The French 'Le Tank' has officially played his last competitive CS:GO match. The 32-year-old Team Vitality player won nine S-tier events throughout his 14 year-long stints at the highest levels of Counter-Strike. Cédric "RpK" Guipouy represented some of the biggest French teams in CS:GO on Team Vitality, Team Envy, G2 Esports, Titan, VeryGames, and Epsilon eSports.

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The retirement came after a time on the bench for RpK, who was replaced by the much younger Jayson "Kyojin" Nguyen Van earlier this year. RpK's last tournament was BLAST Premier Showdown, where Team Vitality crashed out in the group stage.

We celebrate the great Cédric "RpK" Guipouy with a video with some of the best moments in his career. Merci pour tout, Le Tank!

Team Vitality

Earlier this month, the Counter-Strike world lost one of its heroes when Cédric "RpK" Guipouy or “Le Tank” announced his retirement from competitive CS:GO. The strong Frenchmen was an iconic and influential figure on the Counter-Strike scene for almost 15 years.

In a press conference held by ESL, we took the time to talk with RpK’s former teammate Richard ‘shox’ Papillon. When asked about RpK’s career and his influence on French CS, the Vitality star quickly said that you couldn’t just answer this in 3, 4 or 5 minutes. But shox gave it a shot.

- RpK is not the type of guy who necessarily takes the decisions on a team, but he’s really good at being a solider. In a team, it’s always nice to have different personalities, and one of them is “the soldier”, where RpK probably was one of the best in this world. Whatever you ask RpK to do – he will do it.

I have been an in-game leader for more than three years, where I also had him on my team. Having a guy like that, who brings a lot outside of the server and does whatever you ask him in the server, is definitely a big quality, shox said about his former teammate.

You can watch the entire interview with shox in this video.

RpK was not a player who topped the individual rankings tournament after tournament. However, the French tank wasn’t shy of handing out crisp headshots and incredible plays, while being on the server. We have collected some of the best plays from his career in this tribute video down below.

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shox

Since 2006 Cédric "RpK" Guipouy has blessed us with some crazy highlights and scarily consistent performances for his teams. Starting his professional Counter-Strike journey playing Source he later moved over to Global Offensive and quickly occupied a spot within Team Verygames' roster, one of the best rosters at the beginning of Global Offensive. Today he has announced his retirement from the professional CS:GO scene.

Despite Verygames' strong performances they kept falling short of the iconic NiP roster back in the beginning stages of CS:GO. In December 2012 "RpK" decided to put a hold to his career for an unforeseeable amount of time. This, however, wasn't the end of "Le Tank" as he reinvented himself with Titan in 2015 and became an even more well-rounded player than before. 

Whilst it is sad to finally have to say goodbye to one of Counter-Strike's undeniable legends, he has produced many joyful and incredible moments throughout his career to remember and cherish. Take a look at some of the best moments from "Le Tank" - the French assassin: 

Titan

Since benching their anchor in Cédric "RpK" Guipouy the French team of Vitality has experienced some slumps in performances. Alongside his teammates the superstar of Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut has also experienced some difficulties as of late. After being crowned the best player in the world of 2020, we have come to expect the best from the 20-year-old AWP'er. 

Throughout the 10 games that Vitality has played at the event, their main star "ZywOo" has managed to acquire a rating of 1.36. The rating of 1.36 is the highest at the entire event and proves that "ZywOo" and Vitality wasn't just a 2020 fluke. 

One again it seems as if "ZywOo" and Vitality are beginning to find their footing. Despite loosing to the side of OG in the Semi-finals, they have put up a great performance at the current IEM Summer 2021 event. The French side of Vitality put up one of their best performances in recent times against Virtus.pro, with "ZywOo" managing a 1.77 rating in the Bo3-series. Take a look at the highlights produced by a scary Vitality roster against Virtus.pro: 

ZywOo

Virtus.pro

The star-studded Vitality side has not been up to their usual high levels so far in 2021, as the Frenchmen has lacked consistency and a steady form for the entire year. The otherwise dominant team has presented one disappointing result after another, even though possessing superstars like Richard “shox” Papillon and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut.

