For the French players, if there's one word to describe shox it's "the best"
In France it's one of the best pistol players... I would even say in the world.
One of the best rifler in the world... One of the best clutcher in the world...
Among the competitors, none of them like to lose, but he espacially hates it
And when he plays something he clearly wants to be the best.
For more than 10 years, a player has marked the esport history,
and more precisely on Counter Strike:Source and Global Offensive
National or international tournaments, Majors, world cups,
he has won it all, or almost.
When they took me, I knew I had all the potential needed,
but after that it was only in my head: I didn't want to disappoint them.
Considered as one of the best player in the world, if not the best,
he impresses whitout surprise.
He bears on his shoulders the pressure of a demanding community.
who never fails to remind him what he's used them to.
Rifle, sniper, leader, he can do everything.
He can make the difference in every situation.
Carrier element of his teams, he can motivate his teammates by pushing them to surpass themselves, and to play together.
Each of us can remember a tournament, a match, or one of his actions.
These moments aren't rare, and have marked a whole generation of players.
Beyond his success, his career has been sometimes controversial, doubtful, or disappointing.
But destiny chose otherwise, and without ever giving up, he became one of the best player in the world,
by competing against teams from all around the world
The story we are about to tell you, is the one of Richard "shox" Papillon.
VaKarM.net presents
Produced by Bomox
Narrated by Akaruu
Written by Dorian & Milkafun
Translated by SPK & Miles
Special thanks to Shig and Maxime Cuche
shox, "Journey of a Legend".
Richard was born on May 27th 1992 in Paris.
Last-born of the family,
his brother and sister, along with his parents, will become his first fans.
The young Richard was introduced to video games by his father,
Actually he got into it when he was very little,
because indeed I was playing, but particularly his brother was playing too,
every boy in the family loved to play video games.
So it was the console, the Wii and such from that time,
And after that, he quickly focused on Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
the whole family was playing this game, it was "the big game"
and we still come back to it even now...
But the click came with his brother.
At the age of 9, he discovered the game Counter Strike, first opus
Whithout knowing it, he had just found the franchise that would change his life.
At first my parents forbade me to play it,
because it was too violent, and I think on the box it was rated inappropriate under 12 or 16 or something like that.
Indeed he was always playing behind our backs,
his mother didn't want him to play this game of course
So I tried to explain to her that there were terrorists,
well I was avoiding that term, so I said there were good and bad guys,
but that he was always playing the CTs
and it reassured his mom
But I couldn't help myself, I was like "this game is too good",
I took so much pleasure while playing it,
So when they weren't there, even if it was to play only 5 minutes I would take these 5 minutes to be behind the computer and play it.
And as time went by they fought against,
but after a while like every parent they stepped down
because either we'd go through a useless conflict,
or they'd let me play a video game, because I wasn't giving up.
so they ended up giving in, and since then I never quit that game.
To play, he needed a nickname.
And he chose one that, as well as the game, would never leave him.
He ended up choosing "shox"
referring to the famous Nike shoes model he used to wear at that time
As every beginner, Richard started on FFA servers, under the wings of his brother.
I really loved watching him play, because he was much better than me at that time.
I thought he was very good and stuff,
and then due to his career path,
he hasn't been able to pursue as much as I did.
And it's true that sometimes he's got some regrets when he sees where I am
he congratulates me and he doesn't fail to remind me that he taught me everything.
But then he's like "ah yeah I'd also like to be there".
Very soon, those casual game modes aren't enough for him anymore
He starts looking for more challenge, and it's with the "wars" from that time that he finds it
IRC chans and praccs are his after-school routine, while he's still in middle school.
It's in 2005 that he starts getting noticed, with his team TuRTLe, when he was still 15.
With a top 10 on Clan France, an impressive performance in a still not so developped competitive community.
Shox quickly got labelled as an onliner, and that would stick to him until he'd finally prove himself on lan.
Quite quickly he asked to go to the cybercafe to play with other friends,
he also talked about... Not really lans but some smaller events,
We went to Paris in a cafe, somewhere around the opera,
where I'd drive him, because of course he was young.
Some places we would go, at the beginning of the lans, he had no means of travel, he was young, we had to bring the PCs,
and it was a real negociation to take the family's PC,
because if he took it on Sunday, that meant that nor his brother neither me could play,
and that was to be argued,
and then we would fill the trunk of the car with planks, trestles, the CRT...
We would take everything.
And I would spend the day with him and we'd come back home in the evening.
With mK, they did their first lan together.
Shox then started losing his "onliner" label, to make way for interest and admiration.
During the KDX 3, he finally revealed himself.
He dominated the whole lan, coming close to defeating a top French team,
comprised of figures of the French scene that had been around for a long time: the All StarZz
with AsP- , EMSTQD, k1SMo, krL and mateOo.
