Veteran Counter-Strike player Richard ‘shox’ Papillon has lauded Team Vitality’s recent success in Counter-Strike, highlighting that the organisation is clicking in all the right directions.
Esports Insider was flown out to ZOWIE’s grand opening of its esports science lab in the Netherlands to discuss competitive gaming and peripherals with both professionals and ZOWIE employees alike.
Amongst them was legendary CS:GO player shox, who took the time to speak with Esports Insider to discuss his career and his thoughts on CS2 in 2025.
‘Everything is Clicking’ For Team Vitality in 2025
So far, Team Vitality has been on an incredible run in 2025, topping Valve’s global rankings alongside winning multiple events such as the BLAST.tv Austin Major.
For a time, shox played for Team Vitality from 2019 to 2021, winning events such as EPICENTER in 2019 to Intel Extreme Masters XVI – Winter in 2021. When asked about Team Vitality’s current performance, shox highlighted that this truly is the French organisation’s moment in the spotlight.
“When you look at Counter-Strike history, we have different eras,” shox told Esports Insider. “We could talk about Ninjas in Pyjamas, we could talk about Astralis, we also had like Team Liquid, Luminosity, even Fnatic.
“But I think right now, Team Vitality is at a point where everything is clicking for them. They have good players, and more than that, they are able to unleash the potential of every one of their players.”
During the interview, shox also commented on why he thought Team Vitality were performing so well, highlighting the ‘shadow work’ by members of management such as coaches, managers, analysts and more.
“I also think the management team in Team Vitality is amongst the best in the world, if not the best,” he noted. “Because they are ensuring players feel comfortable in the team. And I think that makes a huge difference because if a player feels at home with a team, it enables them to perform at the highest level.
“This is something I admire about Team Vitality. All this work by all the departments, the shadow work that you don’t see on the server, in my opinion, is one of the biggest reasons why Team Vitality is at the top right now.”
“I’ve Had so Many Different Storylines”: shox Reflects on Counter-Strike Esports Career
From when he first started competing in 2008, all the way to competing in qualifiers as recent as 2024, shox has had an illustrious career spanning three different CS iterations.
When asked what he considered to be the biggest moments of his career, shox said: “It’s hard to say because I’ve had so many different storylines, so it’s hard to pick a few. I would go with the two that were really important for me, the first being winning the Major in 2014, of course. This is a dream of every Counter-Strike player to be able to lift the Major trophy.
“The second one would be the victory in the Esports Championship Series we had in 2016 with G2, because it was my first time as an in-game leader, and we managed to beat Luminosity, who were like the number one team in the world back then. So I would definitely go for those two.”
Since slowing down his esports presence in 2023, shox has attended several qualifiers and show-matches within the competitive Counter-Strike scene. Discussions surrounding his career eventually led to his views on the current state of the Counter-Strike esports scene, which he shared was an ‘improvement’ compared to when he first started.
“It has definitely improved,” shox shared with Esports Insider. “We actually have more people loving the game and sharing their experiences. When I was a little kid, I dreamed of being a professional 20 years ago and being in a tournament with a team.
“And now, years later, we’re able to fill stadiums with thousands of people across the year all over the globe.”
“I’m Not Sure if I Would Come Back”: shox On Leaving Counter-Strike Esports
The former professional player has most recently shifted his focus to content creation, growing his following on both Twitch through his livestreams and creating videos on YouTube. However, questions have arisen about whether shox would ever officially leave the Counter-Strike esports scene for good.
“I never called my retirement yet, but I’m not sure if I would come back one day or not,” shox told Esports Insider. “Mainly because it’s hard to accept that you’ll never come back after doing this for 15 to 20 years. So this isn’t something I’m thinking specifically about at the moment, because I’m actually enjoying where I am right now with content creation.
“But maybe one day I will have to sit down and reflect on my career and say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to come back.’ But I’m not 100% sure I can say that right now, because as a competitor, I can still be that guy who plays on the stage.”