Podcast video topics and time stamps:

5:18 - ESL broadcasting exclusively on Facebook: pros and cons

15:30 - The 100 Thieves controversy and Major visa issues

21:45 - Is the CIS region a powerhouse now?

28:50 - Major rules controversies and roster lock problems

32:28 - The legacy of KennyS and a possible French roster shuffle

49:25 - Predictions for the Boston Major's Top 4 and winner

Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett is one of the most recognizable personalities in competitive Counter Strike: Global Offensive and his voice has acted as the back-drop of many of the game's most iconic moments.

Sadokist sat down with theScore esports Podcast to talk about the Boston Major, the 100 Thieves and ex-Immortals visa controversy, a potential French shuffle on the horizon and the surging CIS region.

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The last time we spoke with Sadokist, he revealed how close he had come to quitting altogether after the Kraków Major. Now, after a holiday break from Counter-Strike, he's rejuvenated and excited about casting again.

RELATED: Sadokist: 'After the Major, I very nearly quit altogether'

With the news that 100 Thieves will not be participating in the Boston Major due to visa issues, there's been a lot of talk about how this could have happened. Sadokist offered some speculation.

"I would speculate that they were late applying in the first place would be the simplest way to go with that," he said. "The kNgV- thing being brought in I think is more the drama that everyone's asking about."

For those with short memories, Sadokist was referring to the controversy surrounding Immortals' grand finals at DreamHack Montreal 2017. With three members of the squad late for the match, the team was obliged to forfeit one map of the best-of-three, later losing the single map they were able to play.

RELATED: cajunb on DreamHack's Immortals ruling: 'I would rather have honest play than winning like this'

Pujan "FNS" Mehta, among others, speculated on Twitter about some late-night partying the IMT team had allegedly indulged in that might have affected their punctuality. Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe replied to FNS with a death threat. This eventually resulted in kNgV-, Henrique "HEN1" Teles and Lucas "LUCAS1" Teles leaving IMT, later being picked up by 100 Thieves.

RELATED: 100 Thieves sign ex-Immortals lineup

"Whether or not that whole issue got into the visa situation directly through police involvement I don't know and I kind of doubt," said Sadokist. "It may have been, and I know that crossing boarders people Google me."

With that said, Sadokist did offer the thought that the situation could be viewed by some as a little bit of karmic justice.

"The roster locks have never been so victimizing as they have been with boltz and steel. Those two guys did everything right," he said. "So in some ways maybe it's karma, maybe it's justice for [steel and boltz] that the 100 Thieves guys didn't make it ... I'm kind of conflicted"

All the drama aside, he was disappointed 100 Thieves wouldn't be playing to carry on what has been a captivating bad guy storyline.

"I think they have a ton of skill on their team, LUCAS1, HEN1, fnx, those three are amazing in their own right, kNgV- was exceptional at the last major," said Sadokist. "For those reasons, yeah, I think there was a great sort of nemesis — you know — villain story to go with it."

With Team Envy posting a horrendous performance in the The New Challengers Stage of the Major, Sadokist also predicted some significant shuffling in the French scene. He expects everyone to make some moves with the exception of G2 Esports.

"I think you're going to see devoduvek and AmaNEk return to the French scene," he said. "I think that's already loosely rumored based on the fact that Misfits haven't renewed and you would think that that would have been a foregone conclusion based on their improvement."

He added that some major changes need to happen with nV.

"I think EnVyUs needs to make changes, I'm sorry but it's not good enough, it's not ... I'm going to put some fault on Happy on that," said Sadokist. "You know he's a two-time Major champion who's playing with ScreaM, RpK's playing super consistent and they just can't get anything going on that team."

With the unknown Quantum Bellator Fire qualifying for The New Champions Stage of the Major, Vega nearly joining them and Gambit coming off a huge Major win last year in Kraków, one could say the CIS region in general is on the up swing. Sadokist isn't ready to call CIS a powerhouse quite yet, but sees Gambit's victory as an opportunity for region to continue to grow.

"I won't necessarily say they're on the road to being a powerhouse, but it certainly shows us that, just because they're not on our radar and on our streams in Pro League or ELEAGUE or ECS, they've got their own stuff going on up there," said Sadokist. "There's a lot of skill, there's a lot of talent."

Editor's note: This podcast was recorded prior to the results of ELEAGUE Major: Boston's New Legends Stage.

Keith Capstick is a news editor for theScore esports. You can follow him on Twitter.