Actually we weren't thinking about the future, we didn't care about being noticed,
we just wanted to play against good players, and prove them and ourselves that we had the level to beat them.
And that was it.
We just focused on the game, we wanted to beat them and show them that despite being 14 or 15 we could manage to beat them.
There was mK with a M4 and shox on catwalk, with a M4 too,
and it was impossible to go anywhere, on B short, top mid, catwalk... Impossible. Just impossible.
It was incredible.
We were surprised because even in other French lans when we played against the top French level
No one ever did that to us. We never took something like that.
In 2008, AsP- contacted him to play in Creativ`
with RegnaM, flex0r and mateOo.
He reached the closed circle of the best French players on Counter Strike: Source.
And he would never leave it.
Shox began his career with a series of wins during the ReSo, the EPS and the Gamers Assembly 2008.
Practically no one could doubt his performances
I had a great ego boost, so to say.
I remember at that time when I won the GA and others,
like 3 weeks later, I got into an argument with krL for bullshit reasons on Mumble.
I was only 16 at the time but I told him "What do you even want, I am the French champion."
It's very difficult to have the necessary maturity when you're only 16 or 17.
You can understand more things, be more open-minded, and more chill
than another teenager in the middle of his adolescent crisis that understands nothing,
but there will always remain some more childish reactions.
It's also around that time that he met for the first time a player that would become a pillar in his life.
Édouard Dubourdeaux aka SmithZz.
The first time I met shox was on the train to the ReSo 2008.
He was sticking around us a bit, and I asked him "Who are you ?"
The first thing he said were really frank, I got everything in the neck
I was still trying to hold it in like "yeah I think we can win" stuff like that...
And after I saw that he was a good character to know.
Despite his victories against big European teams,
Team Creativ` decided to kick the young player.
The age gap between shox and his team mates and his lack of availability cost him his spot.
The deal with Richard was that he had to study well at school, be good and work seriously,
and there would be no problems with the PC.
He remained teamless only for a short time,
since krL quickly took shox to play alongside him in redLine.
But that was an anecdotal episode since he would quickly go back with RegnaM and AsP- in EmuLate!
With this team, he made his first steps at an international lan, during the Insomnia 34 in Teldford, UK.
It's also during this summer 2008 that he got selected in the French national team,
to compete in the ENC, the European championship, at the Gamescom.
The French team will unfortunately end up second.
First sign of a curse that would keep them away from any title in this tournament
despite a large domination on the scene in general.
When we came, we were actually a mix, and we weren't a team so we had nothing prepared.
So besides playing we were fooling around, didn't sleep enough and stuff...
On Saturday night, there was the ESL party,
with open bar and everything...
We were a bit older than him so we were drinking,
and of course Richard, far from home and with his friends, he wanted to try alcohol.
So of course for us it was funny,
we thought about the matches on the next day, and that maybe he should go slow on that.
Because when it's the first time you drink, 4 glasses can be enough to be hungover.
And that's what happened the next day. He played with a trashcan next to him.
And he was still good.
On the server we were still giving it all,
but there wasn't that pressure and the preparation you have with a team.
Finally, shox left emuLate because of various issues.
He then found home in another team: redLine, where a certain Ex6TenZ was awaiting him.
It was the first time that shox played under the lead of the Belgian player.
Together, they established themselves as the French number 2, right behind his former teammates from emuLate,
that went in the meantime to VeryGames to become the first professional team.
But after the EPS finals, krL called back the prodigy he had noticed two years earlier.
I'll always remember that. I was in my room and I received a phone call...
And at first when he told me I would win 130€ per month I felt the same
as if you'd tell someone today that he's going to win 5000€ a month
I had stars in my eyes... That was crazy...
So I was very happy, but it was krL.
Meaning that he told me they wanted me, but he didn't lick my boots either.
He told me "give me an answer tommorrow, if you don't I'll ask someone else, everyone wants your place."
He was clear and concise.
When we took him in VG, he was the rising player in France.
Like he'd wreck everyone in redLine.
We were the best French team,
so we needed a player, and yeah it was obvious that we needed Richard.
I had already played with him in the past, I knew he was just too strong back then,
he kept being too strong, and that's it...
Since the team was already strong, we thought we could afford to bring in a less experienced player.
And everyone wanted to take shox.
For me at first it appeared as the evident choice,
but I remember we still hesitated.
But we took him, and we never regretted it.
Because we won every lan we attended with shox.
I immediately knew where my place was.
He told me that, and without thinking five minutes later I told him "Let's go"
Shox then left Ex6TenZ and replaced RegnaM in VeryGames.
During the whole year of 2009, VeryGames flew over the global scene.
