Next Hi Jordan, how did this long period of transfer happen on your side? How did you handle it internally? Did you participate in the negotiations? No transaction amount was yet disclosed, can you give us an idea of the numbers? Next: Hey neL! This period was not so easy to manage, it seemed endless and at the end of each call or appointment with the “Boss” of Envyus, it seemed like the deal was done. And then ten minutes later, it felt like it was like going back to square one… Challenging but extremely interesting to live, I learned a lot thanks to that. Within our team, after everybody knew, it was easier, even though everyone was imagining different things or talked about a possible turnaround. But before that, the hardest for me was the clear cut in the team: shox-SmithZz and Happy-Kio-NBK… I had to try to make the connection between them knowing what was going on and unfortunately things did not go as I wanted. It was the worst timing. It was not what was expected. About negotiations, I was there passively, without any power. I just tried to find the most fair and just solutions. I can’t give you any amount. But I can give you a broad idea: it is less than $500.000 :D How was the atmosphere between your arrival in February and the last weeks? Was the shuffle unavoidable? Did you have a word to say about these changes? Why Dan and Kenny? Next: When I arrived the atmosphere was good but I wasn’t seeing everything at that time. After a few weeks and especially after the PGL, it went worse and it became difficult and hardly bearable after ESEA finals. Unavoidable shuffle? I think yes. Even though I hate roster changes, I think it’s an easy solution or at least the last possible solution. I had more or less my word. Until the last moment I thought I could change attitudes, work on the flaws, Unfortunately, I have to admit my failure. Despite Titan’s results, both apex and kennyS are full of talent. Dan is an entry fragger who knows how to give an edge to his team. Everyone knows Kenny’s qualities, we know what he can do and that we can rely on him in every situation. Both of them, mixed with the other two and Happy’s lead, the choice seemed pretty obvious. A more general question: how is it going for you as a manager in this team? What is the classic day of a professional manager? How is the communication with EnVyUs going? Are you also involved in game? Next: It’s going pretty well, even if it took a while for me to fully integrate the team. I arrived right after MoMan who did an amazing job as a mental coach, so it was a real challenge. Everybody made me feel comfortable from the beginning and after almost a month everything went well. After hard times like this, changing players, negotiations between clans etc, I think I really found my spot and it’s going very well! A classical day starts with an alarm clock between 8:30 and 9:00 AM. I read my mails as I wake up (it takes a while), then I handle the players paperwork, the interviews, I book planes, trains, hotels for different competitions, organise online/offline match planning. At the moment the searching of a gaming house is taking most of my time. I meet the players as soon as they start playing (more or less). I stay with them until the end of practices. The communication with EnVyUs is going very well, I have Mike on the phone at least once a day. He’s an excellent CEO, he listens and wants what’s best for his team and his players, he really gives a lot. I’m only involved ingame a little bit. I know our game, I have more of an external point of view on the game, the communication, the motivation, the obvious mistakes. I’m not a strategist, I leave this role to Vincent, but if I see something obvious, I let him know more and more often.

Happy Hello Vincent, you just went different ways with SmithZz and shox, why such a change at this precise moment ? Wasn’t there any way to keep going with this line up ? How did the past weeks go for you ? Happy: We were going downhill for a while. We created this team in order to win. But we didn’t anymore and on top of that we were not even able to play on a satisfying level. We might have managed to if a few things went differently, but we lost our momentum and nothing good came out of it, it had become a certainty unfortunately.

For me it was pretty hard. It was the most durable and the strongest team I have ever had. It was, to some extent, a very united team, with great cohesion in game and outside of the game. Even if I agreed on the changes, it wasn’t easy and until the last moment I wanted to believe I could change some things. Ok, maybe not the last map again cloud9, I admit. We were going downhill for a while. We created this team in order to win. But we didn’t anymore and on top of that we were not even able to play on a satisfying level. We might have managed to if a few things went differently, but we lost our momentum and nothing good came out of it, it had become a certainty unfortunately. You are now back with Dan and Kenny, two players you know very well. Why them? What can they bring to EnVyUs? Can you tell us a little more about Dan’s role?

Happy: Players change but goals remain the same: winning in a sustainable manner, slowly settle at the best level and try to win as many trophies as possible under the EnVyUs name. With this in mind, the choice was already made, Dan and Kenny are two very strong players despite their results with Titan. They showed very interesting things to me regarding the lead. I think that rolewise, they will integrate really easily into the team, even though its only the beginning. There’s a natural feeling which makes me think roles will be respected, which will bring us a really important aspect. The rest is only work and a bit of success. Dan will be like he always was with me, an simple entry fragger. He will have the tools to put variety into his game, but his role will mainly remain simple. As always, I will be in charge of the strategic aspect.



