The most well-known French Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster will be making drastic changes.
After more than six months without a tournament victory, and an impending wrist surgery, Richard “shox” Papillon will no longer be occupying a permanent position on G2 Esports’ CS:GO team, the organization announced today. As a result Nathan “NBK” Schmitt will be in-game leading the French team for the time being.
Shox, who throughout his career has been considered one of the best CS:GO players, will still be competing with G2 Esports for at least another week, as his replacement Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas will be attending the World Esports Games LAN finals in Haikou, China with the team Wololos. After the event is completed, shox will be occupying the team’s bench.
The move is one of the largest the French team has ever made, and appears to have been spurred on by the players on the roster. “Shox suggested a more drastic team change and we [G2] would like to explore more moderate options before implementing any major roster switches,” G2 said in the announcement.
Although mixwell is yet to permanently replace shox, as he is only signed for a trial period, the team’s success in the coming months will determine whether or not shox returns to the roster.
On Feb. 3, 2017, G2 acquired former EnVyUs stars Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, and NBK—making it the most star-studded French roster in CS:GO history. But despite achieving success initially, the team spent long stretches of time without any notable results.
Mixwell’s debut game with the French roster will take place following the conclusion of WESG on March 18.