MaxLAN, ICY BOX, EPS, Lan79, he got everything into his hands
This legendary team, considered then as the best in the world on Counter Strike: Source,
brought back memories to many older players and supporters.
We could lose 8-0 or 9-0,
It's dumb, but we knew we'd win the map.
We knew it.
We weren't afraid, we didn't panick...
If they won some rounds, we'd look at our mates,
"Good now? Ready to go?" -"Yeah let's do this."
And we won everytime.
We had a sort of nonchalance, a certain ease I'd say.
At first it was cool, but not so much at the end.
We were laughing, because we had played like 5 hours the past two weeks on CS,
And when we'd come to a lan, we would win.
With talent.
But that first adventure with VeryGames met a brutal stop.
The organization explained:
"The day before yesterday, we learned about the fraudulous participation of two players of the VeryGames team
in the matches of another team engaged in the final phase of the ESL France.
We had to react to this event.
For these reasons, we chose to kick Sébastien "krL" Perez from the team once and for all.
When "Djo", VeryGames' boss
came to see me at home, we talked and he told me why I was dismissed.
And I told him "Do you think that you'll manage to keep the team?"
And he answered "Yeah sure I'll keep the team"
But my ego told me that it was impossible, that couldn't happen.
We were a team. All five of us.
And I think that...
Even if I wasn't considered a very good player at the time I came to VeryGames,
I think I brought them a lot of things.
And we still had many more things to do, and they also knew it.
And that's why they stuck with me.
After krL's expulsion it was...
We were earning a little money, I don't know if I can reveal it now but we were making 130€/month,
Even though that was huge, I mean huge...
It was still super cool to earn that money.
We couldn't live from it but that was still super cool.
We really had this team spirit among us,
and the fact that his kick was done very quickly and behind our backs,
for reasons that we didn't really understand,
Well yeah, it was an immediate decision. Instant.
It was completely natural, we didn't have to ask.
Would it have been another player...
Maybe we would have at least questioned each others,
But not here, no way. He was the captain. It was obvious that whitout him we were nobody.
He was our captain.
No matter where he goes we will go.
We are with him, he is the leader, so there was no way we'd leave him.
Shox and his teammates left the organization to become Nameless
and quickly got replaced in VeryGames by Ex6TenZ&co
The ex-VeryGames then faced the new ones during the 2009 MaxLAN's final.
A match with a very particular taste that many would remember for a while.
After both winning a map, Nameless ended up taking the win on the third one after two overtimes.
Final score: 22-18.
Ah yes, I vividly remember this lan,
and I think it's clearly one of my best memories by far.
Because at the time, what you need to know is that, apart from the fact that VG was number 1,
we were in a really bad state regarding organizations, we didn't have one actually,
and the beautiful part is that we didn't have much money at the time,
we saw the lan being in talks, and we made a "coup d'état" by being a kind of surprise challenger,
by saying to everyone that we would not come.
But we did that on purpose to create a surprise
It was a game, it was a story...
And in the end,
apart from the fact that we hid it, since we had no organization we had to pay for it on our own.
And at the time we didn't have jobs so we really didn't have money, and we paid the train, the hotel and everything, but we still managed it.
And we did it on our own.
And eventually we ended up winning so...
definitely one of my best memories.
And on top of that I did a very good performance individually,
I was just over the moon...
Shox and his teammates finally got welcomed among the Roccat organization.
A short stay for Richard,
since he abandoned his teammates in early 2010 to join the famous team Dimension4,
well established on Counter Strike 1.6
Richard was still very young at the time,
and everyone was pretty much fighting to play with him,
because he was one of the 2 or 3 players you needed in your team in order to win.
And when we won the MaxLAN there was something that got lost in the team...
Because in the end what we wanted was to beat VeryGames.
Once we managed that, I feel like we'd been left empty. There wasn't anything to do anymore.
We beat them and that was over.
And I think that's what happened for shox,
He must've told himself "Yeah, CS:S is done for me now..."
His motivation varied a lot depending the time,
3 months he'd be ultra motivated, 3 months he'd be slacking
I think everyone lived that.
But for him, at this moment of his career, it was on really short periods of time.
Like he would be motivated at the beginning of a new team during 2 months,
and then he wouldn't find the motivation to work anymore...
I just knew that on Source we would win everything,
and I like challenges and competition,
and in the end we had gotten to a stage where we wouldn't even practice anymore,
we barely played CS, but we came to the lans and still won.
So it was really... I don't know how to say it...
There was no taste to the victories.
And I wanted to feel the effort put into the game again actually.
Even if that meant making a top 8 in a lan,
but at least there was a challenge to aim even higher.
So I moved to 1.6, started doing some pickups,
I remember at the time they used ventrilo, and not mumble,
So yeah I did some pickups and such,
Ozstrik3r was calling me a cheater, until after the ReSo
where he came behind me to see me play at the lan, I will always remember it.
