Hi guys ! Before talking about your new team that’s been much written about these last weeks, let’s go back shortly on 2016. You both had a rough year overall with your teams. Do you have any regrets about these twelve last months? If so, what are they and what would you have done differently ? shox : I don’t really have any regrets, I did my best this whole year and worked hard like I never did before for the sake of my team. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as good as I had hoped in the medium term, but saying I regret it would be wrong because I did everything I could to find solutions, even if nothing worked out in the end. NBK : There were mistakes for sure, but no regrets. Every choice that was made, in-game or outside, happened in response to something else. That’s my point of view but I don’t see it as "regrets". Nobody knows what would have happened if we had made different choices. Let’s get to today’s main topic: the newly formed team. Some call it the superteam, others the dreamteam. You are the instigators of this project, for how long had you been thinking about it ? Is the current G2 lineup the one you had imagined at the beginning ? shox : I don’t really know when, I think it was from when I started feeling that we could not get any further with our G2 lineup at that time. I then started thinking about the future, but I can’t give an exact date. And yes, the current lineup is exactly as we had imagined it, and everyone agreed to take part in it. NBK : I think the first discussion between some members of the project happened at the beginning of December. And the current lineup is the one we were thinking about at that time. So taking into account that you knew for a while the Major would be your last tournament with these teams, what was everyone’s state of mind ? shox : The thing is that we all know each other well, we appreciate each other and spend a lot of good times together. The watchword was to give everything we had to leave a great impression so that everyone would remember these teams positively. We wanted to leave with our heads held high, but our level wasn’t good enough. But we fought to the end and that’s what I’ll remember from it. NBK : I’d say the same as Richard. After the Major qualifier, we gathered everyone from both teams and announced our choice, and still wanted to win the remaining tournaments. We were there already, so why not give our best ? Getting to the Major playoffs would have been great, but our lack of preparation was too evident. Still, winning the WESG was a great pleasure !

"Winning the WESG was a great pleasure !" Do you think the timing you chose to announce it to your teammates was right ? With the Major coming, wouldn’t it have been better to wait ? shox : Yes, it was the right timing. Today, Esports and particularly CS:GO grow everyday. Contracts are what structures the scene, and if we want to change teams or anything, we have to think a lot about it because these are very important decisions. Our intention when we chose to announce it at least a month before was to let them think about their own future plans, to let them land back on their feet. Announcing it later when things were almost done on our side would have been disrespectful and dishonest. NBK : There’s no perfect timing to do such a thing, but the best one was to do it after the Major qualifier. We knew in which direction our group was going, and we wanted the others to have time as well to think and decide for themselves. We didn’t mean any harm, and it also allowed us to feel freed from a heavy burden, in-game and irl. After several weeks of negotiations, you chose to join G2 Esports instead of EnVyUs. What were the factors that influenced your decision and made you favor the Spanish organization ? shox : Both teams were satisfied with their own organizations, and we wanted to let them have the same opportunities. Overall, we felt that G2 was more professional in its way to manage the transfer process, gave more support and enthusiasm as well, and their offer was more interesting than the one from EnVyUs. From the beginning, you chose NiaK as your manager, a role he already had within G2 Esport. Taking this into account, did it influence you in your choice of organization ? NBK : No. When he agreed to take part in this project, NiaK had informed G2 that he would follow us in our choice. From the start, we wanted G2 and EnVyUs to have the same chances because we had great experiences with both of them. We took very seriously the negotiation process, with perspective and impartiality. Our choice was nothing personal. Regarding the current lineup, you chose to take bodyy instead of ScreaM. This choice has been discussed a lot amongst the community in general. What made you choose bodyy ? shox : Adil wasn’t fit for the role we needed in our team, with the four other players already decided from the beginning (NBK, kennyS, apEx and me). The choice naturally went to bodyy because he was best fit for the team. NBK : It was mainly a question of roles. bodyy seemed to be the natural choice to complete our "base" and allow other players to be freed from some responsibilities and give support. Adil is a great player, a player around whom you can create a game, but we already chose to do it with shox and kennyS. We always need to balance a team, and with the current one I think we did it, and also managed to have everyone at their favorite role. SmithZz’ player career is for now put on hold, as he’s going to become your coach. First of all, how did you get this idea? Did it take time for him to accept this offer ? shox : We have known for a while now that what our French teams are missing is a coach. Unfortunately, there aren’t many interesting French profiles that can fit this role on our level. So we thought about Eddy, because he brings a lot to a team in and outside of the game. He took around ten days to think about it then gave us his answer. NBK : I think SmithZz can be compared to what starix has accomplished for Na’Vi. They’re both players who won lots of tournaments and have a huge experience. A coach that has to watch every single player and every single position to help the team get better needs to know a lot about the game. Because these changes caused both teams to explode, it seemed natural to offer him to follow us in our new project. He could have refused of course, because we didn’t put any pressure on him.