You will play at IEM very soon, and then comes the major in less than a month. How will you manage to recreate your game in such a short time? It includes changing the roles, what will be the bases of your new game? Happy: At the moment, most of the teamplay has to come from a good comprehension of the roles and from what I ask to the players. The complementarity and the synergy between the team and me will be essential in the days to come. Its as always, if we have a good chemistry ingame, we will be able to show simple and very efficient things. Generally speaking, the roles will stay unchanged, everything should go well, and I think we still have the right method. Even with a double change of players, if everyone plays in team and for the team, we will be able to compete with the LDLC team who won DreamHack Winter 2015. NBK Hi Nathan! You dismissed Richard and Eddy, could you explain us why you changed this two players? In your VLOG, you told us shox and SmithZz wanted to replace Happy. Why didn’t you chose this option? NBK: Hello! We have in fact changed our roster after more than months together. The decision came from the group who stayed together in EnVyUs, and was taken for various reasons. Our team was going downhill since DreamHack Winter 2014, and despite dozens of debriefings after losing events, we couldn’t find a stability which satisfied us. Richard had an important role within the team which needed sacrifices, and he just didn’t want to assume it anymore. Tensions began to appear ingame and the snowball effect lasted two months, with non-stop changes of roles until Happy coming back to leading was not possible, by difference of opinion and lack of will. I don’t think that menacing someone of getting kicked constantly is a positive way to make a team of this level go forward. A group has to be solid and every player has to make efforts on himself to get the team into a virtuous circle and to motivate each other. We didn’t see the game the same way anymore, and you could see the result at ESL/ESEA and ESWC. Regarding Eddy, it’s a bit more complicated. He has the exact same vision as Richard on a lot of aspects. There was a loss of interest for the game despite all the modifications we did which didn’t led to positive change. Their "solution" was not conceivable, neither for me nor Kio/Next. This solution wasn’t very explicit from their side, but they never denied it. I know and play with Vincent since the creation of the team, and I only see the victory with him for now. He is someone I appreciate both inside and outside of the game, and who I totally trust. I honestly wasn’t sharing their vision of the game, and didn’t event thought about kicking Vincent as it wasn’t where the problem was on my opinion. As Richard said it, we didn’t manage to find a way to put the team on the team back on track, but we tried to. Our visions simply were different. You played with Ex6TenZ during more than 4 yeras, and then left him to play with Happy. You won events with both of them, with which one of them did you take more pleasure playing? Which one of them do you think has the more adapted leading style for CS:GO? How do you compare their style and approach of the game? NBK : I won events with happy and Ex6TenZ, and I enjoyed it with both of them. I won being young and carefree with Ex6n and I won being more implicated into the game with HAppy. They are two people with really different qualities and personnalities, but I appreciate them and I spent good moments with both of them.

Gamewise, Ex6 and Happy are quite similar when they are surrounded by players who share their vision of the game. They both like strategy (5 smokes, 5 molotovs, 10 flashes, what a joy!), but they also like to have a solid control of the map. The difference is in the construction of the team, and their comprehension of the what’s needed rather than perfection. What I mean is that Ex6TenZ is really involdes in the game of his team, and tends to be to extreme sometimes: by playing either too strictly, or too liberated. Vincent gives his players freedom, by bringing a general idea for the round and a finition. The way from point A to point B is up to the players. These differences of vision with Ex6TenZ made me leave his team and his project, because I think that CS:GO is more and more based on individualities and the possibility for each player to adapt to what seems right to him. This is what a player like olofmeister does. He plays a really simple game which is based on the enemy team. This allows him to be in a good situation and to out-aim his opponnents… The game got less complicated, and is more about daring and good decisions. This might not be a shared opinion, but Fnatic is the perfect example for me, and I try to force Happy to develop a similar game style! :D I won events with happy and Ex6TenZ, and I enjoyed it with both of them. I won being young and carefree with Ex6n and I won being more implicated into the game with HAppy. They are two people with really different qualities and personnalities, but I appreciate them and I spent good moments with both of them. How did the adventure ended regarding the atmosphere within the team? As you probably noticed, you weren’t included in SmithZz thanks, while other people who were around the team since its creation were mentioned. Was there some "bad blood" between the two of you? NBK : Of course the atmosphere was not great after ESWC, both ingame or outside of the game. The team divided into two distinct groups who would come together only to play, and the atmosphere was too oppressive to continue like this. The events didn’t went like we expected, and we played 6 events in a row when the fracture was really within the team. The decision to change players was unanimous from our side, and I was pointed as responsible because I got vocal with them, and maybe because of our attitudes outside of the game which are really different when we are at lan events. Eddy’s thanks made me laugh, because I personally had good moments with everyone! The change was beneficial for the two teams to go back to the top. And by reading their last interview, it seems they forgot everything and are really happy with their new team :D ! By choosing apEX and kennyS, we have two players with really precise roles and who play them really well! Knowing Vincent’s way of working, I think than Dan and Kenny’s qualities will bring us more consistency as long as every player fulfills his role. We train a lot to test our limits as a team, and this is the only important thing to me at the moment. This change is past for me now, so there is no "bad blood" for me. I wish them good luck with Titan! Of course the atmosphere was not great after ESWC, both ingame or outside of the game. The team divided into two distinct groups who would come together only to play, and the atmosphere was too oppressive to continue like this. The events didn’t went like we expected, and we played 6 events in a row when the fracture was really within the team. kioShiMa

