Team Vitality, or simply Vitality, is a French esport club founded in 2013 by Fabien "Neo" Devide, Nicolas Maurer, Corentin "Gotaga" Houssein, and Kevin "BrokyBrawks" Georges.
Since 2019, the organization has made the Stade de France its training center, becoming the first resident club of the stadium.
League of Legends
Team Vitality entered the professional League of Legends on 9 December 2015, after it acquired Gambit Gaming's spot in the 2016 EU LCS Spring Split.[3] The first player signed to the team at the time of the announcement was former TSM support Raymond "kaSing" Tsang.[3][4] Five days later, Vitality announced the rest of their roster, which consisted of top laner Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet,[5] jungler Ilyas "Shook" Hartsema,[6] mid laner Erlend "Nukeduck" Våtevik Holm,[7] and kaSing's former teammate, bot laner Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss.[8] For their coaching staff, Vitality signed former Gambit Gaming coach Shaunz.[9]
2016
During the 2016 EU LCS Spring Split, Vitality's roster was considered one of the top lineups in the league, finishing in third place with a 13–5 record, behind the surprise first place G2 Esports and second place H2k-Gaming. Cabochard and kaSing were elected to the split's All Pro Team, as the most outstanding players in their positions.[10] In playoffs, however, they were upset by sixth place Fnatic and eliminated in the quarterfinals.[11]
Before the start of the 2016 EU LCS Summer Split, Shook and Hjarnan left the team, the latter for health reasons. Vitality then signed Kim "Mightybear" Min-soo, the former jungler of Newbee, and acquired bot laner Park "Police" Hyeong-gi from Apex Gaming.[12]
With the new match format, Vitality failed to live up to prior standards, accruing only three match wins throughout the summer regular season with a 3–9–6 series record. Shook returned four weeks into the season and became the starting jungler once again.[13] After winning a tiebreaker against FC Schalke 04, Vitality secured seventh place and avoided playing in the relegation series, although they also missed playoffs.
2017
Prior to the start of the competitive season, Vitality again revamped its roster. Bot laner Pierre "Steeelback" Medjaldi was acquired from Team ROCCAT to replace Police,[14][15][16] and Ha "Hachani" Seung-chan, a former support for KT Rolster, was signed to replace kaSing.[17] In the jungle, Vitality initially looked toward Afreeca Freecs jungler LirA, but the deal unexpectedly fell through, as LirA reportedly felt uncomfortable with the move.[18] Vitality instead ended up signing Lee "GBM" Chang-seok as a substitute mid laner,[19] as well as jungler Charly "Djoko" Guillard of the EU CS team Millenium.[20] Top laner Adrien "Alderiate" Wils and support Baltat "AoD" Alin-Ciprian were also signed with the team as substitutes.
With the reorganization of the EU LCS regular season format, Vitality was drafted into Group B for the 2017 EU LCS Spring Split, along with Origen, H2k, Splyce, and the Unicorns of Love. After opening the season with a 1–3 record over three weeks, Hachani was benched.[21] Three days later, GBM moved to the starting mid laner position, while Nukeduck took over the vacant support position. Because of a continuous lack of success, Vitality kept reshuffling their roster around without significant improvement and ended far out of reach of playoff positions in fourth place of the group, only beating Origen twice and the last place team of Group A, Giants Gaming.
For the 2017 EU LCS Summer Split, Vitality signed support Oskar "Vander" Bogdan[22] and got picked into a nearly identical Group B with the recently promoted Mysterious Monkeys instead of Origen. Despite mild improvements thanks to the roster change, Vitality once again finished fourth in their group.
