At this very moment, the future of Richard “shox” Papillon looks highly uncertain. The French legend is currently without a team after departing Nakama this week, and the game that he has played and loved for more than a decade is about to get replaced by a new and younger model over the summer.

We have spoken with the French legend about his future, his feelings about not competing at the Major in his home country, and whether or not he could see himself transitioning into coaching.

Note: The interview happened a couple of days before shox announced his departure from Nakama.

How does it make you feel not to be and compete at the Paris Major in your home country?

- Honestly, it's hard. It's hard. Of course, I would love to compete in Paris, but you don't want to live in the past. So, there is no reason for me to just be sad or angry because I'm not here. It's done. Of course, when I didn't qualify for the Major at the beginning of the year, it was a rough period for me and it was really hard to handle.

- But nothing is going to change, and now it’s better just to just focus on the good things; that the last CS:GO major in history is going to be in France and just enjoy that. So I'm just going to try to enjoy the Paris Major from a spectator perspective, and hopefully, I will get a slot to go to Paris and maybe see some familiar faces and also see the French crowd.

Do you think it has created some extra motivation for you to miss out on the Major?

- I feel like I already have the motivation, you know. It's not because I'm failing the last few months that things are not working, and that I don't have the motivation. You know, sometimes you can have the biggest motivation possible, but it doesn't mean it's going to work.

- So my motivation is definitely hard and high, but I can't say not being at the Paris Major makes it even higher. I would say that at the moment, the things that makes my motivation higher than ever is definitely Counter-Strike 2 due to having something new, you know, having a lot of things that's going to happen that you don't know about. I'm feeling very ready for this challenge and I can't wait for it to begin.

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With your knowledge and your insight of the game and the French scene, is the future looking bright for French Counter-Strike with the teams and upcoming talents out there?

- No, honestly. At this moment, you can't say so. And this is why it's going to be really interesting for Counter-Strike and see how the Paris Major is going to bring maybe more French players to the game.

- Having the last ever CS:GO Major in France and then having the start of Counter-Strike 2 one or two months after is something that can really help the scene. Maybe if Vitality is winning the Paris Major, it will give some people in France motivation to maybe launch the game on Counter-Strike 2 and maybe from there we will have some surprises in the next few years with like some upcoming talents.

Do you think you set the bar too high for you and Nakama when you, in your announcement stream on Twitch, said that the main objective was to qualify for the Paris Major?

- I can't say if it was too hard or maybe it was too high. It's really important to set goals in life and the goal to play to the Paris match. The resistance is going to be the last major in CSGO and it was the first one. It's going to be the first one in France. It was really like important and we were all willing to play over there. I don't think it was like, impossible. I just think, like, unfortunately, things didn't go like how I thought it would go. Of course. Um, but I can't have any regrets since. Since if you want to chase your dream, you have to believe in it. So that's what we did. But unfortunately, it was not enough.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Copyright_-_Helena-Kristiansson_-_shox_xqw4cs","originalWidth":3840,"originalHeight":2160,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Helena Kristiansson ESL","alt":"CS:GO, Counter-Strike, shox"}]

Did you sacrifice a bit of your own interests when taking on this Nakama project to help and develop these youngsters and newcomers?

- I mean this was something that wasn't a sacrifice because this was something I really wanted to do. Sooner or later I would have done it, and I choose this moment because of the Paris Major while I was thinking like, this is the best moment to do it. And so, yeah, I needed to I needed for my personal like, experience to just try it.

Shox’s thoughts about the shift from CS:GO to Counter-Strike 2

- We have Counter-Strike 2 around the corner and that is something I've been waiting for; to just have like a great change in Counter-Strike. Because I feel CS:GO, despite being the best game in the world in my opinion, still doesn't have enough updates to always like have something new. And sometimes it can be long with one meta, always having the same maps same and not changing for months or even years. Sometimes it can be long and I'm feeling like we need something to change and now it's finally coming. So my motivation is higher than it has ever been.

Have you considered being a coach after you retire?