And he said "Ok, so you're not cheating."
"You're good."
However still I actually played with some players like MaYeRs and dim2k,
and I had a lot of respect for them,
so to play alongside them I felt like I was with legends and I tried to learn as much as I could.
Indeed, he wasn't certain about the development of CS:S,
and on 1.6 remained the "stars",
It was still "the" big game on CS
He wanted to give it a go, but when he did... this time was our fault actually
At that time, the team was asking for too much personal investment
And he still had to study
shox ended up going back on the game he had started with and that had made him famous
He joined LDLC and got to play with SmithZz once again
That was a triumphant return with great performances during the DSrack 3
The team had a difficult start at that time, but shox and his teammates managed a memorable comeback
thanks to krL lending a hand to the team
They won 5 matches in the loser bracket and ended up with a very unexpected top 4
It was more of a mentality problem for the team
So when I lent a hand I wasn't that useful
But just by being with them in-game
And by talking to them directly
I think that's what turned the situation around and allowed us to make a better lan
Once we fell into the lower bracket and lost one match after another, we realized that...
There was something missing, and at this rate we would end with a top 8 or 16
Of course we didn't want that, and for us krL was the solution
He was behind us, but at that time it wasn't like now
He had no headset, he couldn't talk to us, etc.
And we were missing a real leader
So we took turns playing, there was always someone willing to give him his seat
And that's how we managed to climb back to the fourth place
Knowing that the last match we played was really close, we almost went to the finals
But a while later, the roster split up after SmithZz unexpectedly chose to leave for Very Games
These two very close friends thus got separated
And from there on, shox's motivation went downhill
Team LDLC fell apart, so Richard had to look for something else
Beginning of 2011, shox was back on the scene with a mix that would quickly take the name of 3DMAX
With new faces from the French subtop
apEX, flex0r and ScreaM
With this team, shox managed to remain as one of the best players in the world
With a top 2 at the EPSILAN 6, a top 3 at the Copenhagen Games 2011
And most of all, while beating the number one French team of that time, Very Games, during the MaxLan
At the beginning, I gave a 100% to the team, I believed in us
So when we won the MaxLan I thought we had found the right balance and we could win anything
But then one week later, flex0r told us he wanted to leave
He was a sniper, which is pretty hard to replace
So I immediatly understood that the situation would be complicated
And at that time there was no other sniper able to take his place
Moreover you have to remember that flex0r was a really strong player, a beast
Apart from that, the youngest ones apEX and ScreaM wouldn't listen to me anymore...
So in the end I simply tried to remain on the scene, to show myself and my skills
And keep a good individual level until...
until Very Games would want to make a change and recruit me
Soon after, RegnaM chose to retire, and shox went to VeryGames to play with his best friend SmithZz once again
He also met again with his former leader from redLine, Ex6TenZ
With the three of them, two names: RpK and NBK
A legendary line-up was born
Under Ex6TenZ' lead, shox and his teammate proved their superiority during every tournament, every match and every round
Things seemed too easy for them, as if no other team could ever challenge them
Even now, this team is still considered as the best team ever created on Counter-Strike:Source
The perfect five
November 2011, everyone was in shock
A month after they had won the ESWC, VeryGames decided to part with Richard
SmithZz decided to leave with him
That was the first and last ESWC on Source
We had won the lan, and we were unquestionably the best team in the world
But he still got kicked right after the i44
Because of a lack of professionalism
I was an asshole at that time, clearly
What happened was...
I was very stubborn and I didn't like it when others contradicted me
And at one point, we started having our first sponsors
It was Razer, but at that time we didn't understand what a sponsor was
So on our part, we had to play with Razer's stuff
At that time I was playing with a mouse SteelSeries Xai
That really liked, I had my own preferences
So when they told me I had to play with new stuff from Razer
So that in exchange they would give VeryGames money
Which today I find normal, of course
But at that time I was young, I didn't understand how important it was
So the only thing I answered was like
"No way I'm playing with Razer, it's shit, I'm leaving bye"
I wasn't interested in playing with VeryGames without shox
First because I had won everything with him
Also because I had accomplished my biggest goal, winning the ESWC
And finally because I wanted to play with my best friend
Everyone was aware of the change except SmithZz and me
Because they knew that if we had had the time to talk about it together there would have been a kind of revolt
So they actually told us the news at the same time, but separately
After knowing that, SmithZz just naturally said that if I was kicked, he would leave with me
When we started our career, we sometimes won keyboards, mice, and sometimes nothing
The more we progressed, the more tournaments there were, the more challenging it was
there was also more money and we could feel more satisfaction in our lives
And one of my principles has always been to keep playing with people I like
And try to help them, share with them, that's why I kept playing with Richard for a very long time
Deprived of its two best players, the best team in the world ended here its adventure
The line-up split up
shox then entered a difficult period of his career,
by joining Tt.Dragons with SmithZz
There, they met a new leader, maLeK, and new teammates, ScreaM and Uzzziii
After being on top of the world for a year, shox had to adapt to a new play style
All these changes affected his performances
With a lost final at the modest EPSILAN 8 and a top 7-8 at the Copenhagen Games
shox was only a mere shadow of the player he used to be
We came here to win initially
And we end up with a top 8, that's disappointing
The i45 is coming soon. Will we see you there?