2018
Vitality completely rebuilt their roster around top laner Cabochard going into 2018 and signed veteran jungler Erberk "Gilius" Demir, along with rookies mid laner Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro, bot laner Amadeu "Minitroupax" Carvalho, and support Jakub "Jactroll" Skurzyński, who together had won the 2018 Spring Promotion tournament while they were with Giants Gaming.[23] The new roster surprised many with a 7–1 start to the spring regular season with their explosive playstyle; however, as other teams adapted to their strategies, Vitality began dropping games and finished fourth with a 10–8 record. Vitality ended fourth in playoffs as well after defeating H2k 3–2 in the quarterfinals[24] and losing to Fnatic 1–3 in the semifinals and Splyce 2–3 in the third place decider match.[25]
Following a mediocre 5–5 first half of the 2018 EU LCS Summer Split, Vitality signed veteran jungler Mateusz "Kikis" Szkudlarek after week five, hoping that he could improve the roster with his experience.[26] Vitality finished the regular season in second place after winning two tiebreaker games against FC Schalke 04 and G2 Esports. Because of this improvement due to the roster change, Gilius decided to step away from the team as they were performing better with Kikis.[27] In the semifinals Vitality lost against FC Schalke 04, but later managed to defeat Misfits 3–1 in the third place decider match[28][29]—the latter result earned Vitality the second most championship points, qualifying them for the 2018 World Championship as Europe's second seed.[30]
At the 2018 World Championship, Vitality were drawn into Group B along with LCK third seed Gen.G, NA LCS third seed Cloud9 and LPL favourites Royal Never Give Up (RNG). After going 1–2 in the first week, Vitality upset RNG in the second, but still ended third in their group with a 3–3 record, ending their worlds run.
For the 2019 LEC Spring Split, Vitality acquired jungler Lee "Mowgli" Jae-ha from LCK team Afreeca Freecs. The team finished the regular season in fifth place with a 10–8 record and later lost 0–3 to Fnatic in the quarterfinals.[33] Vitality did not make any roster changes going into the 2019 LEC Summer Split and barely clenched a playoff spot after defeating SK Gaming in a sixth place tiebreaker match.[34] In the first round of playoffs Vitality was knocked out by FC Schalke 04, who defeated them 3–1.[35]
Rainbow Six: Siege
Team Vitality first acquired a Rainbow Six: Siege roster on Xbox One for the Xbox One Pro League in December 2015, shortly after the game was released. Vitality competed in all three seasons of the Xbox One Pro League and took first in Season Three. Vitality also placed second in the first and only Xbox One Six Invitational in February 2016.[36] Following this, the Xbox One Pro League shut down and Vitality picked up a PC roster which consisted of Bryan "Elemzje" Tebessi, Julian "Enemy" Blin, Dimitri "Panix" de Longeaux, Jean "RevaN" Prudenti, Valentin "Risze" Liradelfo, and Sami "Stooflex" Smail as coach. Shortly after, the Vitality Rainbow Six: Siege Xbox One team transferred to PC as Vitality. Black with Quentin "Tactiss" Rousselle replacing Arnaud "BiOs" Billaudel a few months later. The original PC team then became known as Vitality.White. Stooflex and Elemzje left Vitality.White later that year in June with Jean-Baptiste "Hansen" Mace replacing Elemzje along with Laurie "Lyloun" Lagier and Julien "Kivvi" Serrier joining as coaches in September 2016.[37] Vitality.Black then disbanded later in September, allowing Lyloun to join the main team. In February 2018, Valentin "Voy" Cheron replaced Hansen, only weeks before the Six Invitational 2018, the Rainbow Six: Siege world championship, where they placed 13th–16th, the lowest possible placement in the tournament.
