In an interview in the podcast “flickshow” by Flickshot.fr, Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom talked for about three hours about various moments in his career. He evokes problems he had in G2, how he dealt with the announcement of the superteam, the EnVyUs period, his future and various topics about his career. Here are some extracts.

What he was blamed for in G2 (2016)

“We’ve had some trouble in the team, but it’s normal, it happens in all teams. At first (with the arrival of bodyy) everything was going well but we got used to good results, some may however react badly to these periods, defeat has an impact on people. It is in defeat that you see if you are a real team, if it will hold up in the long term.

The thing is, we had a few clashes, especially between shox and me, some little bullshit. Before Oakland we had a man-to-man debriefing, everyone emptied their bags. I was criticized for having too much confidence, for showing it too much, for thinking that I was above others. It was a time when I had absolute confidence, in-game and outside the game, I had started working out, it was a great time. In game I was accused of, for example, giving information when I heard an opponent and saying “My ears are too good man”, bullshit like that, and some people didn’t like that. I said directly, “Okay, I’ll stop, don’t worry.” For me, when you have a player with confidence, you have to support him and push him to stay confident. This debriefing went well, it was good for the team, we shook hands between shox and me, it means something. I understood the problem very well, no worries.”

Superteam announcement (end of 2016)

“This is the moment when I thought that the French scene makes no sense. I didn’t expect it. […] We’re at the major qualifier, I feel something strange, we hang out a lot with the other French teams in general, EnVyUs in that case. Today, with hindsight, it is clear that there was something. We all know each other, there are only good guys in this scene, I didn’t ask myself any more questions about the moment. We qualify, everything is going well. And when we qualify, I don’t know what’s going on, apEX and kennyS came to see us even more… what is that? Are these guys that nice?

We had a meeting planned to talk about 2017, in my head I was wondering if we weren’t even going to get a bonus, I don’t know (laughs). I come in and I see everyone sitting, no one talking, everyone on the bed and shox on a chair in the middle. Jérôme (NiaK, the team manager) spoke up to talk about the future, shox was uncomfortable, it was obvious, it wasn’t a reaction of someone who qualified for the major. NiaK gives the floor to Richard and then I knew it was over. He explains that he has a proposal in France and that he thinks to do better with them. He says “it’s with me, apEX, kenny, NBK and Alex”. He didn’t say bodyy, he said Alex and when he said the “A”… I thought that he could say Adil (laughs). And besides bodyy was not aware of this story either and didn’t understand because he thought that the team had just started and that everything was going well. Today I understand the choice but back then I took it wrong. I was pretty upset. It took me five, six months to get over it.”

EnVyUs Period (2017-2018)

“Very bad times, I had a lot of hope in the team and even as co-leader. Vincent (Happy) didn’t like my style and it didn’t work. I don’t even know what I was doing there, I wasn’t happy. 2017 is the worst year of my career. We travelled, made money and everything but as a Counter-Strike pleasure, I didn’t have any pleasure in 2017. In the team, there was a lot of confusion, but not like me and shox before (see above), there we raised our voices, we spoke badly. It was a bad team, it wasn’t good. The individuals are good guys, we all know each other but the defeats and the team made it bad.

This team had so many problems, we didn’t know anything anymore, we were lost. We gave everything we have to the Major but we didn’t even believe in it anymore, sometimes even during the games, crazy things happened. There were some very good little periods when we won everything on the Internet, when we felt hot and we told ourselves that we had a good team. But it was a trap because those periods made the team last longer, we had hope, we won a little game in lan and then we won a lan (DH Atlanta) and the same day we were talking in the pool and wondering what we were going to do with the team. Winning doesn’t mean that it’s going well.

With the arrival of kio, I had hope because he has a great experience and especially if he says something he will say it. I didn’t really know how to talk to Happy, I didn’t want to make an enemy. There was a period where I was on the team and I didn’t know what I was doing there, it was complicated. In the end, it didn’t work as well with kio and hAdji, I didn’t understand. The team already had problems that were too deep and they couldn’t solve those kinds of problems, or it was too complicated. 2018 was a big flop, it was even worse than the year before. It was a continuity.”

