In 2018, French Counter-Strike was at the end of their rope. The G2 all-star lineup broke apart and it was hard to conceive of a world where a French team could become a title contender. Since then, both G2 and Vitality have rebuilt their rosters. They have combined the old world talents with the next generation of French talent to make their mark on the international stage. The French resurrection has come with both sides coming up with diametrically opposed answers to solving the French Crisis. Vitality have created a democractic system while G2 built a diarchy.





The King and Kingmaker





The origins of both French teams starts with two figures: Richard “shox” Papillon and Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt. Both were instrumental in creating the all-star lineup of 2017, but it broke apart. The entire epic is a Game of Thrones season (one of the good ones), but it is sufficient to know that the French superteam of: Shox, NBK-, Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, and Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro split into two camps: shox on one side and NBK and apEX on the other. There were irreconcilable differences in how they approached the game. NBK described it in an HLTV interview as,





“The main difference compared to G2 is that we had a problem of let's say work styles. Some people in the team wanted to work a specific way and the other half of the team didn't, so we just clashed and there was some unhappiness on both sides.”





In the end Shox rebuilt G2 with Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans and Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux while NBK and apEX started the Vitality project with Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Cedric “RpK” Guipouy, and Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer.





The Catalysts for Change





Both teams ran into problems immediately. The G2 roster lacked firepower with both Ex6TenZ and SmithZz. The Vitality lineup lacked leadership as NBK tried and failed to become the next French leader of the scene. Both G2 and Vitality needed a catalyst for change. G2’s came in two forms. The first was their coach Damien “maLeK” Marcel. In the latter part of the Ex6TenZ/SmithZz lineup, G2 added maLek as the coach. In a HLTV interview, he talked about his role,





“To give a bit of background, when I was brought onto the team as a coach, it was also to be a link between team and management. To be able to make decisions without being too emotionally involved and to get G2 back at a high level.”









After the Ex6TenZ/SmithZz lineup failed to get the requisite results, management demanded a change. MaLek was the one who brought change to the team as Lucas “Lucky” Chastang and Audric “JaCkz” Jug both came into the lineup. While I can’t give all of the credit to maLek, it’s worth noting that maLek coached both players when they were on 3DMax and they have filled out the roles that G2 needed. It was the first move of many that eventually saw G2 rise back to prominence.





The other catalysts for both Vitality and G2 was LDLC. When French CS was crashing in late 2018, LDLC made a shocking underdog run at IEM Chicago 2018. Both Vitality and G2 recruited players from that lineup. Vitality got Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and G2 picked up Francois “AmaNEk” Delaunay. Both of them had some experience leading a team and both became important pieces that defined the systems of both teams.





Vitality’s Democracy





The best way to describe Vitality is that it is a democracy. The team plays a few different styles of play. For brevity’s sake, we can define split it into two general styles. The defaults (3-1-1 or 2-1-2) and the 4-1. In the 4-1, ALEX, apEX, and RpK are the frontline of fraggers that use their utility and trading power to take positions on the map. ZywOo is a hybrid who can either play the rifle or AWP and is in charge of closing out the rounds. NBK is the primary lurk in the 4-1s (though RpK does it as well) and can play both passive and aggressive lurking styles.





In the defaults, each of the players has a general role they fulfill depending on the strategy or tactic. ALEX and apEX are the space creators who can play with the pack or on the wings. RpK is either in the pack or playing a passive holding lurk. NBK can play whatever role they need him to. In the default, Vitality can use ZywOo as an opening dueler or have him play towards the back to close out the rounds in postplant.





It is a system that utilizes the best aspects of each player. ALEX and apEX play at their best in space creation. RpK is a soldier who does his job. ZywOo is great at both opening and closing rounds. NBK is the ultimate swiss army knife who can do whatever you want of him. That is why I call Vitality’s system a democracy as each player has a designated role that suits their particular needs.





The Vitality system isn’t just a democracy inside the server, but outside of it as well. ALEX has taken control of the T-sides, while NBK leads the CT-sides and inferno. NBK described the division of leadership in a HLTV interview,





“But the main ideas come from our coach and me, and then ALEX has his input as well on if he doesn't feel comfortable on some map or stuff like that. It is just a balance, but generally, our ideas are not really far off. When he leads his T half, I give him 100% freedom, when I'm doing my CT half I have 100% freedom, and then our coach relays us information if he has something to give us.”





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The democracy has borne fruit as Vitality are a top three team in the world.





