Dreamhack Valencia 2012. The very first LAN tournament in CS:GO history. Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans leads his team, VeryGames to the finals. Unfortunately, they fall short, as they lose to their biggest rivals, Ninjas in Pyjamas. 5 years later, the ELEAGUE Boston Major is upon us. The competition is fiercer than ever. While Ex6TenZ former teammates, NBK, Shox, apEX, and kennyS are competing among the very best in the world, Ex6TenZ himself has to look on from the sidelines. His team has not even managed to qualify for the EU Minor, the very first step on the road to the biggest trophy in CS:GO. A trophy that Ex6TenZ has held despite it being his ultimate goal. Where did it go wrong for Ex6TenZ? How has one of the masterminds of the game ended up playing for what is in the grand scheme of things an irrelevant team? Instead of looking back at a career of trophies and the glory of victory, his career has become a matter of not accomplishing that one goal. Winning a major.

Falling just short

The early part of Ex6TenZ CS:GO career was very much a story of being 2nd best. While his team would always come close to taking home the trophy, they would always fall short to their biggest rival, the Swedish juggernauts Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP). Despite continuous attempts, Ex6TenZ and his team were only able to win an event if NiP did not attend, or if another team took care of them. It would take Ex6TenZ over a year before he finally defeated the Ninjas on LAN at SLTV StarSeries VII. Following the victory, Ex6TenZ and his team VeryGames solidified their spot as the number 1 team in the world. The timing couldn’t have been better. Only a few weeks prior, Valve had announced the very first CS:GO Major, scheduled to take place at Dreamhack Winter a few months later. The first tournament of its kind in the history of the game. Following their victory at StarSeries, VeryGames continued their great run of form, winning EMS One Fall 2013 and MSI Beat It 2013.

In 2013, Ex6TenZ and VeryGames would finally defeat their rivals NiP

As a result, VeryGames were the favorites going into the event, and Ex6TenZ had the chance to become one of the very first world champions in CS:GO history. But as we would find out, the majors were not where Ex6TenZ excelled. After a 3 map victory against Copenhagen Wolves in the quarterfinals, VeryGames nemesis awaited them, as they once again had to go up against NiP. Just like VeryGames, NiP were looking at becoming the first world champions of the game they had dominated for the majority of its history. Despite a convincing victory on Inferno, VeryGames would fall short and finish in 3rd/4th place. To this day, this is still Ex6TenZ best result at a major.

Major defeats

Even though it was the world championship, one tournament couldn’t change the facts. VeryGames (now known as Titan) were still one of the absolute best teams in the world. In March of 2014, they would have another shot at becoming major champions, as they would compete in EMS One Katowice. Going into the tournament, everything looked great, as Titan managed to take yet another victory at the Dreamhack Stockholm Invitational. At the event, they defeated the previous major champions Fnatic, but more importantly, they defeated their old rivals NiP twice. As a result, Ex6TenZ and his team were once again one of the absolute favorites heading into Katowice. The group draw wasn’t exactly kind to Titan, as they had to go up against the CIS superteam HellRaisers, as well as the eventual winners of the tournament, Virtus.Pro. Despite the tough draw, most people expected Ex6TenZ & co to get the job done. But things didn’t go as planned. After getting destroyed by Virtus.Pro, Titan had to go up against HellRaisers to decide their tournament fate. Titan ended up drawing the short end of the stick, in what was a very close game on Inferno. The nightmare scenario became reality, as Titan fell victim to the group of death. Despite the game only getting bigger, Ex6TenZ career had already peaked, and this major was just a sign of things to come.

Titan went out in the group stage of EMS One Katowice 2014. Something that would become a regular occurrence for them at the majors.

Shuffling into a nightmare

About a month later, the star player of Titan, Shox, would take a step back from the team, following a disappointing result at Copenhagen Games. While Titan managed to get an adequate replacement in kennyS, things were not looking up for the team. Following another group stage exit at a major, ESL One Cologne 2014, the team imploded. Longtime members, NBK, SmithZz, and ScreaM were no longer on the team. NBK and SmithZz teamed up with former teammate Shox on LDLC, while Ex6TenZ, along with kennyS, teamed up with some fresh faces in apEX, Maniac, and KQLY. As a result, the first French shuffle was complete. In the beginning, it looked like both teams benefitted from the changes, and in the first offline meeting between the two teams, Ex6TenZ would come out on top. Something that would quickly change.

