Hello Julien. Before talking about CS:GO, let's go back to the beginning. How did you discover Counter-Strike, which version was this, and when did your interest for eSport started ?

Hello. I discovered CSS more than 9 years ago, when I was at high school. At that time, I didn't know a thing about competitive gaming and mostly played FFA and surf maps until the day I stumbled upon Clan-France. This was the day I became aware of the competitive world of CSS. I really enjoyed it from the first matches, and I started to play more seriously and intensively.

Back on CSS you were a good player of the French subtop. You never really made it to the top at that time. You had some news on VaKarM for some teams/mixes (with players such as KQLY, NpK, liptoNN or SCARA), but nothing which lasted really long. Why didn't you play at a higher level ? Do you regret this ?

I played on the subtop during many years, but I didn't play in a lot of teams. I always prefered playing with people I like rather than working on my contacts with pro players to get on top of the scene. I don't regret this, I just would have liked to achieve great results with one of my teams.

CS:GO came out in 2012, and we don't see you in any team. Could you explain why ?

At that time, my motivation regarding competitive CS was quite low. It was because I got disappointed by some of my former teammates, and because of an update which made the tapping technique of shooting no longer viable. This is why I left CS to play League Of Legends.

AREA at the end of CS:S with NpK, KQLY, XtqZz and SCARA

In 2013, you decide to get back into competitive gaming. You join BuyKey and in a few days only you displayed an impressive hability and a spectacular and unique playstyle : tapping. How do you explain this sudden uprise in skill, and your quick adaptation to the game ?

I played quite similarly on CSS when I had enough time to practice. The only difference is that CSGO is more adapted to this playstyle. It is still quite true today, although some updates made it more difficult to master. It took me less than a month to analyze the gameplay and adapt my playstyle in consequence.

You have been compared to ScreaM, who was considered at that time as one of the best players of the world, and a specialist of tapping. How did you feel regarding all this attention and expectations that people had towards towards at this period ?

Being noticed for my skill was something I really liked. What's really funny is that I managed to get known while playing CSGO with my friends and I was not trying to become famous as a player.

Lets talk about your technique of shooting. How did you choose this technique, and how do you practice ?

One of my former teammates really impressed me 5 years ago with a playstyle based on tapping and bursts. Since then, I was convinced that this way of playing (once completely mastered) was the one with most potential. Then, I created my own exercises to fit my playstyle, as I couldn't improve more with classic deathmatch.

You played two lans with BuyKey : EPSILAN 10 and Anjougame, with a top 7/8 for the first, and a top 2 at the second. You had good personal performances, but the team wasn't on point on a collective aspect, with quite disappointing results. What happened ?

With BuyKey, we did not try hard enough to get the better out of our team. During practice time, we only wanted to win without trying to improve. We felt overconfident seeing our good results in practice, and our two fails in lan were big disappointments for us. Despite this, I really appreciated coming back to CS with a team of friends.

AREA with SCARA at EPSILON 10 when they played for BuyKey

About two weks after Anjougame, and only two month after your comeback on CS:GO, you got contacted by Team-LDLC to replace MaT. This is a unique opportunity for you to make it to the French top. To everyone's surprise, you refuse this proposal. Could you explain why ?

What made me play CSGO wasn't my eager for competition, but only the discovery of a new game and the opportunity to play with my friends. When LDLC reached to me, I was already thinking to end my competitive carreer. They asked to test me for a week, but as my motivation was too low I refused this offer. I just wasn't motivated anymore by competition.

Do you understand that a great majority of the community was disappointed by your choice and did not understand that such a promising and spectacular player refuses such an offer ?

I fully understand this. At the time when I wanted to be the very best, I think I wouldn't have understood this decision.

Let's talk about your reputation. Your disparition of the competitive scene, and your refusal to play with LDLC left a lot of unanswered questions. The least we can say is people talk a lot about you, either positively or negatively. For some people you are among the best players of the world,while for others you are an onliner or a confirmed cheater. What do you have to say to these people ?

I think it's kind of strange that they waited for me to end my carreer to elaborate their stories about me. As I was not here to defend myself, everybody was able to add their pieces to the story. This is why there are so many rumours about me. I had to stand in for some friends at LanEx, only a few weeks after I announced my retirement. And even there, no one came to me for answers. What I'd like to ask to my detractors is : where were you during my 3 lans, and why do you wait for me to quit the game to ask questions about me ?

You became some kind of legend, and there are myths about you... The mice with an integrated cheat, the fact that you get angry when someone touches your mouse, ScreaM asking you for advices, ... Even today, there are still people talking about you on VaKarM, HLTV or Reddit. What do you think of this ?

I don't think I have done anything to provoke this much interest. A great majority of the community formed their opinion about me either by seeing my headshot ratio or by listening to all these stories about me (a great majority of these is false). This is the same debate over and over, both parties not knowing what they are talking about.

Do you regret that you refused LDLC's offer, now that there are 250 000 $ 400 000 viewers tournaments ?

Without being motivated, it would have been hard to perform at top level. This is why I never regretted my decision.

You only come back occasionally to play online cups as a mix, but always with your very personnal playstyle and a good level. Do you consider coming back to competitive gaming ? With the recent upsets on the French scene, this might be the good moment, don't you thing ?

I have recently been confronted to this choice, but as my motivation is not back, I decided to hang back.

AREA at Anjougame

To finish with, what do you think of the evolution of CS:GO, both on technical and eSport aspects ?

It's a pleasure to see CSGO progressing so quickly on the international esport scene. We could easily imagine our dear FPS to compete against LoL, Dota2 or Sc2 if it keeps increasing this fast. We now have a lot of teams with a quite similar level, and the outcome of big events only depends of the shape of some key players, which is a good thing for the show.

On a technical aspect, the game is great, except some inconsistencies of gameplay, such as the numerous modifications on the Deagle we've seen since one year to make it less efficient. It seemed to be a logical choice before the CZ made its appearance (the goal was to make eco rounds more difficult to win).

Why did Valve decided to replace the Deagle, a weapon with a high skill cap which provided a lot to the show by a way more easy to handle weapon ?

Apart from this, I think the biggest problem is the map balance. A competitive map has to be well balanced. I think that the updates and modifications still didn't manage to balane the maps enough.

Thank you for your time, before letting you go, could you tell us what are your settings and what gaming gear do you use ?

Mouse: Zowie EC2 (my favorite mouse is the IE 3.0)
Mousepad: Steelseries Qck+
Keyboard: Steelseries 6GV2
Headset: Sennheiser PC350
Screen: BenQ XL2411T
You can download his cfg here

A big thanks to VaKarM for this interview, and to those who support me !