Hi kioShiMa! You’re currently playing for FaZe Clan and this is a bit of a sticky situation, since you were benched last month when karrigan arrived. Why did they put you aside? Hi! The answer will be short. I don’t know. They never gave me the real reasons on that matter. I only give FaZe some credit for telling me since the beginning that my return was very likely. When you were remaining on the bench, a part of the community expected you to build a team with DEVIL and Maniac. Did you ever consider a project of this nature? Did you think about quitting FaZe and coming back to France? Absolutely not, I had no intention of creating a new team. I couldn’t see any project in France capable of competing with the big international structures. You just returned to the active roster, while it is now the turn of jkaem to be benched. Are you still facing the same difficulties and the recent changes didn’t provide a solution, or this is something else this time? The same difficulties? We don’t watch the same matches ;) With the addition of karrigan and my return, we already obtained more results than what FaZe got in a year. They used to fail in the groups at every single competition, and now we are in the ELeague’s playoff and we did a top 3/4 at the IEM Oakland. [Editor’s note : the questions were written before these events] What is the atmosphere in the team at the moment? Haven’t these player changes created or revived some tensions between some of you? The ambiance has always been good and for now, I don’t see any tension. You just have to be mature and set aside your bitterness, then everything will be okay. This game became a job, you have to invest yourself so that the relationships are good. This is linked with the previous question, but as your are sort of competing, isn’t your relation with jkaem complicated ? Are you on bad terms, or do you both know that as in traditional sports, this kind of situation can unfortunately occur, and everything carries on as before? Personally, I didn’t take it hard or anything. The scene is growing and if we want our game to evolve, the substitutes’ bench is part of the process. I am aware that it’s different on a game like CS but this could become usual. In this kind of situation (which is specific for jkaem) the reasons why I stand up for him isn’t a problem in our relationship. We will always be friends and we don’t have any issue to discuss. You’re currently playing with karrigan, a renowned leader in Counter-Strike since his beginnings on 1.6. Does his lead bring a real change compared to what you’ve known until now ? Did you already know him or did you meet when he joined the team ? Well no, I didn’t know karrigan personally, we made a first contact at the iBP Masters since I’d been called a few hours before they booked my flight to America. I only knew two leaders on CS:GO, HaRts and Happy. karrigan’s lead is very close to the one brought by HarTs - and what a coincidence: they’re both from 1.6. The way to call is more based on the information the players have at a given moment, you always try to adapt against the team you face instead of forcing your own style. Your team communicates in English since all the players are from different countries. Even if you’re all fluent in this language (you’re living in the UK by the way), isn’t it complicated not exchanging in your own language ? Does it sometimes lead to some misunderstandings ? Communication is tough at the beginning, for sure. When you speak your native tongue, you tend to use some abbreviations so the calls are more effective. I have a huge experience within French teams where you use “key-words” to define some situations or choices to make, I’ve been trying to do the same with FaZe since my arrival. kioShiMa, wearing FaZe's colours

You’re currently stuck in the top 10/15 and you haven’t won a big lan yet. What is missing in your team to win such an event according to you ? I don’t think anything is missing, to me, this team has a huge potential. Now, the problem isn’t to “see this potential” but rather to exploit it, and that’s the most difficult. If each player is able to execute his role properly I’m pretty sure we can do some massive damage in tournaments. FaZe is better online than offline, the league format seems to suit you. You finished 4th at the ESL Pro League with 18 wins for 8 losses and you made it to the finals, where you unfortunately lost in the group stage. You’re currently well ranked at the ECS too. How can you explain that ? Is it the Bo2 format ? Is it because you play every games one after another without any pressure ? Or maybe something else ? I didn’t play the ESL Pro League finals so I can’t tell you what happened there. For me, it’s the fact you’re at home that makes you more at ease, you have less pressure and you’re more willing to “try” some moves. But I’m sure our results will be more stable with karrigan’s arrival since he brings a real structure within the team. Let’s jump to the past for a moment if you don’t mind. How come you landed playing with FaZe ? Did you contact them after Maikelele’s departure or did they ask you to join them ? We could say it happened from both sides : I was contacting international teams to see if they were interested. Did you consider some other projects or did you have some proposals after you left EnVyUs ? Yes, mainly foreign ones. Like some other Frenchmen did, you chose to go for an international career. Is it a matured project? And in that situation, did your departure from EnVyUs trigger everything, or is that the lack of French opportunities that led you to play elsewhere ?