I think so
shox and SmithZz, for ever
But the finishing blow came from his best friend
While the two of them had almost always been playing together since they had met in 2008
SmithZz decided to break the pact and went back to VeryGames to play with Ex6TenZ
First of all, I was the last person to hear about it
Meaning he didn't have the courage to tell me himself
Because he already knew how I would react
So everyone in the team more or less knew and I heard about it last
I'm even wondering if I didn't read it on VaKarM or something like that
So I called him, sent him a thousand messages
I didn't understand what was happening
He never answered me, he was playing dead
I might have left 10 or 15 vocal messages in his phone
With a whole lot of insults
I think you could turn the answering machine on and hear me swear for 2 minutes straight
I wasn't kind with him
So yeah, I had a hard time recovering from this
It took me maybe 4-5 months to move on
We faced Millenium, the team shox was playing with, and won
I went to shake his hand and he simply ignored me
He was, like, really cold
And I remember that it was his girlfriend who went to see me later
She sent me a message on Facebook like
"Please talk to Richard, it's gone too far"
"He's been reading your Facebook messages non-stop for the last two months"
"And he can't help crying"
"He's very depressed"
It really moved me
Because it wasn't to that extent, but I still thought a lot about him and regretted how things had ended
So I went to talk to him and said I missed him
He answered it was the same for him, and that I could have come back sooner
The end of Counter-Strike:Source was near, and seemed difficult for shox
People would have to wait until September to see him again
First, thanks to the arrival of Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, the new opus of his favorite game
And also thanks to his encounter with Ozstrik3r, legendary leader of the French scene on 1.6
very well-known for his original style and his crazy moves
With this new leader, shox and his teammates joined Millenium
With a first victory at the EPSILAN 9, everyone, fans and players, were full of hope
What changes the most for me is the skin's speed, they're a lot faster compared to Source
And I'm still not used to it
More exactly on the timings
You don't realize that the ennemy is already there. There's a difference of 1 or 2 seconds and it changes everything
it's hard to predict
But the collaboration between the line-up and Millenium ended
after they failed to qualify for the ESWC
Our first mistake was during the group stage, against Buykey
We lost 16-14 and we shouldn't have lost
They played really well, I'm not trying to denigrate them
But given our previous results and our expectations
We shouldn't have lost against this team
So of course we had to pay the price, we ended up second in the group stage and had to face VeryGames
And they managed to realize the things we couldn't
On the last side for example, we were down 8-0 or something like that
We couldn't keep our heads above water, they were more lucid and they played well
All I want is to come back stronger
And beat everyone, especially VeryGames, because I know we have the potential to, we just need time
The players then found a new home in Imaginary Gaming
The results from shox and his teammates allowed them to be considered as the second best French team
Until Scream, as SmithZz did before him, left for VeryGames
Shox once again ended up alone
As he had done since his beginnings, shox tried to keep his head up
And joined an international roster made up of GuardiaN and cLy
A 2-months adventure rewarded by online successes
which ended up proving, as if still needed, that he was indeed an excellent player
The advantage I had to not speaking English very well
Was that I didn't talk much
So I could focus on my crosshair at 200%
So my stats skyrocketed because in my mind it was just about getting kills
There wasn't a firm leader
No one really knew how to properly lead a team
So everyone was just doing as they pleased, we give the calls
And that's it, go kill people
And I loved it
I could do what I wanted, I barely managed to communicate because I just talked when my body hit the ground to give my infos
I had gotten a new lease of life, plus that was nice, we all laughed
I keep a really good experience from that
That's all VeryGames needed to call him back
For the third time, shox joined the red and white team.
Overall, that was a clear success
Used to second places behind NiP, VeryGames found in shox the missing piece of the puzzle
For me, we needed Richard in order to win
We had had a terrible year... I mean terrible, we only got Top 2s with kennyS and we really wanted to win
And we felt that Richard was the man of the situation, once again
And in the end he came back and I was really glad to find him again
The habits between us came back very quickly
And actually we got some victories again right after
It was NiP, NiP, NiP all the time everywhere
NiP did this, NiP did that...
