Mickael " mSx " Cassisi is inarguably France's greatest ever Counter-Strike player, and one of the very best individual players in the history of the game. Yet this towering French titan, skilled with every weapon in CS, raneks all the way down at 121st all time in prize money won. That his skill in the server wasn't able to translate into success as far as dollars earned goes is a cloud over his career, and yet there was a 13 month time span in the Frenchman's career when he lifted his team to the level of being legitimate contenders for international tournaments.



From GameGune, in July 2007, through to the ESWC Grand Final, in August of 2008, mSx powered his emuLate side to a major title victory, top three finishes at two other international tournaments, another two top eight international finishes outside of those already cited and ~$74,030 in prize money won (over 87% of his total team career prize winnings). Four consecutive top three finishes at international tournaments was unheard of for a French team, but with one of the world's elite players in their midst it became a reality.

This is the story of the 13 months in which France had an international contender and mSx carved his name into history as one of the all time great individual stars of CS.

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The darkness before the dawn

mSx's time in emuLate had only begun when he joined up with the team in September of 2006, seeing the line-up set in place which would eventually yield success for the team. The move sent no ripples across the esports pond though, the team were largely irrelevant even in their domestic scene in France. Prior to the 13 month span this article will address in-depth, the emuLate squad had seemed far from ever developing into a top international team.

At SEC in March of 2007 they'd only crept into the top eight at 7th-8th, being completely smashed by Pentagram along the way. Back in France they looked ineffective at Gamers Assembly as a two maps to none loss to aAa, who themselves went on to finish only fourth, saw them out in 5th-8th. Then at ESWC, the one major events in CS contested on French soil, the team couldn't make it into the top eight.

The ESWC result in particular was embarrassing, as emuLate had managed to upset NoA, eventual runners-up of the event, 16:14 on inferno in the second group stage, and thus looked set to go through to the playoffs. Facing Dignitas they were up 12:3 after the first half of train and then thoroughly shit the bed to lose 2:13 and give up the game and their chances of a playoff run, as the loss meant a three-way tie for second which NiP had the advantage in. This was an emuLate side which looked anything but a potential major title contender.

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The run begins in neighbouring Spain

A few weeks after the disappointment of failing to make the playoffs of ESWC mSx and his men travelled to Bilbao, Spain, for GameGune. That year's event was one of the most stacked in history, and would become famous for being the point at which fnatic began to take the top spot in CS from the Poles of Pentagram.

In the upper quarter-final the French team got revenge for their SEC loss to the Finns of 69N-28E, beating them 16:12 on dust2. 69N-28E had been the best team in the world, briefly, earlier in the year, but this loss helped contribute to their decision to remove natu and bring in plastE. The first significant upset had been struck by emuLate.

In the semi-finals they ran straight into ESWC third place finishers fnatic, with f0rest in prime form, on nuke, a traditionally strong map for top Swedish teams. At this point in time mSx was not a name known internationally. At home he had been considered a rising young star for the last year or so, but on the world scene he wasn't yet a name in the mouths of fans on forums. This match would mark the beginning of that trend.

emuLate managed a very respectable eight rounds on the terrorist side and then, fueled by a 13:3 mSx performance, closed out the best Swedish team with a clean 8:0 CT side. Thanks in part to the release of the POV demo, fans got a chance to see the incredible stray spraying silenced colt style of mSx, which seemed to yield headshots out of nowhere, and allow the Frenchman to push aggressively around the hut and door area, flanking fnatic players and winning rounds single-handidly.

In the upper bracket final their opponents were MiBR, who were fresh off their own upset having downed Pentagram in a curb-stomping in the other semi. The Brazilians had only managed fourth at ESWC, narrowly losing to NoA, but they were still one of the elite teams in CS. Facing off against cogu's men mSx's team managed to stay in the inferno game but eventually relented, giving it up 12:16 and dropping into the lower bracket.

