Vitality CEO explains why flameZ replaced dupreeh despite winning Paris CS:GO Major

Vitality made a bold CS:GO roster change during the offseason, dropping dupreeh in spite of the team’s 2023 accomplishments such as winning the BLAST Paris Major, and the organization’s CEO finally went into more detail on the decision today.

The French org let go of the veteran and five-time Major champion, bringing in young blood in the form of OG’s rifler Shahar “flameZ” Shushan on June 22. The move sparked curiosity in the community because dupreeh helped Vitality become the best team in the world in 2023 and is the most decorated player in CS:GO esports.

The community speculated on the reasoning behind the change and many people initially thought dupreeh was going to retire, but that was quickly dismissed by the veteran. What motivated Vitality to replace dupreeh is the youth flameZ brings, which will help the team be “future-proof and ahead of the curve,” according to Vitality’s CEO Fabien “Neo” Devide in an interview with Dexerto.

Vitality’s hunt for flameZ started right after his agent Jérôme Coupez let the world know the Israeli player was exploring offers ahead of the end of his contract with OG, and the French organization preferred to not miss the opportunity to sign him for free.

“We were not sure that we wanted to make a change, it was only if we had a crazy good opportunity, with a player who fit our playstyle and identity, and that also ensured that we could maybe be a bit more future-oriented,” Neo told Dexerto. “From the outside, it looks a bit unfair, because dupreeh didn’t deserve to leave in that way, after winning such a great event and playing that well, but we thought it was the best for the project, even if, on an emotional level, it was really complicated to do and a really hard decision to make as an organization.”

Even though dupreeh is miles away from flameZ in terms of experience, having been a part of prime Astralis between 2018 and 2019, the Israeli entry-fragger will add more aggressiveness to Vitality and take many of dupreeh’s old roles. This means that Vitality should have more firepower, but without the need to scramble multiple positions.

FlameZ will play his first official tournament for Vitality at BLAST Premier Fall Groups between July 13 and 23. The international powerhouse is due to face Evil Geniuses’ new lineup on July 13 at 8am CT.