After a while we had enough
The guys were indeed winning but that didn't mean they had the most skilled players in the world
At the time it was f0rest and GeT_RiGhT that did all the work
So I think that's also what might've benefited me when I arrived in this team
I guess I gave a new aura around me
Like "Why are you scared? Don't be scared, look at what I do,
I get kills and I did nothing crazy I just strafed and didn't fear them and it turned out great."
And I think it benefited the team
Because inconsciously it decreased the pressure when we played them
He allowed the French-Belgian lineup to access the first place
And in 2013 shox was considered again as the best player in the world
"Richard is happy because he doesn't know, but for us we've gotten kicked out of tournaments everytime like that for a year"
The end of the year became a bit more difficult for the team
With a loss in the ESWC finals, and a second one in the semifinals of the DH Winter, first Major in the history of CS:GO
The VeryGames adventure was near its end
Nonetheless, shox didn't leave his teammates
The iconic organization closed its doors
Pushing its former team to go find a new organization
Early 2014, shox and his teammates announced their new home:
Titan
He pushed me to get interested in the development of esports
And he felt that it was really starting
That the exponential curve was starting to show
And he told me there was a shot to take there
Which meant investing on something that could become big tommorrow
So first step: "Dad I have something to tell you
we have a proposal from Titan,
but there's a condition, a gaming house."
Which of course wasn't that easy for my wife
A gaming house: the kid is going far away...
And for me as well, but when you want something, you have to give it your all
The first thing I asked him was: "Do you think you can do it?"
And I wasn't talking about the game
I knew, I'd seen that he was good in-game
I knew he got along well with his friends
I knew that there was something to do there
But I told him "Be careful, because living with 5 or 6 other guys all the time, I know you, I have a doubt..."
But he was young so I told him to go, to try, and we'd see what would happen
I remembered Na'Vi on 1.6 who also had this system of gaming house
and you could see them together on pictures and stuff...
So for us it was the right thing to do, it was logical
So we were all really excited about it, it was our childhood dream
When we were 13 we dreamt about living in the same house and play CS all day
So yeah we were really happy to go
And after a while, like 3-4 months
I'd had enough of it, I needed my own routine, my personal life, my intimacy
I couldn't anymore...
I found that dumb to leave, even though we had failed at the Major
We still had some good results on practice
And we were strong, we just couldn't show it in tournaments
He did not even ask me, whether I should follow him or not
When we talked about it I told him that I would stay
After a failure at the EMS Katowice, the team-spirit wasn't the same anymore
The team couldn't make it work anymore, and shox got dismissed
He still managed to bounce back quickly, by playing in Clan Mystik at first, and then Epsilon
where he managed some interesting performances but wouldn't stand out as well as he did in the past
He'd have to wait the summer and the first French shuffle
If NBK- was the originator of this project, shox insisted on adding his lifelong friend to the team: SmithZz
So Richard called me, and he said
"They want to kick you, come with me we'll start a project,
Nathan is in, we just need to find a fifth.'
It was an obligation for him to have me, because he knows what I can bring to a team
He also made the bet to recruit an unknown player discovered in Epsilon: kioShiMa
But there was still a slot left
shox wanted Uzzziii, but it's eventually Happy that got chosen
We wanted five smart players in the team
Because Nathan (NBK-) wanted to lead
So we weren't looking for an IGL or anything, we just wanted someone smart
So we thought about Uzzziii or Happy
They both had different qualities, and we were quite undecided
So in the end we had a vote, I voted for Uzzziii, but the other 4 voted for Happy
So of course majority wins
and so we took Happy in
A few days later LDLC recruited this team, never seen before
A new page of CS:GO's history was about to be written
During a year, Richard constantly fought at the top level
But those 10 months spent in the team would be marked by their rivalry against fnatic
Where the Swedes would more often take the advantage
This didn't prevent shox from filling his record
It finally reached its apotheosis at the DH Winter 2014 finals
LDLC became the first French team to win a Major by beating fnatic and then NiP
If I remember correctly the girls were starting to lose hope, because in overtime they were losing on Overpass
And the girls started to give up
Only Richard's brother still had hope, telling them it wasn't over yet
It's always possible until the last round
That if they believed in themselves they could make it
And indeed, they made it
That was the completion
Because it was an tremendous joy
And it was NiP on top of that
It was a great moment, and for us we hadn't slept for the last 48 hours
With this boost drama
I think I'm the one who spotted it first
Vincent had more or less understood because at some point he asked for a boost in T spawn but he got killed right away
And then I saw a pixel from his head poking out. I could see him
Above all the trees, somewhere in the sky
And I shot him, and he also shot at me, but there was an invisible wall in between
So we both shot on that wall
And I was focused on aiming properly, tapping him with my AK because I only saw a small part of his head
I could see the impacts sticking in thin air like when you shoot a skybox
So I asked myself "what the fuck is going on?"