Awaiting them in the consolidation final was a vengeful fnatic, who were now fully in form and had been stomping their way through the lower bracket. From cogu to f0rest, mSx had his hands full with trying to match up to the opposing team's big gun. emuLate looked to have the perfect start, going up 5:0 as terrorists on train in the first half, giving the potential upset plenty of room to breathe. In this match, though, f0rest would deliver a few key rounds that would make us all say "Wow!" back in those days.

fnatic fought back and the half ended only 8:7 to the Swedes. f0rest single-handidly won the pistol round for his team and the best the French could do was claw back a round here and there, fnatic eventually winning 16:12 to eliminate mSx from GameGune in third place, with 3,000 Euros prize money as a consolation.

Going for gold in Seattle

Three months later emuLate made their next appearance into international waters, attending WCG 2007 as France's representative. In the group stage they managed to again get the better of the Danes in NoA, beating them 16:14 on dust2, but then fell in a surprise upset to k23 14:16 on train. Still, the NoA win had been enough to earn a playoff spot. In the first round mSx clashed with the "Germany" mix-team of Kapio, mooN, paN, roman and TIXO, eliminating them comfortably in two maps.

Their opponent in the quarter-finals was eSTRO, not the MYM.no team they had shadily progressed past. After spanking the Koreans on train and making it out of a close game on dust2 emuLate had reached the semi-finals, all without a single map loss in the playoffs so far. Their opponent there was even more of a surprise than the previous round: Ukraine's Amazing-gaming. With the Finns of roccat having eliminated IEM and ESWC champions Pentagram in the first round, and fnatic out of the tournament in the group stage, many were looking to them as potential gold medalists. Instead they had been narrowly bested in three maps by A-gaming.

For the first time in Counter-Strike history a Ukrainian team had reached the semi-final of a major interantional tournament. Call it a run of form, call it a fluke or call it confidence built on the results so far, but the Ukrainians weren't finished just yet. emuLate took dust2 16:14 and lost inferno 14:16 to be pushed to a decisive third map. If the Ukrainians had had their opportunities to win the series in two then in the third they were bang out of luck, being viciously raped 16:4 by mSx and company on nuke.



emuLate had reached the gold medal game of the World Cyber Games, making them the first French CS team in history to reach a major international final. The French heroes of the past had been the aAa team who finished second at CPL Cologne in 2002, the GoodGame line-up who reached the semi-finals of ESWC 2003 and the aAa squad who'd made it into the top four of CPL Winter 2006. Even a loss here would ensure mSx and his team-mates were remembered forever for producing France's greatest ever result.

The team on the other side of the stage was Denmark's NoA side, who had ridden the acquistion of Sunde to their second straight major final. At ESWC they'd dethroned the defending champions, MiBR, in the semi-finals, but then fell to NEO's Pentagram in the final. Here they were clear-cut favourites to take the title and the big bucks. With fnatic, Pentagram and roccat all eliminated the Danes must hardly have been able to believe how favourable the final appeared for them. History had other ideas though.

This final still stands as one of the all time great upsets, and especially at such a major stage of a tournaments. emuLate won inferno 16:11 to go up a map and next would be dust2, the map they had beaten NoA on in the group stage. The French could seemingly taste the cold hard taste of those gold medals, rampaging to a 16:4 win on dust2. mSx's AK was unstoppable and he seemed to move around the map taking down Danish players with ease. A star had arrived and was delivering a performance worthy of the title.



emuLate were WCG gold medalists and would head home with $55,000 in their pockets. Four months earlier they'd been struggling to break into the top eight of international competitions, now they'd won one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world. Through the entire tournament they'd only lost two maps, and only one in the playoffs. Many called it a fluke, or a run of hot form which would never be replicated, but even the most ardent of critics had to tip their hat to the Frenchmen.

More surprises in store on Swedish soil

The next month, November, had emuLate flying to Sweden for Dreamhack Winter. In the upper bracket quarter-final they faced SK Gaming, who had finished runners-up at IEM II Los Angeles a month earlier. With walle and Tentpole now on board SK had all the makings of an elite level team, as their performance in LA had shown. emuLate put doubts in mind about that as they rolled over the Swedes 16:5 on inferno.

