One of the most legendary French CS:GO players of all time has returned, joining forces with a familiar face and former teammate, and seeking to qualify for the next Major that would be played in front of his home crowd.
Former Major winner Richard “shox” Papillon is back in competitive CS:GO, announcing today on his stream that he’s reuniting with former teammate Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux.
The veteran duo, alongside the roster of young players in Jeremy “kursy” Gast, Ryan “Neityu” Aubry, and Paul “Day0s” Niel, will attempt to qualify for the upcoming BLAST Paris Major via open qualifiers and the RMR tournaments. If they make it out of the open qualifiers, the all-French lineup would travel to Copenhagen, Denmark for the RMR, with dreams of qualifying for a Major they could play in front of a home crowd.
While shox is forming his own project and is currently unsigned with an org, this move represents a return to the French scene he found so much success in. For almost a decade, he was a pillar of the French Counter-Strike scene, collecting trophies for the likes of LDLC, Envy, Titan, G2, and Vitality, and even winning a Major while with LDLC in 2014 alongside SmithZz.
He left France behind to pursue international projects in 2022 but struggled to produce results during these stints with both Team Liquid and Apeks. Since the LDLC days, SmithZz spent many years with G2 as both a player and coach before leaving in 2020 and taking a break from competitive play to pursue streaming full-time. According to French CS:GO reporter neL, SmithZz’s time with the team as a player is only temporary and he will most likely move into a staff role in the future to make way for another young player.
The BLAST Paris Major is the first CS:GO Major to be held on French soil and will take place in May.
Published: Jan 11, 2023 05:54 pm