G2 Esports Announces New CS:GO Roster and Benches Two Players Ahead of ECS Season 5 Finals
G2 EsportsThe rumors about the new G2 Esports roster have proven to be entirely true as the French CS:GO team has brought back Richard ‘shox’ Papillon and benched Nathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt and Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire.
The G2 players and organization originally sided with NBK- and apEX over shox’s proposed new lineup back in February of 2018 and picked up former OpTic Gaming star Oscar ‘mixwell’ Cañellas on a trial basis.
However, the team failed to live up to expectations in the first few outings and rumors soon began to surface about shox returning to the roster with the team he originally suggested which would see NBK- and apEX replaced by Edouard ‘SmithZz’ Dubourdeaux and Kévin ‘Ex6TenZ’ Droolans.
G2 went on to officially release Mixwell on May 28th along with a statement from the team’s coach and manager, Jerome ‘NiaK’ Sudries, which stated that they were in process of deciding “the final line-up that will represent G2 Esports moving forward”.
On June 4th that decision was finally made when the team announced that they are officially bringing shox back from the bench, bumping former coach SmithZz back up to a playing position, and picking up legendary in-game leader Ex6TenZ.
The lineup will compete at the ECS Season 5 Finals in London while both NBK- and apEX will be moved to the bench and allowed to explore opportunities with other teams.
The G2 organization is still hedging its bets, though, as NiaK confirmed that Ex6TenZ isn’t signed to the team yet and that the final decision won’t be made until just before ESL One Cologne at the start of July.
The coach also took the time to thank NBK- and apEX for everything they have done for G2 during their time on the starting roster and for their professionalism in handling the current circumstances.
“This new composition with the return of shox and SmithZz and the addition of Ex6TenZ as stand-in, but also as team captain for this tournament, marks a new step in our decision-making process and I am excited to start working with all of them in London this weekend.
In the meantime, apEX and NBK have joined the bench and I really want to thank them for the work produced and the energy deployed throughout the past few months. I would like to take this opportunity to point out the great professionalism shown by all of our players since the beginning of this process as our decisions were always made with the acceptance of all of them.
A new step but not yet a conclusion, we are planning to announce our long term prospects before ESL One Cologne,”
The roster’s first official matches will take place on June 8th at the ECS Season 5 Finals where they have been drawn in Group B alongside FaZe Clan, NRG Esports, and Luminosity Gaming.
G2 Esports’ CS:GO team now consists of:
- Richard ‘shox’ Papillon
- Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub
- Alexandre ‘bodyy’ Pianaro
- Edouard ‘SmithZz’ Dubourdeaux
- Kévin ‘Ex6TenZ’ Droolans (stand-in)
- Nathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt (substitute)
- Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire (substitute)