On 12 March 2018, Vitality dropped their current roster after disappointing results at the Six Invitational 2018 and acquired the roster of French team Supremacy.[38] This new roster performed better than the former, placing third in European Pro League Season 7, second in the Coupe de France 2018, and second at Dreamhack Valencia 2018, qualifying for the Six Major Paris 2018. Shortly before Dreamhack Valencia, BiOs returned to Vitality as a coach. At the Six Major Paris 2018, Vitality placed 5th–8th, after defeating both Team Liquid and PET Nora-Rengo, but being eliminated by Team Secret, the same team they were defeated by at Dreamhack Valencia.[39] While performing well at offline events, Vitality struggle online and placed seventh in European Pro League Season 8, and lost the relegation match to ENCE. After being relegated to the Challenger League, Adrien "RaFaLe" Rutik and Florian "ZephiR" Perrot along with coach BiOs left to return to Supremacy. Morgan "rxwd" Pacy and David "sNKy" Khalfa would replace them while Lyloun would become the primary coach.[40]
After performing well in European Challenger League Season 9 during early 2019, Vitality played against long-time rivals Team Secret after losing to MnM Gaming (now Natus Vincere in a match which determines who goes straight to European Pro League Season 10. Vitality defeated Secret 2–1 and qualified for European Pro League Season 10.[41] Vitality competed in the Allied Esports Vegas Minor in which they placed 9th–11th after defeating PENTA and Team oNe, but falling to European team Chaos Esports Club and top North American teams Spacestation Gaming and Rise Nation.[42] At Dreamhack Valencia 2019, Vitality defeated Korean team Cloud9 twice and lost to FaZe Clan in the group stage, and were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Chaos. During the halfway point of European Pro League Season 10, Vitality placed third by defeating top European teams such as Natus Vincere and Chaos. Additionally, Vitality defeated world champions G2 Esports 7–5 and lost only to Team Empire and Giants Gaming, who were placed first and second at the time respectively.[43] During the European Six Major Raleigh qualifier, Vitality were favorites to win alongside Chaos. Vitality placed first after defeating teams such as PENTA Sports and BDS Esports, but being disqualified due to disconnecting from the match against ForZe Esports, who went on to win the qualifier and place 3–4th in the event. In the second half of the season, Vitality was still in the running for the Pro League Season 10 Finals, but were effectively eliminated due to losses against G2 and Empire, even though the team later beat Giants without losing a round.[44][45] They placed 5th, just behind Empire and G2, but ahead of Chaos, PENTA, and GiFu Esports. Vitality placed second in the 6 French League 2019, after tying 3 times and only losing twice, against first place Giants Gaming.
After season 10 of Pro League, Spark and Quaal were benched and replaced by two time world champion of Daniel "Goga" Mazorra Romero of G2 along with Lucas "Hungry" Reich of PENTA.
Team Vitality announced on 16 March 2021 that they were benching Fabian and Goga, two of the most decorated Rainbow Six players of all time, and the immediate release of Hungry. They were replaced by Kaktus, P4 and Shiinka respectively. Team Vitality also hired ex-Rogue manager Robz. On 16 June 2021, Team Vitality released Fabian from the roster who immediately joined an organisation-less team along with his former teammate, Pengu.[46]
Rocket League
Vitality ventured into the professional Rocket League scene after it acquired the roster of Guess Who on 12 February 2018. The team was renamed Renault Vitality, after titular sponsor Renault.[47]
Renault Vitality defeated G2 Esports on 23 June 2019 to win Season 7 of the Rocket League Championship Series.[48] Kyle "Scrub Killa" Robertson was named Worlds MVP.[49]
On 15 December, during the RLCS Season 8 Finals in Madrid, Renault Vitality was able to reach the final match again. This time they lost to NRG Esports in seven games.[50]
On 15 January 2020, Vitality announced that they had released Scrub Killa.[51]
At the same time, the new third player, Alpha54 was announced.[52]
On 20 June 2021, Vitality won the European RLCS X Championship against Team BDS.[53]
Vitality signed Victor "Ferra" Francal on 30 March 2022 as their head coach, replacing Mout.[citation needed]
Following the RLCS 2021–2022 Winter Major, Radosin from Williams Resolve was added to the starting roster and Fairy Peak! was moved to the substitute position.[citation needed]
After the RLCS 2021/2022 season, Kaydop and Fairy Peak were replaced by saizen and zen.[54][55]
During the RLCS 2022–2023 Winter Regional, Vitality qualified as the 4th seed for the Winter Major which is to be held in San Diego for the first time since the 2021–2022 season.
On 9 July 2023, Team Vitality won the RLCS Spring Major over Team BDS, after winning the EU Open, EU Cup and EU Invitational beforehand. This was the first time any Rocket League team swept all available tournaments for an RLCS split. [citation needed] The team would win the World Championship on 13 August against Team BDS once more; this made Team Vitality the first team in RLCS history to win multiple World Championships, as well as extending their RLCS tournament winning streak to 5.