- Yeah of course. I have already thought about this and I would probably give it a try for sure. And then we will see if I like it and also if I can I be good at it. But for now, I still want to play. But for sure, as soon as I'm  done playing, this is something I will explore and try to help the team as much as I can by being a coach.

Do you think you will be good at coaching?

- Yes, I think this is something where I can be good because I think I'm good at organizing. I also been a leader in-game, and I also worked with players that were way above my age, if that makes sense. It's been a lot of years and I've been in different teams and I know what works and what doesn't work, but also what is important for a team. And this is something I will definitely like be very happy to do and to help the players.

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shox

The legendary CS:GO rifler Richard "shox" Papillon and his younger countryman Jayson "Kyojin" Nguyen Van has been removed from the active roster on Nakama, the organization reveals on [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/nakama_esports/status/1655627722629034006","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitter"}].

This marks an end to a short 4-month tenure with the roster for shox, which he himself captained and was a founding figure of, while kyojin first joined the team in early March this year. Nakama has issued the following on the recent roster change.

- We would like to inform you today of the removal of shox and Kyojin from the active roster. We would like to thank both players for their dedication and hard work on the project. While we search for their replacements, they will continue to assist us as stand-ins for ESEA matches if needed, Nakama wrote in a Twitlonger.

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This was shox’s third time being either benched or removed from a CS:GO team ever since he left the French top team Vitality back in December 2021.

First he departed Team Liquid after a failed attempt in North America, then he moved to Scandinavia and Apeks where he did not find any success either, and now, nearly halfway through 2023, shox is once again on his way out of a team.

It will be interesting to see where the former Major winner will land next.

Removing shox and kyojin leaves Nakama with only three players.

Kyojin

We are less than two weeks away from the start of the BLAST.tv Paris Major. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 18 Majors.

Winner: Ninjas in Pyjamas $100.00 (f0rest, Fifflaren, friberg, GeT_RiGhT, Xizt)

MVP: [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/friberg","isNewTab":true,"text":"Adam 'friberg' Friberg"}]

Map pool: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Cache, Overpass, and Cobblestone

Big changes had happened before the start of ESL One Cologne 2014. The map pool of the tournament had seen a major overhaul with Train being removed, while Cache, Cobblestone, and Overpass were added. Overpass had only recently been introduced in the game, which gave way for some controversy before the start of the Major.

Once again Ninjas in Pyjamas was deemed one of the top favorites before the tournament. The Swedes had lost the Grand Final at a Major twice in a row, but with Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund back in shape, the expectations were sky-high for the Swedes. Next in line was the previous champions from Virtus.pro, while Dignitas, Natus Vincere, Titan, and Fnatic were in the group of potential outsiders for the trophy.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"Affiliation/SKINS_reklame_Pley_AWP_y5dwfh","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":480,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","url":"https://bit.ly/3CWWVHW","isNewTab":true}]

From the get-go, it was two French teams who stole the spotlight. Team LDLC smashed Group B and qualified in first place for the playoffs. Epsilon repeated the feat in Group A upsetting tournament favorites from Ninjas in Pyjamas. The French roster (fxy0, GMX, kioShiMa, Sf, shox) destroyed NIP 16-6 on Cobblestone to claim first place in the group. This raised the question about NIP's candidacy for the CSGO throne. The Swedes made it through their group and were now paired with the high-flying Cloud9 in the first round of the playoffs.

Fnatic narrowly edged out Natus Vincere, while Epsilon was put to rest by Dignitas (aizy, device, dupreeh, FeTiSh, Xyp9x). The reigning champions Virtus.pro were upset by Team LDLC, while all eyes were set on the last Quarter-Final. In an intense and dramatic match, Ninjas in Pyjamas fought the North Americans in a ferocious battle that ended 2-1 in the favor of the Swedes. 

Fnatic qualified for the Grand Final with a clear 2-0 win against Dignitas. Would it be another all-Swedish final? NIP once again lost the first map, after Team LDLC won on Inferno. But again NIP fought back and forced the match onto Cobblestone, where NIP edged out their opponents 16-14.  

