G2 Esports facing a huge mess : shox confuses and coach decides to leave!
Fans of the G2 Esports experienced a sad shock, after the famous French player Richard “shox” Papillon pulled out of the squad.
G2 Esports have announced that they have handed a trial to former OpTic member Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas.
Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas will replace Richard “shox” Papillonon the roster, with the move becoming effective once the Spaniard returns from China, where he will be competing with Wololos at the WESG World Finals.
The move follows shox’s recent announcement that he will have to undergo surgery on March 23 to fix a persistent wrist problem.
mixwell has been without a team since February, when he parted ways with OpTic after a fruitful association that dated back to early 2016. In a recent interview with HLTV.org, he openly talked about taking French classes and admitted the possibility of playing for a francophone team.
Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux, who has been the team’s coach since G2 revamped their lineup in February 2017, has stepped down from his position “indefinitely” after “expressing his desire to return to competitive play”. Team manager Jérôme “NiaK” Sudries will replace the 29-year-old, with analyst Niclas “enkay J” Krumhorn handling “technical coaching responsibilities”, while Nathan “NBK-“ Schmitt will be the new in-game leader.
G2 have failed to win a single playoff series since lifting the DreamHack Masters Malmö crown, in September 2017. At the recent IEM Katowice event, they went out in the groups following defeats to fnatic and NiP.
According to a statement from G2, the players have “different visions” on how to improve the team, with shox being of the opinion that the squad needs “more drastic changes”. However, G2 have decided “to explore more moderate options” before going down such a path.
The team’s “performance and dynamic in the upcoming months” will decide the future of the roster and also NBK-‘s in-game leader role, according to G2, whose next event will be DreamHack Masters Marseille, from April 18-22.
G2’s lineup will look as follows:
Nathan “NBK-“ Schmitt
Dan “apEX” Madesclaire
Kenny “kennyS” Schrub
Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro
Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas (trial)Jérôme “NiaK” Sudries (coach)
Richard “shox” Papillon (backup)
Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux (backup)