Call of Duty: Mobile
Team Vitality announced on 26 March 2021 that it had signed an all-Indian Call of Duty: Mobile team.[56]
Counter-Strike
ZywOo is recognized as the best player of BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023 according to the organizers.[57]
On October 11, 2023, zonic departed the team,[59] he was then replaced by Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam two days later,[60] who had previously coached the team from December 2018 to December 2021.
Magisk left on November 3, 2023 amid reports of a move to Saudi Arabian organisation Team Falcons,[61] following zonic joining Falcons two days prior.[62] His place on the active roster was replaced by William "mezii" Merriman the following week, on November 8.[63]
In February 2024, Team Vitality announced that they had acquired most of the Korean StarCraft II team ONSYDE to enter the game in time for IEM Katowice 2024.[65] While this hasn't been confirmed, this acquisition may have been funded via the Saudi Arabia-operated Esports World Cup Club Support Program, which gave organizations in the program (which includes Team Vitality) a one-time cash stimulus if they wanted to enter new esports.[66][67]
Tekken
In April 2024, Team Vitality announced its return to the versus fighting scene with the famous fighting game Tekken. While the eighth installment of the famous saga has just been released, the French club welcomed the player Jeondding within its ranks.[68] Similar to their entry into StarCraft II, this opportunity of recruitment may have been funded via the Saudi-operated Esports World Cup Club Support Program, of which Team Vitality is a member.[66][67]
Rennsport
On 7 May 2024, Team Vitality announced a partnership with R8G Esports, owned by former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean, to acquire the latter's ESL R1 slot, with ESL R1 being the main racing league of the then-closed alpha racing simulator Rennsport. Similar to Vitality's entries into StarCraft II and Tekken, this opportunity of recruitment may have been funded via the Saudi-operated Esports World Cup Club Support Program, of which Team Vitality is a member.[66][67]
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
On 13 May 2024, Team Vitality announced that it would enter Mobile Legends: Bang Bang esports by welcoming the former Bigetron Era female roster to its ranks. Similar to Vitality's entries into StarCraft II, Tekken and Rennsport, this opportunity of recruitment may have been funded via the Saudi-operated Esports World Cup Club Support Program, of which Team Vitality is a member.[66][67]
Street Fighter 6
On 28 May 2024, Team Vitality announced its return on the Street Fighter scene by welcoming two highly skilled player, the canadian Sayff and the french Valentin "Valmaster" Petit. Similar to Vitality's entries into StarCraft II, Tekken, Rennsport and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, this opportunity of recruitment may have been funded via the Saudi-operated Esports World Cup Club Support Program, of which Team Vitality is a member.[66][67]
Vitality has its headquarters at V.Hive, located Boulevard de Sébastopol in Paris, since November 2019. This place of 1000m² is also the first physical link between the club and its fans, since a part is open to the public with shop, meeting place and cybercafé. In addition to this first venue open to the public, Vitality plans to develop this concept in Lyon, Marseille, London or Berlin.
Vitality Performance Center
Since 2019, Vitality has also invested in the Stade de France where its training centre, named Vitality Performance Center, is established, in a desire to professionalize its teams at the highest level.[69] The team FIFA settled there in September 2019, then two others, the team Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege replaced today by the team Rocket League and the academic team of League of Legends Vitality.Bee playing in LFL in the French championship, will follow in 2020. Finally, since 2023, the women’s team of League of Legends uses from time to time the facilities to realize weeks of training at the highest level. Vitality also aims in the medium term to build an arena from 1500 to 2000 places inside the Stade de France to play its home matches.
Gaming House Berlin
As part of their respective participation in the LEC and Valorant Champions Tour, Vitality’s main team on League of Legends and the Valorant train in a gaming house located in Berlin. Joined by the Counter-Strike 2 team since 2018, these 3 teams train in a healthy environment optimized to perform at the highest European and global levels.
Gaming House India
Since November 2018 and the fundraising with Indian billionaire Tej Kohli, Vitality is present on the game Call of Duty: Mobile, in order to bring players together and allow them to play at the highest level, the organization has invested in a gaming house in Navi Mumbai.
Gaming House Jakarta
As part of the participation in the Esport World Cup, and the arrival on several new games including Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, the club invests in a gaming house located in Jakarta Indonesia to ensure a healthy and optimized environment for performance.
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