The early exits at the prominent events of IEM Katowice ESL Pro League, seemed like that was the last straw for Vitality and the current roster. Following the disappointing showings, they announced the benching of their loyal servant Cédric "RpK" Guipouy, which paved the way for the rather unknown Jayson "Kyojin" Nguyen Van.  

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Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam has now, in an interview with 1pv.fr, touched on the roster moves regarding the benching of RpK and Nivera and the signing of Kyojin,  and why he believed that the timing was right.

- We arrived at the conclusion that something had to change. Some people say that we should just hold out until LANs are back, but those people don’t realize how long the season is and we don’t know when LANs will be back. There are big tournaments being played in the online era and we have to respect our organization, which needs good results.

[link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/31635/xtqzzz-on-signing-kyojin-the-only-hard-and-painful-moment-was-telling-rpk-he-was-being-benched","text":"Transcribed interview by HLTV (English) "}]

Here you can see the full interview by 1pv.fr featuring XTQZZZ:

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Nivera

Kyojin

Unlike many of his French kinsmen, Cedric “RpK” Guipouy has long been regarded as an altogether unemotional assailant. A silent yet slippery sentinel who’s strong in any position and able to stay calm and collected in even the tensest of circumstances. A reputation that’s led him to being dubbed “The Tank”.

He has been one of CS:GO’s biggest names for over a decade, but now the Team Vitality man is leaving ZywOo and company behind to consider his future.

The Frenchman has stepped down from Vitality’s active roster, so in honor of Le Tank, let’s take a look back at his incredible career so far.

In the upsetting win, 9z managed to produce some fantastic moments, in the sensational match.

In this situation, it is EasTor against RpK^ and one of the best in the world ZywOo, which makes this clutch even better.

EasTor managed to kill RpK^, plant the bomb and then kill ZywOo in the end, when 9z needed a clutch after losing the first five rounds on Nuke, they ended up losing the map, but it was moments like these that set fire up in the team, and helped them do what seemed impossible in the last two maps.  

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EasTor

It is the last tournament for Cédric "RpK" Guipouy on Team Vitality, so there is no doubt, that the Frenchmen will play their hearts out at BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.

They face the South American team from 9z, who is not predicted any chances at the tournament, but we only have to look back on Day 1 at the tournament to see, that anything is possible!

Today was the day where Vitality announced that "RpK" was to be benched for Vitality after their next event. In his experienced and well-traveled shoes is young Jayson "Kyojin" Nguyen Van going to be stepping in, or at least attempting. You can read more about Vitality and their new signing right here: 

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/vitality-name-young-frenchman-new-fifth/"}]

We have very little knowledge of the newly signed Vitality player since he has only played professional Counter-Strike as a stand-in for teams such as Heretics. Now he will get his chance to prove to everyone exactly how great he can be, once signed as an integral part of a CS:GO roster. For now, take a look at some of the highlights the young Frenchman has created: 

Heretics

Vitality have experienced some slumps in performance lately. After a phenomenal 2020 season, it took a slight turn in 2021. Whilst they are still, undoubtedly, a force to be reckoned with, they have looked rather sluggish in some of their recent performances. Unfortunately, the organization has announced that due to these shifts in performance they have decided to remove Cédric "RpK" Guipouy from its roster. You can read more about the announcement here:  

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/french-legend-leaves-vitality-after-blast-spring-showdown/"}]

Whilst it always sad to let go of some of the greatest players in Counter-Strike the removal of "RpK" is perhaps one of the more dreaded ones. "RpK" is one of the greatest examples of consistency within the professional Counter-Strike scene. Proving everyone that says you can't play professional Counter-Strike above the age of 30 wrong. 