Hey kio, so you replaced 2 of your players, what was the situation backstage about your relations? It probably wasn’t easy: were you forced to make these changes? kioShiMa: Hey! As you may have guessed, this split didn’t go as planned. It was done very poorly, because our busy schedule accelerated the separation. What happened backstage stays backstage. Change is never simple but we wanted to be the best, so it wasn’t mandatory but we had to do it. Why did you pick apEX and kennyS? You played with one then with the other with Clan-Mystik. What can they bring to the team? kioShiMa: Hmm… That’s a good question! Seriously, this duo is together for a while now and its a good duo. They both have qualities: one works very hard, the other has a gift with the sniper. This will surely bring a new dynamic in some game phases, or will allow us to be less predictable. About your future, you have the IEM in a few days. Could you tell a word about this unusual tournament format? You also have the major in August, what wil lbe your preparation for this event? Will you bootcamp prior to the major? kioShiMa : Only one word? Original. For the major, and like every major, we will bootcamp of course! We will try our best with the little time we have to prepare! A team is never 100% ready for an event, there will always be things to improve and to fix, so we will do our best to reach 99% of our abilities for this major. kennyS Hello Kenny. How was the end of the adventure with Titan from your point of view? Did you have the impression that something wasn’t working and would never work? Do you think you could get out of the slump Titan was in? kennyS: It went really good, the human relations with Titan were incredible. Despite our bad results, we always had very good relations, which explains we got along well even at the end. I don’t know, I always believed in my team. But the chain of bad results made me lose my motivation. I was hoping for us to bounce back, but it was a risk as I had a good offer. Did being accompanied by Dan in this transfer influenced your decision or was it an offer impossible to refuse? kennyS: Dan and I have always been realy close, he is one of my best friends from the game. However, I think that the offer at that precise time could not be refused either by Dan, me, or both of us. Being a good friend with Dan had no impact in my choice, even though I am very happy to still be playing with him. Regarding negociations with EnVyUs, this is new to you as you didn’t have your fate in your hands. How did you experience this? How do you feel joining EnVyUs? kennyS: Seeing how fast the game is growing, it’s a logical evolution as a high level sport. Dan and myself didn’t have anything to say in these negociations, which was between the structures. All we had to do was to wait for things to get sorted out which was really frustrating as we were motivated and eager to play with our new team. For a lot of people you are the best french player alongside shox. How do you explain you never played with him in a real team (outside of the french national team)? Is that something you would like? kennyS: shox is a very complete player, I respect him just like I respect every players, I wish to be as stable as possible in my new team. Anyway I’m young and I have a few years of gaming ahead, we never know what can happen in the future. I don’t have any problem with any player, therefor I can play with everybody. apEX Wassup Dan, you just joined EnVyUs, how were the last couple of months until your very last days within Titan? How would you explain that you were never really able to compete with the best as a team? apEX: Yoooo! How y’all doin’? Last months, since the ESEA finals were pretty rough. Even if the atmosphere was very good within our team, we kept failing to reach our expected level. We had a lot of debriefing sessions but results were always the same. Anyhow I think this team had a big potential. At the end we managed to split up with no bad blood between us, which is quite rare. My ex-teammates had been amazing during the whole Titan adventure, I want to thank them again for all those moments we shared together. You are associated with KennyS in that exchange, did it contribute to accelerate the process? Or was it an offer you could not refuse anyway? apEX: In any case, this offer could not be declined considering the actual status. Of course knowing that I was accompanied by Kenny made things easier, especially when we had to announce to others that we left. Regarding the negotiating part that was going on with EnVyUs, how does it feel to be the traded item but with any power to influence things? And basically how does it feel to join EnVyUs? apEX: The bargaining last for a week. It was not easy to keep waiting for our own fate to be decided but we had a positive mind because we knew that the two teams had to find an agreement. I feel it is a personal major achievement to be joining EnVyUs because this team had been doing great for about 10 months and I am proud that they immediately think of me as a replacement. Now I have to prove them right, the hardest part is ahead of us and it would be great if we can achieve the same kind of performances already. Actually I have already played with this three core players and I know their abilities, now it is our turn to show our skills and I am pretty confident we will succeed. Did you speak to Happy regarding what will be your role within the team? You probably should support him closely in the strategic department, is it a role that suits you? apEX : Of course we discussed it, we know each other very well and we played together many times. I have to replace shox, meaning I am going to be the main entry fragger and the co-leader which is what I always did with all the teams I joined. This role suits me very well because I like to get involve in the strategic aspect of the game and its team play so I can adapt more easily to the opponent style. I can then give a valuable support to Happy. Being entry fragger is probably the most hated role for any cs player, one of the hardest role to succeed but I like it, I must the only one but I go in front with the smile on my face, haha. A little bonus question, how does it work out with Jerôme? (i.e. Titan manager, NiaK and apEX are roommates!) Can it last for long? apEX : It is awful… Jerôme is terrible to manage ! He set up commando operations every nights to steal from me my strategic notes… More seriously, we are good friends and as I said before, we split up with no hard feelings. With that said, it is true that we cannot live together and working for two rival teams, especially for Jerôme who has always a professional mind. We are then looking for a way out... sadly.