The two Swedish rivals, Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas were ready for their second encounter in a Major Grand Final. This time NIP started off by winning Fnatic's map pick, but then went on to lose Cache. Inferno was set as the decider. Adam 'friberg' Friberg cemented his nickname "King of Banana" with an incredible ace to revive the Ninjas from a poor start. The support player was later named MVP of the tournament. NIP won the title by defeating Fnatic 16-13 and could raise the trophy for the first and so far only time. Notable was the fact, that none of the five NIP players ended the tournament as one of the top 10 best rated players, which also told the story about a tournament filled with ups and downs for the Swedish roster.

Highest-rated players at ESL One Cologne 2014:

1. {cflag:US} Braxton 'swag' Pierce (iBUYPOWER) - 1.43

2. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/apex","isNewTab":false,"text":"Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire"}] (LDLC) - 1.38

3. {cflag:RU} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/dosia","isNewTab":true,"text":"Mikhail 'Dosia' Stolyarov"}] (Hellraisers) - 1.35

4. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/kioshima","isNewTab":true,"text":"Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey"}] (Epsilon) - 1.33

5. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/kennys","isNewTab":true,"text":"Kenny 'kennyS' Schrub"}] (Titan) - 1.28

6. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/snax","isNewTab":true,"text":"Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.27

7. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/flusha","isNewTab":true,"text":"Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist"}] (Fnatic) - 1.24

8. {cflag:UA} Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev (Natus Vincere) - 1.22

9. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/shox","isNewTab":true,"text":"Richard 'shox' Papillon"}] (Epsilon) - 1.21

10. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/olofmeister","isNewTab":true,"text":"Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Gustafsson"}] (Fnatic) - 1.19

Tomorrow we take a look at the DreamHack Winter 2014 tournament.

friberg

olofmeister

Snax

Dosia

apEX

Fnatic

Ninjas in Pyjamas

We are less than two weeks away from the start of BLAST.tv Major in Paris. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all the previous 18 Majors.

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MVP: Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski

Map pool: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, and Train.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"tournaments/IEM_Katowice_ESL_k3ikvh","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL IEM Katowice"}]

The second Major in history took place in March 2014. The venue was the now legendary Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland. Once again 16 teams were gathered to determine, who was the best team in Counter-Strike right now? Since the first Major in Jönköping, VeryGames (Now Titan) had only improved. The roster (Ex6TenZ, NBK, ScreaM, shox, SmithZz) was dubbed tournament favorites going into the Major. The Swedish Ninjas were also among the top favorites while reigning champions from Fnatic were once again considered underdogs compared to Titan and NIP.

Group A delivered the first upset with tournament favorites Titan's exit. A 16-7 loss to Virtus.pro shocked the French/Belgian roster, who had to win the elimination match against HellRaisers to survive. But another loss forced the star-studded roster to be eliminated before the playoffs. Instead the only Polish team in the tournament, Virtus.pro made it through in first place. The roster (TaZ, NEO, pashaBiceps, byali, Snax) had only recently been assembled, but everything seemed to be clicking on home turf.

In the playoffs Virtus.pro annihilated Team LDLC 16-3, 16-8. Now all eyes were on the home crowd's favorites. Fnatic was eliminated in the Quarter-Finals, while Ninjas in Pyjamas once again had qualified for the Grand Final. This time by beating Team Dignitas with three of the legendary Astralis core (Xyp9x, dupreeh, device) on the roster.

Virtus.pro lost their first and only map in the whole event in the Semi-Final against LGB esports (with Olofmeister on the roster), but managed to win the match 2-1 to make it to the Grand Final.

You can watch the entire Grand Final between NIP vs Virtus.pro here.

The Grand Final ended with total Polish domination. The underdogs continued their miracle run in front of an ecstatic crowd. 16-9 and 16-10 were the stone-cold facts for Ninjas in Pyjamas, who lost their second consecutive Major final. Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski was awarded the tournament MVP with an immense 1.38 HLTV rating.

Virtus.pro continued to dominate CS:GO in the years to come. They earned themselves the nickname of "The Plow". They never won a Major again though.

