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Nakama announced on February 27 that Paul “day0s” Niel and Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux were no longer a part of their starting CS:GO roster. The French lineup spent less than two months together prior to the announcement.
Concerning the reason for the departures, Nakama revealed that the players’ performances had not been up to the standard. The team notably failed to qualify for the fast-approaching BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR.
“We have decided to part ways with SmithZz and day0s. A big thank you to them for being part of the adventure, we wish them the best in their future projects. We are currently evaluating various possibilities for the future,” Nakama wrote.
“This decision had to be taken following the results that were too far from the objectives. Paul and Eddy being present since the launch, it was not an easy choice. They will not be forgotten. We will keep you informed of the next steps.”
SmithZz and day0s were part of Nakama’s original lineup, which formed in January this year. The team were eliminated from the Regional Major Ranking open qualifiers, while other French teams like HEET, Falcons, and LDLC reached the closed qualifiers.
According to SmithZz, he was not supposed to be a permanent addition to the lineup. During Nakama’s announcement stream, he explained that he was supposed to inject as much leadership and experience into the team and participate in the qualifier for the major before moving to a managerial position.
Day0s, on the other hand, was signed due to his performance and achievements on the FACEIT global ladder. The player, however, was not able to properly assimilate his gameplay with the rest of the team during his time there.
Following Nakama’s announcement, day0s posted a TwitLonger explaining that he was initially unaware of how difficult it would be to work with a team in such little time. He also promised to join an FR/INTER project to properly learn to align his gameplay with team gameplay and gain more experience.
“As you might have seen on the tweet from @nakama_esports, Eddy “smithzz” and myself have been kicked from the project, it’s a decision which definitely makes sense for myself,” the player wrote.
“I couldn’t adapt myself to this team gameplay that we brought in, I wasn’t aware enough from the difficulties it would be to adapt my own gameplay to a teamplay within little time, I’m still happy that i’ve had the chance to play with 2 legends, and 2 youngsters that might become legends.”
“From now on I will be looking for FR/INTER project where I can learn how to fit my gameplay to a team gameplay and where I can gain a bit more experience!”
With the departure of SmithZz and day0s, Nakama are left with three players on their active lineup – Jeremy “Kursy” Gast, Richard “shox” Papillon, and Ryan “Neityu” Aubry with Boris “flex0r” Latry as head coach.
Nakama have little time to sort out their roster ahead of the ESL Championnat National Spring 2023 France, which starts in early March.
