Among the European countries, France is one of the nations with a highly developed CS scene, from the early versions to the current CS:GO game. Throughout its 21-year history, the French have often stood at the pinnacle of the world and produced top stars, including kennyS, NBK, shox, and most recently, the name ZywOo. However, since the beginning of this year, three French players have had to sit on the bench for different teams; let’s find out who they are!
1. kennyS
The first name we must mention is definitely Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, the 25-year-old AWP-er currently sitting on the bench of G2 Esports. This legendary AWP-er has been playing for G2 since 2017 and has achieved quite a bit of success; however, at the beginning of March, G2 Esports officially placed him on the bench and brought JaCkz back into the active lineup. The star of Team Niko will play as a Rifler/AWPer, while kennyS will have full freedom to search for a new home.
kennyS is one of the most famous AWP-ers in the world of CS:GO with an aggressive and flashy playstyle, combined with extremely fast yet precise flicks. This playstyle significantly contributed to Team EnVyUs winning the championship at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, the 7th Major held in history, and kennyS was also honored as the MVP of the tournament.
After being benched, kennyS has focused on personal streaming and developing his image while affirming that he will continue to stick with CS, denying rumors that he would switch to play for Alliance in VALORANT.
2. Nivera
Like his brother ScreaM, although he is a Belgian player, Nivera’s career has been closely tied to the French CS:GO scene since the early days of competition. At just 19 years old, Nivera has quickly delivered impressive performances, leading to his recruitment by Vitality in October 2020 as the sixth member of the team. Competing on two maps, Inferno and Dust2, Nivera has repeatedly proven himself through crucial moments and made significant contributions to the team’s two titles at IEM Beijing-Haidian and BLAST Premier Fall Finals.
However, last weekend, Vitality unexpectedly announced Nivera’s benching. The main reason for this change was due to Valve’s announcement at the beginning of 2021 regarding new regulations for upcoming RMR tournaments, specifically that teams could register one substitute player but would be penalized in points when changing a player in the official lineup.
This forced Vitality to revert to a 5-member lineup, but they also affirmed: “During his time playing for the team, Nivera has shown himself to be a talented player and he can definitely return if changes occur in the future.” With his impressive performances in the Vitality jersey, it is certain that whether Nivera decides to stay or leave, a bright future awaits this young Belgian talent.
3. NBK
As a veteran player and a former teammate of kennyS, NBK was announced to leave OG’s active roster at the end of February. This decision came after a period of poor performance both personally and for the OG team in general; they were eliminated early at cs_summit 7, did not make it past BLAST Premier Spring Group, and finished 13-16 at IEM Katowice 2021.
NBK is one of the original members of the OG CS:GO lineup and during his more than a year of playing for this organization, the best achievement he and his teammates achieved was a runner-up position at IEM New York 2020 and a runner-up at FLASHPOINT Season 2. In his personal announcement, NBK also shared that he is very eager to continue playing professional CS:GO and is willing to take on the IGL role if necessary.
In addition to these three prominent stars, some other names worth mentioning here are bodyy (former G2 Esports player, currently with LDLC), Lucky (former G2 player, currently benched with Heretics), and kioShiMa (former FaZe Clan player, currently benched with Heretics). Clearly, French CS:GO has many talents ready to compete at the highest level, but top professional teams do not always have enough spots for everyone. The future of these players, either to establish their own empires or to transition to another game (for example, VALORANT) – if they cannot find a suitable place in 2021.