by French professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Richard “shox” Papillon is working alongside other players to build a roster that will participate in the BLAST Paris Major.
This will be the return of shox to the competitive scene, as the player has been benched since October last year with his European team Apex. This move will also mark his return to the French region.
Shox is pursuing this project alongside retired CS:GO player Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux, his former teammate from G2 Esports. This will more likely be the return of the veterans.
According to CS:GO reporter neL, both returning players will be taking on the tournament alongside three other young players. For the initial stage, SmithZz will also be competing while showing the young players the ropes and the nitty gritty before being moved to an executive role, leaving room for a fresh and new player.
“Shox & SmithZz are teaming up again with 3 young players! My nostalgic heart can’t take it,” he tweeted.
“SmithZz will help the team at first, then move in staff role when needed, and let his place to a younger player.”
The other players who will be joining the veterans are the 21-year-old French AWper player Jeremy “kursy” Gast, the 17-year-old player Ryan “Neityu” Aubry, and Paul “Day0s” Niel.
All five players will strive to qualify for the BLAST Paris Major through participation and earning top spots at the open qualifiers and the RMR events. Qualifying for these tournaments will mean proceeding to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the RMR event, and then the main final event, which will take place in May in France, where they will have an opportunity to be cheered by their own audience as an all-French roster.
Shox can be likened to having strong experience in the esports scene, having played for multiple regions like dominating the North American scene and also the European CS:GO community. The 30-year-old player has bodied several awards and championed his team to win a handful of trophies and spots in tournaments.
Shox commenced his CS:GO career in early 2012, after retiring from Counter-Strike, which he started playing in 2006. He represented CS:GO teams such as Titan, Team EnVyUs, G2 Esports, Team Vitality, Team Liquid, TCM-Gaming, Imaginary Gaming, Episilon eSports, and a host of others.
The former rifler was also recognized by the CS:GO community and was ranked by HLTV as the 3rd best player of 2013, the 8th best player of 2014, and the 6th best player of 2016. He also made it to Thorin’s Top 10 CS:GO Players ranking as the 4th best player.
Shox’s best tournaments include his back-to-back first-place streaks with G2 Esports at the 2016 Esports Championship Series Season 1 Finals, the 2017 ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals, and the 2017 DreamHack Masters Malm?. The French rifler also replicated the same prowess in Team Vitality; alongside his teammates, they were able to garner a first-place finish at the 2020 BLAST Premier: Fall, a second place at the 2021 BLAST Premier: Fall Finals, and a resounding first place at the 2021 Intel Extreme Masters XVI: Winter.
In the following weeks, the CS:GO community will find out if the phenomenal player still have what it takes to bring the Major trophy home alongside his other teammates.
