Throughout the entirety of CS:GO, there has always been a French contender. From VeryGames to Titan, LDLC to EnVyUs, there has always been a French roster that could be considered elite. As it stands currently, the two best French sides, EnYyUs and G2 Esports, are both top ten teams but neither are real contenders to win premier tournaments. And as always, when two French lineups are not winning, a French roster shuffle is inevitable.
G2’s Drop
Earlier this year, G2 were legit contenders. They finished second at the EPL season 3, losing in the finals to Luminosity, the Brazilian lineup who were the best team in the world for most of 2016. G2 faced Luminosity again at the ECS season 1 finals, this time winning the tournament. They then made the finals at the StarSeries season 2, again finishing second. During this run there were times when they seemed a bit up and down, but did enough to remain elite.
Unfortunately, this run of form did not last and G2 has fallen off quite a bit. They finished in dead last at ESL One New York, losing every map they played. They made it out of their group at EPICENTER, but lost in first round of the bracket stage to SK. Most recently G2 failed to make it out of their group at ELeague for the second straight season.
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EnVyUs in Turmoil
Since EnVyUs picked up Timothée “DEVIL” Démolon, they were constantly stuck around the bottom half of the top ten. Over the past few months they have been able to make it out of the group stages of most tournaments they have attended, but they have never made deep runs at large events and never looked very dangerous. They did make it to the semifinals at DreamHack Bucharest but lost to Cloud9 who have since overtaken them in the standings. They also won the Gfinity Invitational, but only four teams attended, all of which were tier two.
For a few months Dan “aPEX” Madesclaire looked like the best player on EnVyUs. His explosive entry fragging did seem to carry them for a time while Kenny “kennyS” Schrub was building back up. Right now, a legitmate case can be made that kennyS is once again the best AWPer in the world. DEVIL was easily the worst player on the team and has since been kicked in favor of Christophe “SIXER” Xia. Vincent “Happy” Cervoni has been steady enough in his lurk role while Nathan “NBK” Schmitt is slightly slumping and has looked average at best in his support role. For a time the team’s roles were in flux as they tried to change things up, but have since reverted to their traditional roles.
A Shuffle in the Works
While both G2 and EnVyUs are probably still top ten teams, they are at the lower end and neither seem like real threats. There is the off chance that shox or kennyS can go on a tear, but it still isn’t enough for them to win series consistently. At the last two majors, both teams failed to get out of the group stage. It has become public knowledge that the players’ contracts end sometime early next year so the rumors of a French shuffle are already circulating. With the next major set to take place in January, unless one of these teams makes a serious run, a French roster shuffle is almost certain. shox and kennyS have never played on a real team together but if their form continues it is only right that they join forces.