G2’s Diarchy





Where Vitality run a democracy, Vitality run a diarchy, a two-king system. G2’s tactical system has set roles for all of the players. KennyS is the AWPer. Shox and JaCkz are the map control duo. AmaNEk plays the lurker/wing and Lucky is the support/role player. The system seems designed to emphasize enabling two players on each map.





That is how it works on four of their five maps. On Dust2, G2 want to give KennyS the most room to shine and have Shox in a position where he can make mid-round calls and plays. On Train, they rely on KennyS AWP and give JaCkz full freedom to make any aggressive CT-side pushes he wants. On Nuke, they have KennyS and Shox control yard to take the game. On Overpass, they have KennyS’s AWP hold the CT-side while they use AmaNEk’s lurking and mid-rounding to win the T-side.





Even in terms of the more traditional roles of stars and role players, KennyS and Shox are still the stars of the squad. This two-king system runs into the leadership as well. Outside of the server, it’s a mix between Shox and maLek, while inside the server it is Shox and AmaNEk. MaLek described this balanced approach in a HLTV interview,





“...so the idea is that we built a team made around him, and he's the leader, but we also have AmaNEk who is my right hand, he's someone who pays a lot of attention to detail and is very organized, which allows me to take some more responsibility when it comes to vetos, gameplans, the direction we're taking”





The brilliance of this setup is that it gives structure to Shox’s capricious talent. One of the problems of the all-star G2 lineup was that when Shox was at the helm, they never had a consistent vision or plan of how to proceed forward. However when NBK- tried to take over, his strict approach clashed with Shox. MaLek has created a delicate balance between Shox’s creativity and a consistent structure where both kings can compromise on their views and meet in the middle.





First man of the Democracy and the King of Kings





Both Vitality and G2 have different tactical systems, but they have one similarity. Both rely on a superstar AWPer to carry them through the majority of their games. In Vitality, ZywOo stands above the rest in impact, fragging, and superstar prowess. ZywOo’s peers and rivals acknowledge him as the second best player in the world. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, perhaps the greatest Counter-Strike player we’ll ever see, said in a HLTV interview, “I think that ZywOo is closer to my level than any other pro”





The two of them even have similar qualities. Both are hybrid players that are spectacular on the AWP and rifle. Both of them are good at opening rounds and closing them. Many have drawn comparisons between Vitality and Na`Vi as singular superstars who carry their teams far above their level. While the comparison is apt, there are crucial differences.





In 2018, when Na`Vi played it was blatantly obvious how badly players like Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko or Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev performed. While the Vitality players may have similarly bad statistical performances, they play their roles well, have good teamplay, and have good synergy. They remind me of Virtus.Pro’s EPICENTER 2017 performance where all of the Virtus.Pro players where none of the players had particularly good stats. Thus it feels inappropriate to call a one-man carry in the way s1mple was in early 2018. On the other hand, if Vitality is a democracy, then ZywOo is the first man of that democracy.





On the G2 side of things, the player they rely on the most is kennyS. While G2 try to emphasize two players per map, the player they need to show up on every map is kennyS. KennyS is one of those rare prodigies that can seemingly will himself back into form at any given moment. Other players have a peak of brilliance that can last between 6-12 months before falling off. In KennyS case, his peaks of brilliance seem more correlated to his motivation. When he had the entire system built around him on Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans’ Titan squad, he was an unstoppable monster. The only man that Olof “olofmeister” Gustafsson ever admitted to fearing in his prime.





He lost that power after joining EnVyUs, but once G2 created the all-star line-up in 2017, his motivation returned. He once again become one of the best players in the world and at times could will his team into massive victories. In 2019, he has found his motivation again as he put in another legendary performance at ESL Proleague Season 9 Finals, carrying his team to second place.





KennyS has found his motivation. One of the reasons kennyS found that motivation again was because of ZywOo’s rise. On Sans Filtre, kennyS authored an article where he wrote, “The arrival of an excellent french opponent like Zywoo is a source of motivation....He’s really strong, but I’m not bad either, we’ll see who will be the best French sniper.”





Vitality have ZywOo. He is the first man of the democracy, G2 have kennyS, the king of kings. If ZywOo is the present and future, then kennyS is the past and present. These two are at the very core of this French resurrection. So long as either of them play at top form, France will always a chance to compete at the highest levels.





The French Resurrection





It has been a long time since we’ve seen two French teams in the top 10, over two years now. The split-up of the G2 all-star looked dire for the French, but both teams have made it out. Vitality and G2 have done the right moves. They picked up and integrated the young talent. They have made constructed strong tactical identities. Vitality has their democracy and G2 have their diarchy. French CS has been resurrected and once again they are one of the most important regions in international CS:GO.