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Sunday 19 February 2017 19:20

Interview with xms, new EnVyUs player

If you are interested by the french lower tier's scene, you cannot have not heard of him. He is calm, friendly and with a formidable efficiency on the servers. We are, of course, talking about Alexandre 'xms' Forté, particularly known for his arrival to LDLC in August 2016, although he was already spoken of at Platinium as well as Millenium.

Barely 19 years old, he has just joined Team EnVyUs and accepted to answer our questions as well as to unfold himself to the french scene. If you did not know him before the French Shuffle, this is the time to catch up. From his early days in CS: GO, all the way up to his powerful climb at LDLC, his point of view on the Shuffle and his objectives for the future. Here's the interview with xms, a talented player that knew when to seize his opportunity.

Hey xms. First of all, thanks for agreeing to this interview. Could you quickly introduce yourself to those who don't have the chance to know you? And could you also tell us how you discovered CS and on which iteration you started?

xms : Hey all! The chance to know me I don't know about that, but anyway my name is Alexandre Forté, I'm 19 and I currently played for team EnvyUs. I discovered Counter Strike by watching my brother play 1.5 and 1.6 when I was 7 or 8 years old. I started in 1.5 by playing on FFA servers and I wasn't doing much since I didn't know what was the goal of the game. I also played other games and I started up again on 1.6 when I was 10 or 11 and I had a PC at home.

You came into the lower tier in 2015 with particularly a presence at the ESWC Montréal Qualifiers (with Awsomniac) and then at the ESWC.fr with Platinium. You then went to Millenium before being recruited by Ex6TenZ at LDLC in 2016. Objectively it's already a lightning fast ascent, but you didn't stop there since you've held, for a couple of weeks now, the prestigious tag EnvyUs! Are you aware that you're living the dream of many people?

xms : It's true that a lot of things happened since 2015, with numerous teams that I was able to join, but telling myself today that I'm part of one of the biggest organizations in the world with many players whom I was a "fan" of not so long ago is unbelievable.

xms at full focus during the DH Leipzig

During 2016, you've also participated in The World Championship under French colors alongside players from the lower tier as well as Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey. You were eliminated in the semi finals by the futur winners, Turkey. Could you talk to us about this event?

xms : For TWC (Ed. World Championship of National Teams) I knew from the beginning that I could have a spot in the LAN finals if France qualified since G2/ENVY had a tournament and weren't all available. So obviously it's an International LAN, there's some experience to be gained for a youngster like me. As for the result, even though we had a bit of trouble to focus during the group stages I think that if we had beaten Turkey, we would have won the LAN :) !

Tell us a bit about LDLC. You join the team with mistou instead of Mathend and BouLy when the team environment was not ideal (Ex6TenZ's confidences during the Flickshow #4). How did your recruitment come about? Why did you decide to quit Millenium and the SIXER/MAJ3R duo to join ex6?

xms : My recruitment to LDLC happened in a few days. Ex6TenZ contacted me to tell me of the changes that were going to be made and he asked me if I had a second player to suggest whose role would be compatible with the team and so I arrived to LDLC alongside Mistou. To be honest, leaving Millenium was a bit hard because I quickly get attached to my teammates, they become a second family to me but unfortunately the fxy0 case and Milleniumä's futur was, I think, less promising than at LDLC. I was not worried for SIXER and MAJ3R because they are experienced players with a reputation and I knew very well that the both of them would manage to find a good project.

xms (right) displaying french colors during TWC

What would you take away from this team in general and of Ex6TenZ specifically? What does his enormous CS experience bring to a player like yourself?

xms : The team was one of the best in terms of chemistry that I've been able to play for and learn from. Having played with ex6 was a great experience for me because he remains one of the best In Game Leaders of our time and I could only learn from playing with him! I thank him, by the way, for everything that he has taught me and I am eager to play against him at EPL to show him that all that he's showed me was not for nothing.

Officially you join Team EnvyUs by replacing Scream that was supposed to go to FaZe. And even if the contract is not signed yet, Scream is in the end announced as part of the lineup, and you remain on the team while devoduvek is placed as a standin. You are thus surrounded by two of the best riflers in the world and the ultimate French leader! Once the satisfaction and the hype has passed, how were the first practices? What is your role within the team?

xms : It's true that playing with people like Scream, RpK or Happy, it's always tough in the beginning and it's intimidating in the first week while getting to know each other because it's very serious and you have to manage to get on their level and it's why I must work twice as hard as they do but after one week of prac, I begin to be at ease and the chemistry is pretty good. It's perfect! My role within the team is entryfragger and it's a new thing for me. I am the one who will be opening up bomb sites, unlike before when I was simply in the attacking trio in the second position of a rush for example.

xms has bid his farewells to his LDLC teammates

This recruitment to EnvyUs is also a separation from your mistou partnership. Has it weighed in your decision to join nV? Were you not afraid that by quitting LDLC, his spot would be questioned? What can you tell us on this player that has accompanied you for a long time, knowing that Ex6TenZ called him the perfect teammate in a FlickShow (Flickshot's podcast)?

xms : Well, to be honest, I knew very well what was going to happen when nV contacted me, it's why I was not worried for him at all and I knew that he was going to stay at LDLC. I hope that he succeeds anyway because he is really a very good player, a great friend and an extraordinary person in real life.

From your point of view, how was this French Shuffle? Did you know early on in the negotiations that you were going to leave LDLC? Or did that happen at the last minute? What happened, for you, when you got the offer from EnvyUs to join them?

xms : I'm still in the top 3 FR so I'm obviously not going to complain about this shuffle and I think that all the teams have a chance to accomplish some things. When Team EnvyUs contacted me I did not know yet if I was going to remain at LDLC or get kicked and since they contacted me before LDLC gave me an answer, I chose to join EnvyUs.

 

When Team EnvyUs contacted me I did not know yet if I was going to remain at LDLC or get kicked and since they contacted me before LDLC gave me an answer, I chose to join EnvyUs.

 

Does your arrival to this professional organization, alongside some of the best players, give you an incentive to work even more in order to keep improving? Apparently, you have a lot of talent but you seem to rest on your laurels. Is that true? If yes, would it not be the opportunity to work harder to possibly become one of the best players in the world on CS:GO?

xms : Well, without seeming brash, it's true that I have this little thing that allows me to have a good level without necessarily player hours upon hours and it's why people did not necessarily want to play with me on the lower tier even if indvidually I managed to be good against teams like EPSILON, Space Soldiers, etc... I am someone that's pretty lazy but when I decide to really put myself into something then I know that I am capable of doing it very seriously. Now that I'm playing at EnvyUs I am more motivated to learn and why not, with time, become a player that's essential to the French scene.

Thanks for answering our questions! We wish you great success on your adventure with EnvyUs and for the rest of your career. We leave to you the classic last word.

xms : A big thanks to FlickShot for this interview, to EnVyUs for believing in me and a lot of luck to G2 Esports and Team-LDLC so we can all meet each other at the next major :D !

Thanks to the biggest french NiP Fanboy Firsou for translation


neL

Créateur de flickshot.fr, journaliste et rédacteur CS depuis 2012. Fan de l'OL et amateur de MMA.