Maniac departs LDLC, retires from CS:GO

A veteran of French Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has decided to retire from pro play.

Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez, who spent years within the upper echelon of French CS:GO, addressed his fans in a TwitLonger post on May 9, writing that he would be leaving his current team LDLC. He also added that he would not return as a player, after nearly six years of active competition.

In 2014, Maniac reached the quartefinalsr and semifinals of two straight Valve Majors alongside LDLC, before officially joining Titan on Sept. 3, 2014. At the time, Titan consisted primarily of the former VeryGames CS:GO roster, which became the first team to ever challenge the original Ninjas in Pyjamas roster during their time as CS:GO’s best team.

The 27-year-old’s last major tournament success came on Sept. 26 that same year, after Titan toppled its domestic rivals LDLC at DreamHack Stockholm. Following the team’s triumph in Sweden, however, Maniac’s teammate Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian was found to have used third-party cheating software, which resulted in Valve permanently barring him from ever attending future events organized by the developer. With KQLY’s ousting, Titan were also removed from attending the DreamHack Winter 2014 Valve Major.

Since 2015, Maniac spent time as a coach, as well as a player, for primarily French teams. His international debut came in 2016, when he signed on to Rogue alongside a primarily Danish roster. He returned to competing in Europe in 2016, when he reunited with former Titan in-game leader Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans on LDLC.

Although Maniac’s time at the top was cut short due to extraneous circumstances, his success still puts him among one of the top players in CS:GO’s early existence.