Highest rated players at EMS One Katowice 2014:

1. {cflag:PL} Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' Jarząbkowski (Virtus.pro) - 1.38 rating

2. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/get-right","isNewTab":true,"text":"Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund"}] (Ninjas in Pyjamas) - 1.33 rating

3. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/byali","isNewTab":true,"text":"Paweł 'byali' Bieliński"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.31 rating

4. {cflag:DK} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/cajunb","isNewTab":true,"text":"René 'cajunb' Borg"}] (Dignitas) - 1.27 rating

5. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/shox","isNewTab":true,"text":"Richard 'shox' Papillon"}] (Titan) - 1.26 rating

6. {cflag:SE} Andreas 'znajder' Lindberg (Fnatic) - 1.25 rating

7. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/flusha","isNewTab":true,"text":"Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist"}] (Fnatic) - 1.25 rating

8. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/snax","isNewTab":true,"text":"Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.20 rating

9. {cflag:RU} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/dosia","isNewTab":true,"text":"Mikhail 'Dosia' Stolyarov"}] (HellRaisers) - 1.18 rating

10. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/neo","isNewTab":true,"text":"Filip 'NEO' Kubski"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.16 rating

Tomorrow we will be back with ESL Cologne 2014!

GeT_RiGhT

byali

cajunb

flusha

Virtus.pro

Team Dignitas

In a rather sad turn of events, Richard “shox” Papillon and his team from Nakama will miss out on the upcoming Paris Major in their home country after losing to Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and his Let us cook squad in the BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR Open Qualifier.

The legendary Frenchman and his team were considered strong contenders for the upcoming Major, but their hopes were dashed after a close match against Let us cook. Despite a valiant effort from Nakama, Snax and his team managed to secure a 16-12 victory, thus eliminating Nakama from the tournament.

This news has made a lot of French CS:GO fans sad, as many hoped that he would lead his team to a successful run in the Paris Major. His absence from the Major in his home country will undoubtedly be felt.

BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR Open Qualifier is currently in its second day, with the round of 64 scheduled to take place at 13:15 (CET). The tournament has seen some exciting matches so far, with several teams vying for a chance to compete in the Paris Major.

Fans of the competitive CS:GO scene were in for a surprise today as world-renowned player Richard “shox” Papillon announced the name of his new esports club named Nakama Esports. In a tweet, shox revealed that the team will be competing under the banner of Nakama in the upcoming season.

According to the announcement, shox is responsible for business communication work at the organization, though further details about the organization have yet to be revealed. However, fans were given a glimpse of the team’s immediate plans as shox stated that the team will be starting their competitive journey on the 27th of this month, participating in the IEM Brazil Open Qualifiers. The team’s ultimate goal, as stated by shox, is to secure a spot in the Paris Major in May.

The current lineup for Nakama Esports is as follows: Richard “shox” Papillon, Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux, Jeremy “Kursy” Gast, Ryan “Neityu” Aubry, Paul “day0s” Niel, and Boris “flex0r” Latry who is the assistant coach.

It will be exciting to see how the team performs with this star-studded roster and what the future holds for Nakama Esports in the competitive CS:GO scene.

Richard “shox” Papillon is back in competitive CS:GO joining forces with his former teammate Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux once again, the former Major winner revealed this Wednesday.

In a stream on Twitch, shox announced the full lineup which will consist of Jeremy “kursy” Gast, Ryan “Neityu” Aubry, Paul “Day0s” Niel, shox and SmithZz

The main objective for the team will be to qualify for the upcoming Major in Paris this year, which has been a dream for shox, he said in a [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/shoxCSGO/status/1612887232792383488","isNewTab":true,"text":"video "}]yesterday.

- I have decided to create my own project and launch my own thing with the main objective to go and get this qualification in Paris [BLAST Major]. 

The BLAST Major in Paris will take place in the French capital from the 8th of May until the 21st of May. It will be the first CS:GO Major on French ground and is set to feature 24 teams.