So at that moment, I knew where he was, but as to how to kill him, since I tried but ended up shooting in a wall, I had absolutely no idea
At that moment we just tried to think very very hard
We tried to come up with a way to kill him
We told ourselves "Ok, I saw him from there, so he can see here.
And everytime we went sewer he killed us, so he could see there
Vincent died near B in T spawn, so he's also able to see there."
So in the end the only place he couldn't see, was A Long
So we tried to go there during a round but it didn't work
But at the same time when he saw no one was around he knew where we were going
First of all, we would have liked for the admin to pause the match immediatly when he saw
"Do you think they made a mistake?"
Yes clearly they made one
That would have been the most professional decision
And in the end there were only unprofessional decisions made
Including us, with how we communicated on Twitter
And unfortunately, I think it worked in our advantage
But yes, at least for me, I feel very disappointed with the way the DreamHack has dealt with this crisis
That was unbelievable
In our place you'd feel the same anger
So I hope this will never happen again
I was really angry
Not because we had lost
Because I'm ok with losing, but it depends on the way it happens
That's what made me angry, the way we lost
So at that time I was disappointed with fnatic's players
Because as a player, as a competitor
You play to win by being the best, not to win thanks to little tricks like that
You play because you want to lift the trophy, after you've proved everyone that you were the best
Not because you found the trick
So I was really angry with that, and I didn't understand because that's something I would never do
A few weeks later, after winning first place at the X Games
shox and his teammates changed their colors and joined Team EnVyUs
When he told me about it I asked to see the contract
Because I had seen contracts from other organizations before, which I won't name
And I had told him to refuse, because they were too fishy
I saw that it wasn't the same thing as Titan
Titan was from a private investor that loved esports
Whereas with EnVyUs, they knew what they were talking about
That knew what the esport industry was
That knew how to manage an organization
with passion
It was kind of sad that they chose to leave LDLC, because things were working well, with MoMaN and everyone
But with EnVyUs, they were stepping into a new category
They had to give it a go
But as we say, all good things must come to an end, and sometimes a painful one
The player's egos were too strong, and during a trip to Montreal for the ESWC in summer 2015
The team definitively split up
shox and SmithZz got replaced by another duo from Titan, kennyS and apEX
I remember very well, I was in my bed, and it was like 6 in the morning
I got a message and I took a look
It was Richard, and the text was simply saying "Eddy and I got kicked"
And I also remember very well
My answer was "is this a joke?"
He told me it wasn't, and I couldn't understand anything
I didn't understand because I really liked EnVy as an org, the jersey, but also Mike (hastr0)
I talked to him a few times and he's a really great man
I liked the team and how they played
I knew they had some problems and that everything wasn't perfect
I didn't know the details
but the kick made me really angry
Because I felt like it was such a waste
Because I thought that this team, first "Mercenary", then "LDLC", etc.
was a beautiful team, there was a lot to do with it
like in any other team there were things to work on
What made me blow a fuse was that...
they were five men, almost adults, and they were never able to sit down and have a real talk
I sent a message to the both of them, moreover that was still during the lan
If I remember well they had to meet someone the next day... Cloud9 I think
I sent "destroy them", and that's what they actually did
I watched the results after that, and the first two at the top of the scoreboard were shox and SmithZz, that made me smile
For me, we just had a team problem, something we needed to solve
So at some point I was at the bar, just having a drink by myself
I was thinking about what others had told me, I had asked my parents for advice
About how I should deal with the situation, if I should talk directly to the people involved
then I stood up and went to smoke outside
And while going, I saw Happy, NBK, kioShiMa, apEX, Kenny and Next going to eat together
Usually we'd eat together, so I took a look at my phone to see if they had told me they went to eat, nothing
We didn't always eat together but at least we'd tell each other where we went
And there I just saw the six of them leaving together
In my head I was like "well, they just want to enjoy Montreal, they wanted to eat, alright"
When they came back they went to the bar, and they saw me
But the six of them simply passed me and went to a table
That's when I thought "Woah"
I was feeling like everyone was looking at me in the hotel
And I was like "what's happening? Why are you looking at me like that?"
I got fed up with this atmosphere so I went to see Maniac and Next
And while coming closer I heard what they were talking about
And I heard Maniac say to Next "They'll see, Dan and Kenny also have their bad points"
When I heard that I thought
"No way"
I sat down, wondering what was happening
Jordan (Next) looked at me and said "You know, right?"
