As a continuation to the previous edition of Counter Strike Who is who, this piece will be about the French team that almost managed to win ESL One Cologne. Losing to fnatic in a 2-0 final, they got away with second place and a historical weekend, with wins over top teams such as TeamSoloMid and Natus Vincere.
Just a few months ago, nV proved themselves to be very inconsistent in their performance. It was never sure if they would win against teams that they should – at least statistically – outmatch. This came to effect in, for example, the ESEA Pro League Finals and ESWC Montreal, where they lost against Cloud9 both times. This, however, changed as the French team acquired the Titan players kennyS and apEX. Both lacked consistency as well, but under nV they quickly rose to show their full range of skills and - being backed up by very skilled players – they even managed to remain on the high performance level they formerly had only proven to deliver in fewer situations.
In the first major to compete under that lineup, ESL One Cologne, they pulled off wins against TSM and Na’Vi, both in a quite convincing fashion. On the first map of the grand final against fnatic, they brought it to a 15-11 scoreline but unfortunately were unable to close out the map. As fnatic rose up again, they carried the game into overtime and managed to win the map for themselves. This frustrating loss was quite a thorn in nV’s side and with fnatic growing strong and confident again, they eventually lost the final.
But still, they managed to get second place at a major tournament. There is a reason for EnVyUs to be on the third spot of our team rankings. It is just another part of their recent victories, which include GFINITY Summer & Spring Masters and the IEM Gamescom.
The Lineup
Happy-
NBK
kioShiMa
kennyS
apEX
Their current ingame leader is the CS:S legend Vincent “Happy-“ Cervoni, widely known for his aggressive play style. Until the signing of AWP-master kennyS, he was actually regarded to be the main awper in the team. Although he might have given up on that role now, he still manages to pull off amazing plays, once opting to go for the sniper rifle again sometimes.
Nathan “NBK” Schmitt is what Happy- himself explains to be a defender. He is the one who should be given the task do defend bomb sites singlehandedly, similar to the role of KRiMZ in fnatic. His very defensive play style makes him eligible for support duties, although he was actually known to be a rather aggressive player – even main awper – back in his Counter Strike: Source days.
Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey has a long career to look back at, starting CS 1.6 at just 17 years of age. His current position within nV is the entry-fragger. He will look for aggressive picks, he will try to make the enemy team back up, and he will open up bomb sites for his team.
Just half a year ago, Kenny “kennyS” Schrub was widely considered to be the best AWP player in the world. This, however, changed as the AWP nerfing shed a little more light on players such as Guardian from Na’Vi. But under the EnVyUs flag he has proven again and again to be an absolute monster with the sniper rifle, hitting insane flick shots and having reaction times that come close to zero.
Dan “apEX” Madesclaire is usually described as being capable of turning around rounds singlehandedly. So, if you have the man advantage but apEX is still alive, don’t feel the confidence of victory just yet!
The play style
Analyzing the team composition actually reveals that most of the players were and are capable of taking over the position of an entry-fragger. This, of course, means a huge relief for kioShiMa as he is not the only one responsible for the first kills, but nonetheless signals a deficit in defensive play. Usually nV compensate that by entry-fragging even on the CT-side to take the momentum from their enemies and to gain the man-advantage as early as possible. They are capable of converting to a defensive play style as well, but they have proven very often that – in high-pressure moments – they tend to fall back to their old and usual behavior. This has proven to be fatal in the finals of ESL One Cologne against fnatic. As mentioned before, they managed to get a 15-11 lead on the first map. Just one round away from closing Dust 2 for themselves, they were put under enormous pressure and instead of holding sites and “playing it safe”, they went aggressive and lost men in the first seconds of every round, leading to them being overrun by the sheer force of the powerhouse that is fnatic. This could lead to the conclusion that nV have made a mistake there, but it is totally understandable to panic in such situations and convert back to the play style that has worked always so far.
The Team’s History:
Similar to many CS:GO teams, EnVyUs as an organization did not actually grow inside the Counter-Strike business. It all began in 2007 with the formation of a Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare squad. The organization celebrated huge victories with their players over the last decade and eventually decided to acquire a CS:GO squad. With Team LDLC having won DreamHack Winter 2014 it was decided to take them over in February of 2015, so Happy-, kioShiMa, NBK, shox and SmithZz transitioned to the new Team EnVyUs Counter-Strike squad. The latter two, however, were dropped although they had contributed massively to the victories at GFinity and StarLadder just a few months ago. This is when kennyS and apEX were signed, leading to an impressive second place at ESL One Cologne.
Team EnVyUs clearly were the fan favorites at ESL One Cologne this year, by far they outmatched the fan base of their Swedish opponents. They are always happy to be on stage and to be cheered at, even if they don’t win anything big. They are a top-level team and still in the phase of stabilizing after their players’ transitions, so be sure to stay focused on their development!
Update: In what can be called a perfect run, EnVyUs literally rushed through DreamHack London, not dropping a single match or map. All the issues they seemingly have had before are now sorted out and all players showed their full capabilities, especially kennyS showing up in perfect form, being the key player on Inferno and helping his team catch up on their round difference to win the map against TSM and subsequently the finals.
The series of CS:GO Who is who will return in just a week with the Polish team Virtus.pro, who have recently won the ESL ESEA Dubai Invitational.
Photos taken from: ESL Flickr
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