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Last year ended up being a massive disappointment for shox after leaving Vitality back in late 2021. His surprise transfer to North America and Team Liquid only lasted six months as he failed to find his footing together with EliGE and company.

Then the experienced rifler turned back to Europe signing a deal with the Norwegians from Apeks in a lineup with Jkaem, STYKO, nawwk, and jL. However, here he suffered the same fate as in Liquid.

It will be interesting to follow shox and his new project going forward and to see what the charismatic Frenchman can make out of this squad.

The new roster with shox in the lead will look like this:

{cflag:FR} Richard “shox” Papillon (IGL) - 30 years old, former Major winner 

{cflag:FR} Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux (Rifler) 34 years old, former Major winner 

{cflag:FR} Jeremy “kursy” Gast (AWPer) - 21 years old, previously played for GenOne

{cflag:FR} Ryan “Neityu” Aubry (Rifler) - 17 years old, previously played for LDLC

{cflag:FR} Paul “Day0s” Niel (Rifler) - 25 years old 

*Update: According to CS:GO insider [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/neLendirekt/status/1613272932691726364","isNewTab":true,"text":"neL"}], SmithZz will play with the team first but then transition into a staff role when needed to create space for a younger player.

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Apeks

Team Vitality

Team Liquid

One of the most decorated French players in Counter-Strike history, Richard “shox” Papillon, has announced his intention to establish a new French CS:GO team with the focus of making it to the biggest stage in CS:GO at the Paris Major later this year. The 30-year-old Frenchman who has several Top 20 placings in HLTV’s World Player Ranking and a Major under his belt, hopes that the French-themed squad will succeed in their approach to the game, which is the style of CS:GO that he believes in.

The French veteran has throughout his career played with some of Counter-Strike’s biggest legends such as Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Kenny “KennyS” Schrub, winning trophies in almost every team he’s been playing for. With the rumors circulating regarding a reunion of some of the top players from French Counter-Strike, this might be its very first step.

shox still hasn’t announced who is going to be in the lineup for the new team, as he’s chosen to remain silent until his Twitch stream today at 9pm.

The CS:GO analyst and expert Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez did not hold back when he, in a vodcast called [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf0-_yPpf3U&t","isNewTab":true,"text":"Snake & Banter"}], dissected the “downfall” of the French veteran Richard “shox” Papillon after two catastrophic spells on Liquid and Apeks. 

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From winning IEM Winter in December to the bench

In the vodcast, Maniac outlines how shox went from winning IEM Winter in late 2021 to being demoted on Liquid and thereafter Apeks.

You can watch the entire vodcast featuring Maniac, Thorin and Mauisnake down below.

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Apeks is currently on the market for a new fifth after announcing the benching of the legendary Frenchman Richard “shox” Papillon earlier this week. The veteran rifler was demoted after only two months on the roster, why the Norwegians now are on the lookout for a replacement.

On Apeks’ Twitter, the organization have offered an update regarding the situation stating that they have begun trials with the former TYLOO and EXTREMUM player Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand. In the upcoming officials, the Indonesian is set to take over the in-game leader duties for a temporary period, Apeks confirm.

With Apeks testing BnTeT as their new in-game leader, it looks like Martin "STYKO" Styk has been stripped of the important title. A role which STYKO took over after Apeks decided to bench the former captain Asger "AcilioN" Larsen back in July. However, now it seems they are heading in another direction after only having tested the new setup for a couple of months. 

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{cflag:NO} Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad

{cflag:LT} Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius

{cflag:ID} Hansel ”BnTeT” Ferdinand (On trial)

BnTeT

TyLoo

Richard “shox” Papillon’s days at Apeks looks to be numbered with the Norwegian organization having announced the benching of the legendary Frenchman this Tuesday. The former Major winner lasted only two months in the team, playing 35 maps in total throughout the short stint.

Apeks has published the following statement regarding today's news.

- After much deliberation, we have mutually agreed for shox to explore his options. He will not be a part of our active roster moving forward. This is due to a difference in vision on how to proceed with our in-game team development.

