Only a month has passed since Team Vitality would announce their roster and head coach, but they are already in need for another one. Philippe “faculty” Rodier confirms that he will be stepping down from his role as head coach.
La déception est grande, mais mon aventure avec Vitality se termine aujourd'hui. J'espère -sincèrement- que l'équipe parviendra à atteindre ses objectifs malgré tout.
— Philippe Rodier (@faculty07) November 13, 2018
The tweet translates to, “The disappointment is great, but my adventure with Vitality ends today. I sincerely hope that the team will achieve its goals despite everything.” This is simply another bout of disappointment for the French CS:GO scene. There were many hopes for Team Vitality when they would come together in October 2018. A combination of veteran talent and fiery youth would look great for fans. Currently the team consists of Nathan “NBK-“ Schmitt and Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, formerly of G2 Esports. Former Team Envy members, Vincent “Happy” Cervoni and Cédric “RpK” Guipouy, would also join the team. Finally, the last member would be 18-year-old prodigy, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut.
Disappointing Initial Results
Team Vitality has been competing in online qualifiers since its inception, to mixed results. Although they would qualify for Dreamhack Open Atlanta and LOOT.BET Cup #3, they would fail to qualify for any other event. These are definitely not the results that the team and its fans were expecting. With the amount of talent on the roster, there is no reason why they should be failing in these minor events. However, it looks like they may be struggling with cohesiveness as a team.
Faculty leaving the team was unexpected to say the least. He would play a key part in creating the roster for Team Vitality ever since they would name him coach. Beforehand, Faculty had taken a long break from the competitive scene, only writing books on esports and coaching. He did not specify what the problems were that prompted his departure from the organization. Still, when looking at the whole French CS:GO scene, you can only wonder what problem could have arisen in such a short amount of time.
Looking Forward with Vitality
We cannot completely give up on Team Vitality just yet. Like we’ve mentioned before, it has barely been a month since this team would come together. We cannot assume that there are any major problems, until any of the team members confirm it themselves. As for Faculty, for someone who has been so removed from the scene, it may have been difficult for him to get back into the swing of things. A competitive Counter-Strike coach can have many responsibilities that may have been weighing heavily on Rodier.
There is still plenty of room to grow for this brand-new French team. They also have a ton of potential in the roster, especially with ZywOo, who has shown flashes of brilliance in the tournaments he’s been in. Hopefully, this isn’t another team that will collapse, as many people are expecting. The French scene is an ever-changing environment, with rosters shuffling constantly. For example, longtime French organization, G2 Esports, has reportedly gone through another big roster change. They are replacing veteran in-game leader Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans and former coach Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux. In their place, they will be bringing in Lucas “Lucky” Chastang and Audric “JACKZ” Jug, who are both younger and less experienced.
What are your thoughts on Team Vitality losing Faculty? Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want more CS:GO coverage, check us out here!
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