"SmithZz can be compared to what starix has accomplished for Na’Vi" shox, if we evaluate your lead during 2016, I think we can say it was quite lukewarm, with great periods of success but also times where you were not up to people’s expectations. Did you think about putting aside your role as IGL to focus on your own game ? shox : Not at all. I got used to this role and I like it. I like the strategic aspect of CS and I think I can bring my own game into this role. About this year 2016, I wish it went better towards the end, but a team is made of 5 players and even with the best lead possible if things are done badly or rules are not respected then it won’t work. I’m not pretending to be perfect, far from it. I’m only a beginner in the IGL role and I learn everyday. I just regret that some of my ideas could not be implemented like I’d wish. NBK, with EnVyUs there was a time you started leading, and also worked as a tandem with Happy, with him making the calls on T side and you on CT side. Could this happen again within the new G2 ? NBK : I have no idea. I’m definitely going to share my experience on CT sides because my calls and ideas are my strong point, and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll use this experience to lead my partner, but overall Richard will be the IGL and captain. Who knows what’ll happen after a year playing together? But I’m always ready to influence and help with the teamplay if that’s necessary. With your current potential and salaries, which makes you the current best remunerated team in world, aren’t you feeling more pressured than ever at the beginning of this new adventure ? Could failure be even more disappointing for the fans, or even for you, in this situation ? shox : There’s no pressure. Everyone enjoy calling us the dreamteam, but we don't approve of it and we don't have the pretention of being one. We’re a team like any other and we’ll create our path together in order to reach the top. Let’s not be too hasty. NBK : There’s pressure regarding what the community is expecting from us. We know that if we lose a match - no matter against who - there will always be a kind of toxic atmosphere awaiting us on the social media. I think it’s great that people are expecting a lot from us, it proves that we are valued, appreciated, and that people believe our team can achieve great things. On our side, we have to avoid being affected by what people say and work hard so that no one will be disappointed. Anyway, this “pressure” from the community won’t affect our work, our game style or the efforts we are going to put in every single match. We’re all competitors, of course we want to win, but we know where to set our priorities and put aside anything that could get in the way of our choices or our work. Now about your trainings, we know that EnVyUs wasn’t really fond of bootcamps, but the former G2 lineup did it at least once during 2016. Do you intend to try it again before big tournaments or do you think training online will be enough? shox : We won’t do it regularly, it will depend of everyone’s schedule. Actually, we won’t be too busy two months from now so we’re going to do a one-week bootcamp during March! NBK : I think it will depend a lot of the team’s moral and state of mind, and if we feel that it’s necessary. There’s no need for bootcamps if everyone’s on top form. But it’s useful when you need to change your way of “thinking CS” or simply build a gameplay. Our crash-test will be in March for a week in Berlin, jawoll!

Thank you for giving us a bit of your time, we wish you good luck for the future. As usual, the last words are for you. shox : I want to thank G2 Esports for their support, thank Eddy, Jérôme and Niclas for their permanent hard work. Also thank everyone that support us in this new adventure and project, it’s only the beginning. Please don't expect too much on the short term, because we are implementing a lot of things to become solid and consistent over the long term. Rome wasn't built in a day, don't expect us to beat everyone in two months. It’ll take time, but I'm confident.

NBK : We’re going to keep working hard! Our aim is to establish a real system that would allow us to play together for a long time and at a top level. It’s far from easy and we won’t be good from the start, but everyone’s enjoying again to play CS with the team! It’s been a long January, but we’re ready to give a 100% on the game once again! :D So thanks to everyone that support us, we’re going to do things right! Also thanks to SmithZz who agreed to become our coach, and to G2 Esports for their support during this period.