That was a great team and I had a lot of hope
It's sad but I was too naive because in my head we were a team, I had my bad points just like others
We were going through a difficult time but for me it was just temporary
Even if it had to be for 2, 3 or 4 months, at some point we'd just put everything on the table and make things better
I never thought about making changes within the team
During the ESWC, people were looking at us strangely, they knew about it and we didn't
I wasn't practicing much anymore and it was showing on my individual level
But that wasn't the real reason
Because when it comes to individual skills, at that time if you played a lot of DM then you'd get better again
The real reason was "if Richard isn't here, you won't be the same"
Which was perfectly true
That was his biggest disappointment, and for me too
I was very sad, very disappointed, very angry, everything at the same time
I almost never cried because of CS
But after this kick, a spent an hour crying in the streets of Montreal, Eddy cried a lot too
We even cried with EnVy's boss who was with us, he was sad too
He was trying to patch things up, saying "you're a winning team you'll get back on your feet"
But the others had already made their decision
And it was like that for 30mn, I was trying to defend myself, EnVy's boss was also trying to help me, but the others never went back on their decision
We could say anything we wanted their decision was absolute
Without any alternative, the duo logically went the opposite way
Richard joined once again the organization that never brought him luck a year and a half ago, and it wouldn't be better this time around
Failures were lining up a lot more than victories, especially during the Majors, and ScreaM's arrival wouldn't change anything
While EnVyUs was reaching the top, Titan was stagnating
The organization had to put an end to the adventure, and at the beginning of 2016, the five players joined G2 Esports
A vain change, that wasn't able to give a new momentum to the team
As for me, I think I was still stuck on the kick for 2 or 3 months
I couldn't move on
So I wasn't as dedicated as I should have been during the first months
And when I tried to pull myself together, I felt that something was wrong
Sometimes it's hard to point it out or define what's wrong, but you feel it
I felt that it wasn't the team I had before
And it was very hard to find one like that again
After another failure at the MLG Colombus, first Major to take place in America,
The team took the heavy decision of kicking their leader, Ex6TenZ
That was during a Major, he went to tell me they were going to kick Ex6TenZ
Woah
That's a harsh decision
So of course, it became a hot topic within the CS community
Because Ex6TenZ was a real icon
For me, he was an obstacle for the team at that time
The players were loosing their trust in him and in his calls
They were trusting my calls more than his
So from that point it became an irrevesible problem
Ex6 is great man, as a person I really like him
I admire him a lot for everything he's done, and for what he's doing now
And for me his biggest fault has always been that he doesn't know how to adapt himself, I mean look at him today with LDLC
He still has more or less the same game plan that he had two years ago
Shox added another virtue to his collection: Leader
Some were worried about the impact this role would have on Richard's performance
I told him "Yeah ok, but who chose that?"
And he told me that he did
And honestly my first reaction was to ask: "But for how long?"
Because I told him "I know you...
I don't know if you'll get the motivation to become IGL, and to remain a lead for long.
Will you really be willing to remain a leader for long enough?"
He quickly reassured the most scepticals
By reaching a level rarely ever seen
As a real cornerstone of the team, forming a devastating duo with ScreaM
He brought G2 to the top, especially with their victory in the ECS' finals, and the 250,000$ reward
But as per usual for the last few years, shox found it difficult to last for long
After the first few months, the team had a hard time trying to renew itself and find a new energy
Richard's performances remained good but weren't enough to make the difference
The line-up seemed to be losing its soul, and started failing much more earlier during the tournaments
Late 2016 was a hard road for shox
and the national rival EnVyUs was facing the same difficulties
Rumours about new roster changes were more and more present
And in late January 2017 after yet another Major ended in the group stage
The French scene got agitated
The rumours went well about the composition of a new French top team
Speculations finally stopped when shox annouced his desire to keep bodyy besides him
They would be joined by the EnVyUs' trio
NBK, apEX and kennyS
His lifelong friend and teammate, SmithZz, decided to retire as a player
He would become coach of that new team
Shox pursued his role as a leader, which he had begun to do a year ago and seemed to suit him well
It allowed him to express his game, his ideas and gave him the feeling that he could learn even more about this game he had discovered a decade ago
For the first time, he talked about his new line-up as a long term project
Over with the honeymoon phase of a few months before the void
The goal was now different, and even if the first weeks were complicated, they aimed at getting to the top over time
What I want is to succeed taking my team to the top
For at least 6 months, or a season
If I succeed, I'll be really proud
Their victory at the DH Tours after a rough beginning seemed to prove him right
Surrounded by the people he chose, shox is still hungry for victory, even after winning everything
He's able to change the momentum of a match by himself, and carry his team on his shoulders
He has proved over the years that he is one of the best players Counter-Strike has ever known
Like swiss army knife, he's able to do it all
His paths, filled with many ups and downs, is still far from its end
Now 25, shox is nowhere near finished to writing his history and the history of Counter-Strike
His amazing record can still welcome other trophies
It is up to him to go write his name on the things he desires
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