In the upper semi-final a rematch with NoA was in order, albeit an NoA using whiMp as a stand-in for ave. mSx and the gang once more bested Denmark's finest, winning a 22:18 overtime game on train to break top three at the event. In the upper bracket final it was MiBR who awaited them, having just beaten fnatic, who were considered the world's best team at that time. For the second straight upper bracket final the French would have to overcome the Brazilians to reach the final, and for the second straight time in a double elimination tournament they failed to do so, losing 8:16 on nuke.

That result wasn't the only repetition from GameGune, as mSx found himself rematching the team he had knocked from the upper bracket, this time SK, in the consolidation final, and once more being eliminated by them. Even more bizarrely it was again by the same score as his team had lost the upper bracket final, with SK winning 16:8 on dust2. emuLate were out in third, again winning a similar figure (this time ~$3,530).

Three consecutive international top three finishes, with one of them being a first place at a major, was a pretty loud statement to send in the latter half of 2007 though. emuLate had arrived as international contenders, with their WCG victory looking less and less like a fluke.

Trouble at home

2008 began with emuLate struggling at home in France. This was no surprise, and wouldn't prove to be in the future, as the French team somehow always had difficulties at French LANs, frequently being upset by teams who were much worse against international competition. Somehow mSx and his men could be the best French team internationally and yet not domestically.

In late February emuLate finished second at Atomic Re-So, losing twice to eventual champions dimension4. In the first days of March they finished an appalling 5th-6th at Miage LAN, losing to eventual champions n!faculty 16:19 in overtime on dust2 and then being thoroughly upset by dRu 16:13 on inferno in the lower bracket. For the international community it was easy to imagine emuLate had fallen off big time, perhaps the success of late 2007 had gone to their heads and their practice and drive had suffered?

The return and the fourth international finish

emuLate were one of the teams attending CEBiT 2008 who had the unfortunately unique status of being there only for SEC 2008, not the IEM II finals also. With the first place of IEM a staggering $50,000, the 12,500 Euros (~$15,892) for first at SEC suddenly seemed small. In the upper bracket quarter-final mSx's men met roccat for the first time offline since their acquisition of plastE. It didn't seem to matter as mSx and the gang pushed through resistance to win 16:12 on nuke. In the next round they ran into the Poles of MYM.pl, losing on train 11:16 to drop down into the lower bracket.

In the lower TeG were quickly slapped upside the head 16:3 and ALTERNATE could barely put up more of a fight, being downed 5:16 on train. emuLate were in their third straight consolidation final at an international double-elimination tournament. Their opponents there would be MYM.pl, this time the French team would need to beat them team who had knocked them out of the upper bracket to reach the final.

The one theme that carried over from the previous two international double-elim tournies was that the Frenchmen bizarrely went out by the exact same score in their second loss as their first, losing 11:16 on inferno this time. Third place set 5,000 Euros (~$6,250) aside for them, but they had been denied another finals spot. Still, four consecutive international top three finishes was far and away the biggest accomplishment in the history of French CS, and emuLate had continued their trend of only losing to the world's elite teams. Truly this was the golden era for French CS.



Ground gained at home, at last

The same month as their SEC top three emuLate reclaimed some dignity back in France, winning EPS France IV. Taking out aAa in the final they took home a healthy 4,000 Euros (~$5,000) and could call themselves the best French team in a domestic sense for the first time. Perhaps 2008 was set to be an even better year than 2007?



ESWC at home and sparse action in Korea

Over three months later emuLate would have a chance to put their bad memories from ESWC 2007 to rest, as ESWC came to France for another event, albeit it this time the Masters event and not the Grand Final. The ESWC Masters Paris would be the first international event for emuLate in France since their ill-fated ESWC run a year prior. In the group stage they emerged in second place, beating excello and x6tence and losing only to SK Gaming. That setup a first round playoff date with roccat.