His future

“My future is to have fun again, to have fun again playing CS and it works well so far, now I am having a lot of fun streaming. I clearly want to find a team again but only with a project in which I believe. If I feel it’s going to be a waste of time, I prefer to keep streaming.

FR or International? I just want a good team, it’s going to be hard, people don’t necessarily have a good image of me like “scream the best team player” but I’m open to France and the international scene. I will be more careful in my choices, I no longer want to waste time and go to a team to earn money without having fun. If I have to make money, it will be by having fun.

Cloud9? It’s possible that I accept, it all depends on the offer and the team they propose. There are not many teams I like, so we’ll see. I’ve always wanted to play with Ex6TenZ, if there’s a team in France, it’s G2, if they offer me, good, otherwise I don’t think I’ll come back to France. Having fun is more important to me today.

I wish the new apEX, NBK and others project to succeed, especially for RpK, I wish him all the best. I wouldn’t have specially liked to be in that team, even without Happy, I have nothing against him, it’s not his leading style, it’s his playing style, he’s passive like me, it can’t work too well. It could work with other more aggressive players, a guy like SmithZz in 2017, it would have worked much better, he has a lot of impact on a team.

I had some offers this summer. I got three offers in Europe and America. Inquiries with C9 and the team that jdm makes, like to know if I was interested in playing in America.”

Why he is always dismissed and The French scene in general

“In France everyone gets along well. I couldn’t say why I wasn’t chosen. I think people have a bad image of me as a player, it’s complicated because I’ve had so many bad moments, bad teams… I know what I’m capable of and I think I can be the best French player, I need a team that supports me. The last time I was, it was a long, long time ago. Honestly, I don’t think a team like that can exist in France. That’s why I liked playing with Ex6 and shox, because I know they support me and have confidence in me. That’s what I need, not trouble. Trust + good understanding and I’m going to be too strong but in France it’s gone, it’s very sad. It will continue like this, that’s for sure. G2 is a very good team, I wish them success but the others I can no longer believe it.

ZywOo? He is very strong but he will not have any impact outside the game on how people get along. The only team I believe in is G2 because the team is surrounded by good people like Ex6TenZ and Jérôme (NiaK, manager.), he always wants things to work with a lot of communication and solve problems. I have no doubt that they will go far, we’ll see the major, but it’s true that they might lack some skill. In France, I want to play again with Ex6TenZ, shox and SmithZz because I haven’t had any bad experiences with them.

A future with kioShiMa is possible, he is super cool and he is a very strong player, big potential, very useful for a team.”

His style and the critics

“My in-game position? I am a cleaner, the one who revenges the opener, this is my ultimate position, the position I love and had with G2, I focus on my skill because that’s where I’m strongest. I follow the movement and I clutch, everyone knows it. I played in complicated teams where you had to fight to play in this position.

Critics on stuff throwing? With EnVyUs, there was so much shit that no one could play at the top of their game. In 2018, I only supported and flashed for others. I never said that I didn’t want to throw smokes, maybe I laughed when we did too much start time “oh another strat time!” but with the bad atmosphere, it didn’t come out well. My motivation was doubted despite all my failures, no player was more motivated than me. I’ve had some drops in motivation though, I don’t deny it.

My perfect in game leader would be a mix between shox and Ex6TenZ. Ex6 works hard, he’s a real leader, he’s not going to get away if there’s a problem, he’ll always think of the team first. Mentally and in all aspects, it is always him who will sacrifice himself for his team. I like shox’s vision of the game. The perfect mix is shox vision in Ex6TenZ’s mouth even if ex6 has evolved, it seems to me, from what I saw while playing in mix. So I would say that Ex6TenZ remains the ideal leader.

In my career I would change the fact of doubting myself, my playstyle. I was told to play differently, I tried to change and it hurt me, I was much worse, I was lost and I had a lot of questions. The least you ask yourself questions, the stronger you are. It is a reality. I have asked myself too many questions and even today I am asking myself these questions and that is a regret. I learned a lot about myself and CS but I probably would have been better in my career if I had asked fewer questions.

I have a feeling I won’t have an offer that will suit me, we’ll see.

I love CS, I want to continue CS, I don’t think I’ll change games anytime soon but you never know. Concerning retirement, I don’t think about it yet, I think I still have things to do and I have what it takes to do it.”

Pictures by DreamHack and ESL