To be honest, I chose to take some vacations after we parted ways with EnVy. I wanted to relax and to see what I could do. The french scene was blocked off with G2 recruiting bodyy and I didn’t see anywhere else to go aside from the USA or FaZe / mousesports, which were the only teams who spoke a language I was learning (at the beginning of LDLC, I was a real mess in English) We’re hearing a lot about a possible “french shuffle” after January’s Major. What’s your position about that ? Would you consider going back to a French team if you had the chance, or are you pleased with the FaZe roster and you don’t feel concerned? I don’t think I have my spot into this shuffle, whether it is about my in-game role or anything. And I’m good where I am. As a professional player, what did you think about DEVIL’s arrival ? Was it a surprise for you to be replaced by a young subtop player ? What about his performances inside the roster ?

Indeed, I was really surprised by EnVy’s choice and I didn’t understand it at the same time. It’s a huge gamble to recruit someone who has never known big stages, but what surprised me the most was the fact that me and DEVIL have a total different profile and different roles. Was the logic to find some improvement or to change a role inside a roster ? Well, I don’t know. DEVIL must have had a really hard time, changing style is very difficult and has a huge impact on your decisions and performances. kioShiMa : " the atmosphere inside the roster has always been special"

We noticed the atmosphere wasn’t that good in EnVyUs even if it seems to be better since SIXER joined. You said it when you left by the way. Were you surprised by the failure of DEVIL’s integration or were you expecting it ? I was expecting it, the atmosphere inside the roster has always been special and I can’t even describe it to you. Any player would have met a similar fate in my opinion. It’s almost impossible to take part in a group when the ambiance isn’t that great. You were part of NiaK’s France national team during the TWC. What was your role inside roster ? Captain, In Game Leader ? I would say a little of everything ! :D G2 and nV had a huge schedule at this period so the French selection had about 80% of subtop players during the finals. How was it to play with subtop players ? Was it different from what you’re used to ? It’s different, obviously. The communication, the terms you use are not the same. When you play with experienced players, they don’t hesitate to do some moves so your leader can be more comfortable, or because they spotted a weakness in the opposite team. The subtop players lack a bit of game sense and don’t react to do some executes or redirections which seem logical to me. What do you think about the new hopes of the subtop scene like xms who has been remarked lately ? The young xms… We’ll say that I’ve seen him evolving and made him win his first lan :D He surprised me, the skill is here, now the most important remains to be done, the game sense and the desire to learn will make him step up. You did well at the TWC, finishing as semifinalist by losing against the future winner : Turkey. Overall, are you satisfied of your competition or you think you could have done better ? Satisfied, yes and no. We had a difficult start the first day, we were disappointed and we needed to wake up, what we did. But this defeat versus Turkey… We were close to beat them, the lack of experience made the difference, the victory would have been ours otherwise :p Aside from an astrology website (suggesting that you could be cheap by the way :p), I couldn’t find any significance of your nickname. I don’t want to be intrusive but would you explain it to us ? Do the capital letters S and M mean anything in particular or is it for a pure aesthetic purpose ? Absolutely, I’m cheap and the capital letters aren’t an accident, I’m also sadomasochist and proud of it ! Ahah, listen, I’ve had this nickname for years now, I’ve always been told that I looked like a chinese being younger (because of my slanted eyes). I needed a nickname, I let my imagination speak and it sounds good, I’m totally buying it ! Capitals are just for the style :) Thank you for these answers, the last word is for you. Thanks to VaKarM for this interview because yes, I’m still French. Sometimes you feel you’re not French anymore for the community when you go play abroad. Thanks to everybody who supports me. And sorry for the mistakes, it’s not easy to write on an iPad.