The format of this event was peculiar, harkening back to the days of the first three ESWC events, as it was single elimination on one map in each playoff round. The map was nuke, the same as emuLate had won 16:12 over the Finns on at SEC, but this time it was ruuit and his boys who would take the victory. They did so emphatically, ramming 16 rounds down emuLate's throats in only 19 rounds played. Just like that emuLate were out and their streak of four consecutive international top three finishes had come to an end. roccat themselves only went on to finish fourth, meaning the French had also broken their streak of losing only to the elite contending teams in the world.

Later in July the French team flew to South Korea to compete in e-Stars Seoul, which for this edition didn't feature a normal tournament. The Western team won the deathmatch aspect of the tournament without needing to field emuLate, so that left their only outing in the threesome. Losing to Lunatic-Hai 6:17 was the only CS action the French team saw in Seoul, another reminder that they were no longer only losing to the very best teams.

The fight for ESWC redemption

The next month it was off to San Jose for the first ever ESWC Grand Final ever held outside of France. In the first group stage emuLate beat n0thing's EG.usa narrowly on train, then lost 13:16 to roccat on dust2. Still, they had made the second group stage. There they lost to ALTERNATE, beat Edward and LeX's Virtus.Pro and beat Dignitas. The latter was a triumphant 16:3 roughing up that avenged the previous year's loss and put the French team into the playoffs.

The draw was not kind to mSx and company, they would face defending ESWC champions MYM.pl. The Poles had not attended ESWC Masters Paris, but their results elsewhere had been very solid, finishing second at SEC and winning Dreamhack Summer. What's more, this was a major tournament and that's where NEO and his men shined. The opening map of the series would prove to be incredibly shocking for fans of the golden five. With mSx going 19:6 on the scoreboard his team won the terrorist side of dust2 12:3, then in the second half emuLate closed out the defending champions in five rounds, winning by a monster 16:4 overall.

The second map was train, always a tricky map for emuLate against top competition, and this one would be far closer than the first. emuLate were leading as terrorists 5:4 when one of their players paused the game attacking lower inner, having just killed TaZ. The game was then unpaused, they killed kuben also at inner and the round was won by the French team. The admins conferred and decided that at the end of the map two rounds would be deducted from emuLate's total score, meaning they needed to win before the Poles reached 13 rounds to take the series in two maps and move on to the semi-finals.

The scoreboard at the end of the first half read 8:7 to emuLate, a scoreline which would usually put a team in the driving seat going into CT side of train, but due to the pause incident it was officially only 6:7. The French team needed ten rounds as CT to dethrone the Poles. Seemingly unfazed by the first round controversy emuLate won the CT pistol round and the next two rounds, making it 9:7 overall. The next two went to MYM to tie the scoreline back up.

After a mini-run from the Poles emuLate came back to make it 12:11, they needed four of the next five rounds else it would be overtime or a third map. Failed deagle saves and rampaging terrorist Poles with AKs were too much and the second map of the series went to MYM.pl. As if to provide a twisted symmetry to the series the Poles obliged by making the deciding third map, nuke, a dominating affair to booked the close middle map and pair with the hefty victory of the French team in the first. On nuke MYM took over completely and ran to a 16:1 score to move on to the semi-finals.

emuLate's dream of reaching the semi-finals of another major were done, only the memory of their pause incident left in their minds for them to wonder "what if" about, sensing that the second map of the series might have been theirs, closing it out right there. Instead they were sent packing and the golden age of French CS came to a close.

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End of the golden era

From there on out emuLate never shined again, mSx would no longer be put in a position for his talent to shine deep in tournaments. Their run had been significant, winning the WCG gold and placing top three at four consecutive tournaments, but it was over. In those 13 months mSx had helped his team win $74,030, but the tragedy of his career would be that that amount would end up being over 85% of his career team winnings.

A French star had shown the world that France could produce a truly great individual player, his team had shown themselves to be on the verge of winning events time and time again, but in the end their WCG medals would be the only gold of their careers.

mSx had flashes and tournaments where he produced sparkling form once more, highlight rounds which wowed the crowds, but the impact could never be the same without the environment and the team success to elevate him to being able to decide the outcome of games.



mSx's fragmovie:



(Photographs all courtesy of their respective owners)