The French CS:GO scene is a mixed bag disappointment. On the positive side, you have incredible talent, legendary players and investment from organizations. In the negative equation though, politics, relationships and rivalries amongst French players are added.

We always knew that the French scenario was a volatile one but the current G2 lineup is the final showcase of all those conflicts. Lack of results, uncertain future and a streak of bad decisions – let’s review what is happening with the team which were supposed to proudly carry the French flag in the big stages of Counter-Strike.

Background Statistics:

Before we dive in further in the problems of G2, let’s see some stats and details of this roster for the past months:

Out of 5 LAN tournaments attended, G2 only reached the playoffs of one, at ESL One Cologne.

at ESL One Cologne. G2 has been out of the top ten in World Rankings ever since the roster change that added Ex6tenz and Smithzz .

. In offline tournaments, the team won 7 out of 18 matches. They also have a 10 / 10 record in EPL Season 8 Europe and a 2 / 10 record in ECS Season 6 Europe. This means that they are almost confirmed for relegation in ECS.

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A Project Based in Past Glories

When the current lineup of G2 was announced, one thing was certain: there was a huge bet being made with it. The two players being added, Smithzz and Ex6tenz weren’t playing in the top level for a reason.

Adding them into this team that was supposed to battle with the best was a doubtable take to say the least. This bet didn’t go well as we can see now. Smithzz simply hasn’t the firepower needed and Ex6tenz tactics were overhyped at their best.

Moreover, if this lineup were to work, shox and KennyS were required to perform to their best individual levels and that didn’t happen. In past games, we often saw KennyS and shox having mediocre performances, especially the last. Shox, who by the way was the creator of this project.

Unclear Future

Smithzz himself had problems dealing with his motivation in the past and he could be suffering with those again. We wouldn’t be surprised to hear that him along other members of the squad don’t have more faith in this project. More importantly, the overall outlook for this team isn’t as good as the players and fans wished.

Recently, we had the news that KennyS was the only member who didn’t signed a renewal contract with G2. This could mean a world of possibilities, but knowing this definitely doesn’t help with confidence. In fact, roster uncertainty has been plaguing this G2 for some time now.

Before the Major, bodyy was supposed to be benched while G2 would be picking somebody hand-picked by shox. They couldn’t do it before since they needed bodyy to retain their Major spot. Now however, it seems that bodyy signed again with G2.

This just shows that shox’ project might never be fully completed as he envisioned it. But would it work with his ideal fifth? That’s one of the questions that will be left in the history of the French CS:GO scene. Other than it, ‘Ocelote’, CEO of the organization has been tweeting some suggestive comments that may or may not be indicative of a change yet to come.

G2’s biggest problem – lack of firepower

Although Ex6tenz tactics might be doubtable, the worst problem of G2 is their lack of firepower. Ex6tenz and Smithzz fragging abilities are way behind compared to players in top ten teams. We knew this from day-one but G2 believed that ‘shox’ and ‘KennyS’ could overperform to compensate.

Indeed, in their primes, they would be able to carry this team and fully use Ex6tenz tactics. Nowadays however, this is nothing more than a dream. KennyS still is a good fragger but he alone can’t help the whole team and shox hasn’t been too reliable.

To make things harder, bodyy, who was once considered the worst player of 2017’s G2 is now their third best fragger. He hadn’t a turnover in his performance though. It’s just that Ex6tenz and Smithzz are way below him when it comes to performances.

Nowhere to Run

One of the reasons to keep bodyy in the roster might be Vitality. The first iteration of Vitality in CS:GO is composed by NBK, Happy, RPK, ZyWoo and apEX. Those five would make for the five best players in France out of G2. Now they have been picked by a team and their results so far are decent.

What this means is that G2 doesn’t have a world of players available as the best talents in France are already signed to other organizations. Even LDLC is looking fairly better than G2 right now and it’s hard to say that G2 would be willing to pay the signup for LDLC’s best player at this point.

So basically, G2 is stuck with this roster until the next Major, unless KennyS decides to leave. Then they would need to contact someone available quickly to replace him in the meantime. There’s one player though, but one that

Relationship Matters

It’s not uncommon to see fans pointing out that Smithzz is only at this team thanks to Shox input. This relation goes way back and Shox has said in the past that he enjoys playing with Smithzz. Althrough the last performance was not exactly what we expected tier one player.

The problem however is that ‘shox’ isn’t very comfortable around ScreaM as he stated in an interview last year. ScreaM could possibly add the much-needed firepower replacing Smithzz, that however won’t be happening. In a recent interview though, shox confirmed that he had no intentions to add ScreaM to his project.

It’s clear that the intricate relationship network in the French scene is taking its toll in G2. ScreaM doesn’t have a team and isn’t under any contract, meaning that G2 wouldn’t have to pay any extra to acquire him. He might not be the definitive solution but could be a step forward to it. One step that won’t be taken.

G2 next showing will be in CS_Summit 3

If you’re excited to watch G2 playing in LAN again, then book November 1st in your calendar. G2 will be reuniting with OpTic, BIG, CompLexity, NRG and other teams in cs_summit 3. Moreover, you should be able to follow G2 run in EPL and ECS, and the Frenchmen still can make through EPL for the Finals.

Anyway, what do you think of G2? Can they recover shox’ project or there must be a change to make things work? Tell us!