Smooya qualifies for IEM Road to Rio 2022 European RMR but his CSGO mix team miss out due to visa issues, smooya also says UK CS is at “an all-time low”

Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 17/06/2025

Update: Smooya says his team have missed out on playing at the RMR due to visa issues:

Original article: UK CSGO player Owen ‘smooya’ Butterfield has reached the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Road to Rio 2022 European RMR (Regional Major Rankings).

He made it through the fourth open qualifier with mix team ‘Benched Heroes’, also consisting of Aunkere, MICHU, fear and Calyx.

They beat GamerLegion in the fifth-place match 16-10.

Smooya thanked those who cheered and supported the team, and said he was unsure of what is next but that he’ll see everyone in Malta, the host country for the IEM Road to Rio 2022 European RMR whic runs from October 4th to 9th.

Other teams that made it through the fourth open qualifier included Saw, Astralis, Heet, 1Win and GamerLegion.

Smooya’s team will face Navi in the first match of their European RMR B journey.

In terms of other UK talent at the IEM Road to Rio 2022 European RMR, GamerLegion have UK coach Ashley ‘ashhh’ Battye, and Fnatic have player William ‘mezii’ Merriman and strategic coach Jamie ‘keita’ Hall.

. Earlier this year, UK host James Banks worked at the PGL European RMR event with Sjokz.

Smooya recently left UK esports organisation Into the Breach. Earlier this year, Smooya won his first Insomnia CSGO LAN at i68. Prior to that, Smooya was with Fnatic, who benched him earlier in 2022.

Following the CSGO i69 LAN finals, smooya also said that UK Counter-Strike is at an “all-time low”, prompting several in the scene to discuss the current state of it below the tweet.

It follows complaints of server issues at i68 and some similar complaints about i69.

The European RMR is one way for teams to reach the IEM Rio Major, which takes place from October 31st to November 11th 2022. 16 teams qualify through the European RMR, while six progress through the American RMR and two from the Asia-Pacific RMR.

The event will be the very first CSGO Major to be held in Brazil.

In other UK CSGO news, the latest Insomnia 69 LAN is taking place at the Birmingham NEC right now, with the CSGO final taking place on Monday August 29th 2022 between Eko and Temperate.

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Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025. As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late '80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.

All Posts By Dom Sacco