In November of 2014, Ex6TenZ new star player, KQLY, got VAC banned. Not only did this leave Titan a man short, it also resulted in them getting banned from participating in the next major, Dreamhack Winter 2014. Ex6TenZ had to watch from the sidelines as his former teammates of LDLC won the tournament and got to lift the trophy he had wanted for over a year.

2015 was not much better for Titan. The following major, ESL One Katowice 2015, resulted in another last place finish. In spite of the tactical prowess of Ex6TenZ, combined with kennyS entering what is perhaps the best run of form we have ever seen from a CS:GO player, the rest of the team did not have what it took. To replace KQLY, Titan had to bring RpK out of retirement, and despite him being the best player in CS:Source history, he had a long way to go to reach his old form.

New beginnings, new defeats

In the middle of 2015, another French shuffle was on the horizon. While you could argue that both Titan and LDLC benefitted from the previous shuffle, there was no question as to who won out on this occasion. It wasn’t Ex6TenZ. LDLC (now known as EnVyUs) were looking to get back to the number 1 spot in the world, and as a result recruited kennyS and apEX from Titan. In return, Titan got Shox and SmithZz back into the lineup, a trade that no GM in the world would have made out of their own free will. ESL One Cologne 2015 resulted in yet another last-place finish for Titan, while their French rivals, EnVyUs, made it all the way to the final. A few months later, the team decided to replace Maniac with their former star player ScreaM, a change that seemed to benefit the team. As the next major, Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca came around the corner, things were looking slightly better for Titan. But as it had always been the case for Ex6TenZ, the majors were nothing but a disappointment. A loss to the age-old rivals, NiP, meant that Titan had to exit the tournament in the group stages once again. This time, Ex6TenZ saw his former teammates lift the major trophy once again, as EnVyUs were victorious. Long gone were the days of winning trophies and competing to be the number 1 team in the world. Instead, Ex6TenZ and his team had to do battle to even be considered in the top 10.

MLG Columbus 2016 is so far, the last major Ex6TenZ has ever played. The story didn’t change much, as his team, now known as G2 Esports didn’t manage to go beyond the group stage. After continuous failure to produce results, Ex6TenZ was, for the first time in CS:GO history, kicked from his team.

The last one [E/N: the Columbus major] is a good example, and I know that lead to my kick. I know that at some point I lacked confidence, and the leader must absolutely not lack confidence at this stage of the competition. I know the idea behind why I got kicked. That’s not the only reason, but I know it had a part in it. It happens, one can’t be at the top all the time.

Shox was now the in-game leader of G2 Esports. The role that Ex6TenZ had always taken up. By creating a looser playstyle around himself and his teammate ScreaM, Shox managed to lead G2 Esports to their first tournament victory at ECS Season 2. A very impressive result, considering the level of competition in the scene at the time. But despite the general improvement in results, G2 Esports has still not managed to get any further than the group stages at the majors.

G2 Esports finally manage to lift a trophy. Unfortunately for Ex6TenZ, he was no longer a part of the team.

Never giving up

Ex6TenZ was now stuck in the wilderness. Having been removed from the 2nd best French team, a lot of people would have given up and called it a career. Not Ex6TenZ. He has now dedicated himself to playing with younger, up-and-coming players in team LDLC, hoping that one day, he can compete among the very best in the world once again. He has even vowed to not retire until he wins a CS:GO major. So far, the team has not even come close to accomplishing such a feat. But we cannot underestimate the tactical mastermind that is Ex6TenZ. Perhaps with more talent in his team, he would be able to accomplish his goal. One thing is for sure, everyone should admire the perseverance of Ex6TenZ. Winning the major would be the ultimate story of his redemption. Will he ever achieve his goal? Who knows. But it is certain that he is never going to give up trying.