Throughout his career "RpK" has proven himself to be a phenomenal team player, a crucial anchor, and an accountable clutcher. A player that is, seemingly, always good for at least a kill, even in the toughest of situations. Take a look at "RpK" and his impressive 2020 season, despite being above the age of 30: 

The legendary rifler Cédric "RpK" Guipouy will soon be history within the superstar team of Vitality, as the Frenchmen announce his exit from the active roster. The 31-year old player has been a vital and influential individual in the team but also in the French scene in general.

Vitality head coach, Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam mourns about the decision but he believes that Vitality needs a "new pace" on the roster.

- It’s one of these tough decisions that we have to make. Cedric (RpK) is an example of an achiever, consistent and inspiring player. The team is facing some difficulties and we need to find a new pace.

It’s never easy to let a legendary, inspiring, and consistent player such as RpK step back from competition, and we’ll do everything we can do to support him in what’s yet to come.

We love it when members of the professional CS:GO scene take their time to produce content on their own platforms.

The French Team Vitality player Cédric "RpK" Guipouy has recently started his own CS:GO channel on Youtube.

In his first video, he takes us through a difficult 1vs4 spot at the 2019 IEM Beijing.

The Frenchmen came close to victory against 100 Thieves, but lost the Semi-Final in the end.

Unlike many of his French kinsmen, RpK has long been regarded as an altogether unemotional assailant. A silent yet slippery sentinel who’s strong in any position and able to stay calm and collected in even the tensest of circumstances. A reputation that’s led him to being dubbed “The tank”.

So, how is it that RpK came to embody this vehicular playstyle in the first place, in what sense did his Counter-Strike career come dangerously close to ending before it even got started and how is it that he’s still able to stonewall zoomers despite being in his thirties?

He was once a strong profile in the CS:GO scene who competed on the very top, playing on some of the biggest teams in G2 and Team Envy with teammates as Richard "shox" Papillon and Cédric "RpK" Guipouy. He’s also the individual in the history of CS:GO who holds the highest headshot percentage (Top 30), presenting a staggering 65.8% throughout his career. The name is Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom.

ScreaM was known for his unreal mechanical aim, which often looked more like an aim hack due to the incredible and relentless precision from the Belgian international. The man was unstoppable with the AK-47, and used the gun as his own one-tap machine, tapping the opponent’s heads time after time.

In June 2020, the 26-year old one-tap legend shifted into CS:GO’s rival game, as he joined a high number of pros who decided to quit their CS career to join Valorant.

Read more. "Over 200 professionals have left the CS:GO scene in 2020" 

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/over-200-professionals-have-left-cs-go-scene-2020/"}]

G2 Esports

Envy

It took a reverse sweep from the Frenchmen to claim the victory in the Semi-Final against BIG. 

The Germans surprised in the map veto by picking Vertigo instead of their usual pick Dust2.

The gamble paid off for BIG, who was the best team on both sides winning the map 16-9. 

For Team Vitality it was a wake-up call with only Cédric “RpK” Guipouy delivering on his usual level.

If BIG thought, that they might have shooked the French giants they were wrong. Really, really wrong.

In one of the most one-sided maps seen in a long time, Team Vitality steamrolled BIG 16-1 on Inferno!

Dust2 was left as the decider. A map veto that might have seemed to go in favor of BIG, with one of their favorite maps being the decider. But the Germans had left it out in the first place due to a bad history against the Frenchmen, who had won their last three encounters.

Vitality started the map by making their third substitution during the match. shox replaced misutaaa.

But it was ZywOo, who went BIG on Dust2. The French Superstar crushed his German adversaries with a dominant performance going 21-7 just in the first half.

Team Vitality showed their brilliance by winning Dust2 16-2! A pure humiliation of the Germans, who only won three rounds in the last two maps.

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Team Vitality is now ready for the Grand Final once again. They will meet either Astralis, Natus Vincere or BIG.

Misutaaa

After being delayed for over two hours due to player protests the BO3-series between Mousesports and Vitality was set to begin. 

