"We Had Like 1% Hope, and I Truly Believed": Envy Captain Maka Opens Up After Missing the CS2 Major at RLG Tesla Cup
With the November 2 cutoff for the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) just days away, Team Envy's long-shot bid for a miracle Major run officially came to an end in Belgrade. Following a 0 to 2 defeat against GamerLegion in the Group B decider match at the RLG Tesla Cup 2026, French in-game leader and AWPer Bryan "Maka" Canda offered a candid assessment of the mental and tactical hurdles holding his squad back.
A Grueling October Run Ending in Belgrade
When historic North American organization Envy returned to Counter-Strike 2 in September 2026 by signing the former all-French 3DMAX roster, the squad faced an immediate uphill battle to climb the European standings. Led by Bryan "Maka" Canda alongside Lucas "Lucky" Chastang, Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier, Filip "Graviti" Branković, Jérémy "Kursy" Gast, and head coach Damien "wasiNk" Dufour, the French five needed deep runs across Europe's Tier-2 LAN circuit to stay in contention.
Instead, October proved unforgiving. Early exits at Stake Pulse Beat III (13th to 16th place) and Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 7 (9th to 12th place) left Envy hovering around #41 in the global VRS rankings heading into Serbia. Even though GamerLegion had to field assistant coach Grashog in their RLG Tesla Cup opener due to FL4MUS facing visa delays, Envy dropped that opening series 1 to 2 (6-13 on Dust2, 13-3 on Ancient, 10-13 on Nuke) despite a team-high 1.25 rating and 39 kills from Maka.
Envy kept their tournament hopes alive with a gritty 2 to 1 elimination win over Luminosity Gaming (13-11 on Inferno, 8-13 on Dust2, 13-10 on Ancient), setting up a decisive Group B rematch against GamerLegion on October 28. However, the rematch turned into a one-sided affair as GamerLegion swept the series 2 to 0 (13-2 on Dust2 and 13-7 on Nuke), sending Envy home in 5th to 6th place and dropping them to roughly #43 in the VRS standings (~1,368 points).
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"1% Hope": Emotional Hurdles and T-Side Struggles
Speaking in Belgrade after his team's elimination, Maka admitted that the squad already knew their margin for error had evaporated during the intense qualification race for Europe's 18 spots at the CS2 Singapore Major prior to arriving at the RLG Tesla Cup:
"It's not something we discussed after the DraculaN. Clearly knew that we missed the opportunity on the last three events. We had like 1% hope, and I truly believed it, to be honest, as an individual, but it was something very hard to reach. So just trying to keep gaining confidence through the games and having this mindset to beat anyone on any map to just gain confidence was the key for me."
Beyond the VRS math, the French veteran pinpointed two deeper issues that derailed Envy's form across October. The first is emotional volatility inside the server when rounds start slipping away:
"Mentally, we are having too many ups and downs because some players are getting too emotional with themselves."
The second issue lies in their offensive structure. Maka explained that Envy currently lacks a cohesive T-side foundation and shared Counter-Strike principles that players can rely on naturally under pressure. Attempting to patch those gaps with rigid playbooks and set tactics only makes the team predictable once opponents recognize their patterns.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the Major, Maka emphasized how proud the roster feels to represent a storied organization like Envy, whose legacy in French Counter-Strike dates back to the 2015 DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca Major triumph. With their qualification campaign over, the squad now plans to reset and rebuild their tactical fundamentals from the ground up.
My Take
Having followed the French Counter-Strike scene closely since the CS:GO days, watching this roster miss the Major stings, even if the writing was on the wall before Belgrade. After enduring months of organizational turmoil at their previous home, signing with a legendary banner like Envy at the end of September felt like a well-deserved fresh start. Unfortunately, the VRS system leaves zero room for a slow transition, and getting blown out 2 to 13 on Dust2 in the decider against GamerLegion exposed just how fragile their offensive calling is right now. Still, I respect Maka's honesty. Instead of blaming travel fatigue or tournament formats, he called out the emotional tilt and lack of shared T-side fundamentals directly. With Envy backing them, this all-French lineup finally has the stability to fix those flaws properly ahead of the 2027 season.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles 'Grimtag' Ronchain is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