{cflag:FR} Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon (Benched)

This is the second time this year shox has been benched from a CS:GO team. First, it was the North Americans from Liquid who announced his exit back in June, which also ended up being a short experience for the veteran rifler. In our latest 'Deep Dive' episode we focussed on shox to see whether he still have what it takes to compete in top-tier CS:GO. 

Richard "shox" Papillon has not had a great year so far in CS:GO. He started at Team Liquid, where he got benched before IEM Cologne, and has since joined the Norwegian Organization Apeks, where the team has been performing terribly. Does the French Counter-Strike legend still have what it takes to be at the top of CS:GO?

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Shox_1_mghjnv","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michael Konkol, BLAST"}]

Imaginary, VeryGames, Titan, Epsilon, LDLC, Envy, Titan, G2, Vitality, Liquid

Apeks has pulled its CS:GO team from all upcoming tournaments such as the ESEA Advanced Europe playoffs following a series of bad results. The Norwegian team will now evaluate their situation. 

This news came just shortly after the Norwegian-based organization signed the well-known Major champion Richard “shox” Papillon and Lithuanian Justinas “jL” Lekavicius. The acquisitions however did not make the Apeks team more competitive at all. The squad failed to qualify for the IEM Rio Major Europe Regional Major Ranking (RMR) after they lost in four out of four open qualifiers. This will put shox´s impressive Major attendance run to an end.

For now, it’s still unclear If the Apeks organization will make roster changes in the coming weeks.

After the addition of Richard "shox" Papillon, Apeks has finalized their five-man roster. The idea of signing shox is to be sure that the team has enough experience to help the younger players on the team, helped by STYKO the new in-game leader. The ultimate goal for the Norwegian organization is to become a tier 1 team. 

The first challenge for the new Apeks lineup is at IEM Rio Major open qualifiers, kicking off on August 15. 

Last Sunday the news of the benching of Richard "shox" Papillon and Team Liquid's coach Eric "adreN" Hoag broke out.

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Since then there have been no comments from either of the two. Last night Richard "shox" Papillon broke the silence and commented on the news.

In a Google document, the Frenchman does a recap of the last six months. Here he explains how he intended to move to the US, but the many changes to the tournament calendar made it impossible.

- The worst part was probably the RMR with all the last minute's changes from Valve that forced the TOs to change their plans, creating a lot of extra travels, issues, troubles, and a lot of stress. As a result, in the middle of the season, it was a big blow for my family and me because this American life will not see the light of day as planned, at least not before maybe October 2022.As a consequence, I find myself having my life in France but having the life and agenda of an American player which immediately makes things very very complicated. I'm always on the move, I have no time to relax and recover from this overloaded CS schedule. I'm either in bootcamp, or in tournaments, or in media shoots, or in the US to do regional qualifiers like BLAST, RMR, Dallas Qualifer.

shox goes on to comment on the results (or lack of), that Team Liquid got in the first half of 2022.

- On the sporting level, as in all teams there are complications and I gave as much as I could despite the extenuating circumstances complicated to manage and live daily in order to give our team the best chance on the competitive field. We could see during the EPL where we beat Heroic and where we played a very close game against NiP that we could have won in order to go to the semi-finals that the training on European soil is bearing fruit and that we are on the right track.

After this tournament, we had to go back to the United States because there were qualifications to be done and the players being Americans and their lives there, they obviously go back home when they can. I could see our level regressing when we were there because the American training is far from the quality we can have in Europe, so all the work we had done was gradually decreasing.

At the end of his writing shox also reveals, that it was his own decision to be benched after a stressful time.

- At the end of the major, I had a burnout, I had to go home as soon as possible (that's why I wasn't present in Antwerp for the finals and I apologize for all the fans who were waiting for my presence). I also realized that from the beginning of January until the major, I was only about 25 days at home, half of them being on American working hours so from 7pm until 2 or 3am. The human aspect that requires a balance in my life that I have not had for 6 months, the choice to put myself on the bench was inevitable in my eyes.

Richard "shox" Papillon is now actively searching for a new team, while Team Liquid is testing out Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis for the upcoming IEM Cologne.

