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The French CSGO scene is in turmoil right now, with G2 not being able to renew the contracts of all five of their players. There is another new team under formation comprising of several well-known French players and a young prodigy, ZywOo.
ZywOo has been practising with his new team for quite some time now under the temporary name, Waterboys. So far, the team has only participated in the GG.Bet shuffle tournament as they strive to qualify for IEM Chicago, winning both their matches convincingly against 3DMax and Team Spirit.
Toutes les belles histoires ont une fin : https://t.co/unKmUPQvNC
Merci pour tout @zywoo_csgo et bon vent pour la suite de tes aventures ! pic.twitter.com/mxbDOSmFpU
— *aAa* Gaming (@aAaGaming) October 6, 2018
Team Waterboys is expected to be picked up by the esports organisation Vitality. Currently without a CSGO roster, picking up Team Waterboys would be their entry into the Counter-Strike Global Offensive esports scene via the French route and into the EU market. The reported roster for Team Vitality is as follows:
- NBK
- apEX
- ZywOo
- RPK
- Happy
Strengths on the team
This csgo roster has an amazing mixture of talent as well as leadership. Happy is the only French in-game leader (IGL) to ever win a Major. The other notable IGL from France, Ex6tenz actually had a worse run at Majors than Happy with his team of the time, G2. Despite being considered to be significantly better than Happy in terms of strategy and tactics, Ex6tenz was unable to take his team beyond the Major Group stages, leaving the tournament during the New Legends stage in 9th place.
Having the likes of NBK and Apex also adds a lot of strength to this team. Their experience and excellent positioning are what makes them extremely strong players in Counter-Strike and even if they are not in the best of form, these two players can deal consistent damage and appear near the top of the scoreboard. However, the best player in their arsenal remains ZywOo.
The young prodigy has been a revelation since last year. He has been a part of a few teams and consistently put up big numbers in FPL as well in competitive matches. Most of his previous teams have set up a composition to solely play around him, as his talent ensures an easy route towards victory.
Many of you asked about kennyS and Vitality/Waterboys but these cases are different and nothing will change for Vitality. The lineup is set and no one will leave for G2 or be replace by kenny.
— neL (@neLendirekt) October 6, 2018
All eyes will be on Team Vitality, especially as they seem to be the only French hope in the short future. G2 esports, on the other hand, is definitely facing internal problems. KennyS has not yet signed an extended contract with the organisation, even as his teammates have all extended their contract until around 2020.
The lack of Good tactics will hurt them.
The current roster for Waterboys is not a superstar team like EnVyUs in 2015. They have several good players, but they will rely on Happy’s leadership and shot-calling to become a better roster. RPK is a tank and will consistently put up good performances but it is upto the firepower of the whole roster, as well as Happy as the In-Game Leader to lead the team forward.
This will be a true test for Happy as an In-Game Leader. His individual skill might not be the best in the scene, but for an In Game Leader with such talent at his disposal, that should not be an excuse for lack of results.
In addition to this, NBK and Apex need to step up and perform for their new team. These players have been near the top of the French scene for so long and yet they lack decent success. With this new roster, if everything goes to plan, it might be the start of a new era in French Counter Strike.
For now, Team Vitality (WaterBoys) will compete in the GG.Bet Shuffle in an attempt to qualify for IEM Chicago 2018, and we’re very excited to see how this roster will perform.