a headshot after stabbing his opponent in the foot, with other potential hitbox connections shaded in an embarrassing red.
Small details separate great players from the best players. Details just like these. s1mple’s been on the right side of these details before, but he’s also been on the wrong side. His famous failed knife attempt against Team Liquid’s retired IGL Nick “nitr0” Canella on Dust 2 cost Na`Vi a win at ESL One Cologne 2019, so maybe karma had it coming for Team Liquid and Stewie all along.