After a poor start to the year 2022 for the North American organization Team Liquid, they have announced some changes to their active roster. Wanting to go a new direction in terms of coaching style, as well as the French CS:GO icon stepping down from the organization, Team Liquid have announced that they will reshape their active CS:GO roster in the near future. 

With the IEM Cologne roster lock just around the corner, a few days from now, Team Liquid will have to move fast to find a fifth and final player for their active roster at the event. Whether or not it will be a North American player or a European, like with "shox", is still unknown. 

The current Team Liquid roster, after having benched "shox" and "adreN" looks as follow: 

CS:GO is a game where big changes are rarely made to the game. This is also true for the active maps, for a long time there were no changes in the active official map pool. With Ancient and Vertigo being the most recent additions to the official map pool, some things have changed, however, there are still some iconic maps to choose from. 

With thousands of hours put into the game and only a limited amount of maps in the official map pool, professional players have become more than just accustomed to the different maps, their playing style, and also how they look. 

But how good is your own CS:GO map knowledge? Can you guess the map and location from nothing other than a screenshot? Test yourself against the iconic "shox" and one of NA's best aimers "floppy" in a game of CS:GO map knowledge. 

floppy

There are a lot of ICONIC AWPers that we all know and love, but for the pros themselves, who is their favorite AWPer of All-time? Betway esports have sat down with several pros such as kennyS, shox, and arT to find out who they think is the best AWPer of all time.

[youtube:www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMz-zZgUlMw&t=88s&ab_channel=betwayesports]

kennyS

It looked like a new and refreshing adventure for Richard “shox” Papillon when he moved overseas to join Team Liquid after having represented Vitality.  However, it seems like his time at the North American heavy hitter is over before it really started.

According to Dot Esports and George Geddes, the 29-year-old Frenchman is set to leave Liquid after less than six months on the team. It’s reportedly shox himself who has decided to abandon the ship after Liquid’s last place at PGL Major Antwerp, sources have told Dot Esports.

If the rumors are true, Liquid will field the following lineup:

{cflag:US} Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski

{cflag:US} Eric "⁠adreN⁠" Hoag (coach)

[slugORMA:{"slug":"shox-joins-team-liquid","isNewTab":true}]

Despite the lack of Astralis at the Legends Stage at PGL Major Antwerp there is still hope for the Danes. Copenhagen Flames and Heroic both came out victorious in the first matches of the day in Antwerp.

Heroic faced Team Liqiud on Vertigo. Here it was one-way traffic in the beginning. It was not until round seven before the North American were able to find an answer to break through the defense of the Danes. Liquid managed to find six rounds in the first half, but they had one big problem. Richard "shox" Papillon had a nightmare of a game with only one kill after 18 rounds. 

The lack of impact from the Frenchman was a big problem for Liquid, who otherwise was up to pair with the Danes.

Heroic – Team Liquid 1-0 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

16-11 (Vertigo) | {cflag:DK} René 'TeSeS' Madsen - 1.51 rating / 27-17 K-D / 108.9 ADR

Notable stat: shox - 0.42 rating / 8-23 K-D / 50.1 ADR

For both Bad News Eagles and Copenhagen Flames, the first-round matchup at the Legends Stage at PGL Antwerp Major was as favorable as it gets. The Danish Flames could probably not get a better draw on paper, while BNE avoided facing one of the tournament favorites. The Balkan team actually has a 3-0 record against Copenhagen Flames in their last three matches in late 2021.

On Ancient they also found themselves ahead 7-2 after a strong start on their T side. Copenhagen Flames limited the damage in the first half and could see BNE take a 9-6 lead into the second half.

After the break, the roles were reversed. Now it was the Danes on the T side. Here Flames narrowly managed to edge out Bad News Eagles in some very intense rounds and won the first round match by 16-14.

Copenhagen Flames - Bad News Eagles 1-0 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

16-14 (Ancient) | {cflag:DK} Fredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen - 1.63 rating / 32-21 K-D / 117.2 ADR

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

shox

Player stats

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Double Danish Delight in the opening round of the Legends Stage

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