To many people’s surprise, Mousesports opted to start the battle on Inferno, instead of their main map Nuke. This, of course, meant that the 19-year-old prospect Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom was brought into the Vitality line-up. “Nivera” replaces his teammate Richard “Shox” Papillon, who usually plays the role of Vitality’s A-site anchor. 

The map started in favor of Mousesports as they won the first pistol round. Vitality, however, answered back in the following round and the two teams began to exchange rounds in a close battle. Vitality ended the first half the strongest as they lead 9-6 at halftime due to an impressive performance by the riffler “RpK” and clutch wins by “Nivera”. 

Vitality continued to assert their dominance on their t-side in the second half. Winning the second pistol-round they continued their momentum and expanded their lead to 12-6 before being answered back by Mousesports. Despite Mousesports answering back Vitality and disrupting their streak of round-wins, the relentless pressure from the French roster was, seemingly, too much for Mousesports to handle as Nivera closes out the first map at 16-7 to Vitality.

Watcht the rest of the BO3-series LIVE here: 

mousesports

Watch some of the best plays in 2020 with the Desert Eagle from the pro scene.

The video is edited by Swedish "Virre CSGO" channel.

ropz

tiziaN

The world number #1 Vitality and #2 Heroic met in a much-awaited quarter-final at IEM Beijing this evening. The two teams have been the best performers throughout 2020 and have been a matchup which has presented two stellar Grand Finals earlier this year.

The Frenchmen managed to get their revenge through a 2-1 victory after strong performances on Overpass (16-7) and Inferno (16-12) with Heroic winning on Nuke (19-16).

Cédric “RpK” Guipouy were the shining star in Vitality’s confident victory on Overpass. The Tank dominated the server and outplayed the entire Heroic team. The Frenchmen had a phenomenal stat line in 28-13 k/d, 124.9 ADR, 1.87 rating and led his team to the vital map win.

The Danes came back after the loss on Overpass and managed to take home the victory in overtime on Nuke. However, Vitality displayed an outstanding level of CS on the deciding match on Inferno with clinical entries, strong anchors topped off with ZywOo’s incredible talents. The French prodigy stepped up and secured the 2-1 victory through an immense 1.45 rating and this wonderful ace.

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Vitality will play against Complexity in the semi-final tomorrow at 18.30 (CET).

Heroic

The worlds no. 1 team is facing the Frenchmen in the DH Open Fall upper bracket final. 

Watch the match live here: [twitchChannel:dreamhackcs]

device

Astralis

The French team, Vitality remains undefeated as they take their fifth victory in a row at DreamHack Open Fall in a roller coaster of a match. A match between two teams who both have displayed a very good form so far, and also two teams with a lot of different and dangerous weapons.

The match started on Dust2 as BIG's map pick. Vitality and BIG have been two of the best Dust2 teams for a period, both presenting good track records on the map where BIG has won 9 out the last 11, and Vitality 7 out of the last 10.

It was also a close beginning to the map with the two teams taking turns winning rounds resulting in a slight advantage for Vitality at half time by an 8-7 score. The second half wasn’t as close due to a very strong t-side from Vitality and an RPK anti-eco ace that settled the map with a confident 16-11 victory on BIG’s map pick.

BIG and their struggles continued at Inferno and did not look like a team that has earned a spot at the upper bracket. ZywOo on the other hand started the map red hot helping Vitality take a quick 9-2 lead with 17 kills from his hands. BIG however managed to recover towards the end of first half through strong and important plays by their star players XANTARES and syrsoN, setting the score at 9-6 to Vitality.

The second half starts with a pistol round win by Vitality on their CT-side. BIG didn’t manage to rise after another setback, and Vitality eventually ran over the German side settling the 16-11 map win, and the 2-0 victory. ZywOo was a big factor for the win, presenting a stellar 1.56 rating and a 12+ k/d difference.

Vitality will meet Astralis in the upper bracket final tomorrow at 20:00 (CEST) while BIG, on the other hand has to move down in lower bracket.

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RpK

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