RUMORS: Nowy297 to join SK

New leaks have surfaced corroborating with BSEN’s internal sources, indicating that Damian “Nowy297” Nowakowski will be the new player joining SK Gaming. The 2023 World Champion will play with a non-Polish roster for the first time in his career, joining an already strong SK Gaming core that has placed top 4 at Worlds 2024 and 2025.

An EMEA Titan

Nowy’s arrival will herald a new era of SK Gaming after Joker’s departure to TTM, as previously reported. Nowy first showcased his skill in 2021 on Craze Clan, joining during the second split alongside other Polish talent including Rama, Leightox, and longtime teammate MeOw. While 2022 proved to be a difficult year for the squad, the arrival of GeRo and coach Filip47 helped guide the roster to the 2022 World Finals under Chasmac Gaming EU, where they faced a first round exit at the hands of ZETA DIVISION ONE. 

In 2023, ZETA DIVISION entered the EMEA region, reuniting Nowy and Leightox with their former teammate MeOw. Alongside Gero and former Reply Totem coach Inso, the roster entered the year as an underdog–it quickly became clear that ZETA was anything but. They won four of the six Monthly Finals, an outstanding number for a volatile region like EMEA, only losing once to Reply Totem and SK Gaming in the quarterfinals, both months in which the teams went on to contest the grand finals (with TTM winning July.) 

Headed into the World Finals as the first seed from EMEA, they were placed in the group of death alongside STMN Esports in their prime and a hungry Nouns team from South America, who had bootcamped in Europe for over a month to prepare. Despite losing a close match to STMN in groups, ZETA made quick work of Nouns and advanced as the second seed from their group. They met tough competition along the way, going the distance against both Luminosity in the quarterfinals and Crazy Raccoon in the semifinals, then earning a rematch against STMN in the grand finals. ZETA defeated them 3-1, claiming the title of 2023 World Champions as one of the most unlikely rosters to start the year.

Poland’s Finest

The 2024 and 2025 seasons were still solid years for Nowy and his teammates. In 2024, ZETA re-signed their World Champion winning roster (minus Inso) and continued to look solid in the region, winning two Monthly Finals and qualifying to Worlds as the second seed. Once again placed in a difficult group, they narrowly lost to Crazy Raccoon but defeated Luminosity to qualify for the playoffs, where they fell short in a five-set series against SK Gaming, finishing in 8th place. 

In 2025, the roster continued together under a new banner–FUT Esports. They were unable to match their former glory, finding themselves unable to win any Monthly Finals and failing to qualify once. They qualified to the World Finals as the fourth seed from EMEA and were placed in a relatively weak group, sweeping their matches to exit groups as a first seed for the first time in history. Despite this, they looked outclassed by HMBLE in the quarterfinals and once again finished the year in joint 8th place. 

OPE has reportedly wanted to play with Nowy for multiple years, and the two will get the chance to prove themselves in 2026. 

🇫🇷 OPE

🇪🇸 Yoshi

🇵🇱 Nowy297

🇪🇸 Pedro (Head Coach)

🇪🇸 OscarDC