Kenny Schrub, born on May 19, 1995, in Sarrebourg, Moselle, France, is better known as kennyS. He was a French professional player in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. In 2015, he was named "eSports Player of the Year" at The Game Awards. He was widely recognized as the best sniper in the game. Duncan Shields, a Counter-Strike analyst, stated that kennyS was the best player in the game before the sniper mechanics were changed. He previously played for teams such as Titan, VeryGames, Team LDLC.com, Recursive eSports, Clan-Mystik, Team EnVyUs, and G2 Esports. Before joining Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012, he was a professional player in Counter-Strike: Source. On May 20, 2023, one day after his 28th birthday, kennyS announced his retirement from competitive Counter-Strike. This announcement occurred before the semifinal match between Team Vitality and Apeks at the Blast Paris Major in Paris.

Early life

Schrub began playing Counter-Strike in France when he was very young. His brother introduced him to the game at age 6. Schrub and his brothers are 10 years apart in age, but by the time he was 8, he was better than his brothers at the game. When Schrub was 11, he and his brother entered a local tournament and won. After this victory, his brother encouraged him to work toward his goal of becoming a professional player. Schrub's skill earned him an invitation to tournaments in Arles.

Career

Schrub started his professional Counter-Strike career in 2012 when he joined the team VeryGames to play Counter-Strike: Source. Soon after, he switched to playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. He and VeryGames reached the finals of four tournaments: DreamHack Valencia, ESWC, DreamHack Winter, and ESH Prague. Each time, they lost to the team Ninjas in Pyjamas. In May 2013, VeryGames ended Schrub’s contract with the team due to disagreements among members.

For over a year, Schrub played in smaller tournaments before joining Titan, a team that had recruited members from his old team, VeryGames. In March 2015, Titan finished in 13th to 16th place at ESL One Katowice 2015.

On July 20, 2015, Schrub and Dan "apEX" Madesclaire were traded to Team EnVyUs in exchange for Richard "shox" Papillon and Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux. The next month, EnVyUs placed second at ESL One Cologne 2015, which was the second Major tournament of the year. At the third and final Major of 2015, DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, EnVyUs won the tournament after defeating Natus Vincere in the finals.

In 2016, EnVyUs finished 13th to 16th at ESL One Cologne 2016, but Schrub performed well, achieving a positive kill/death ratio on both maps. EnVyUs placed first in Global eSports Cup-Season 1, earning $80,000 in prize money. Later that year, they placed 5th to 8th at ELEAGUE Season 1, winning $1,000,000 in total prize money. In September, EnVyUs won the GFINITY CS:GO INVITATIONAL after defeating Mousesports in the final. At ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta in January 2017, EnVyUs placed 9th to 12th.

On February 3, 2017, Schrub was announced as part of a new team under G2 eSports, which included Nathan “NBK” Schmitt, Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, Richard “shox” Papillon, and Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro. Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux became their coach. In October 2017, G2 eSports placed 3rd to 4th at EPICENTER 2017 after losing to Virtus.Pro in the semifinals. G2 won the ESL Pro League Finals Season 5 and Dreamhack Masters Malmö 2017. Schrub was named MVP at both events. At ELEAGUE Boston Major in January 2017, G2 finished 5th to 8th after losing to Cloud9 in the quarterfinals.

Achievements and awards

At The Game Awards 2015, Schrub received the Esports Player of the Year award.

• 13th to 16th place — ESL One Katowice 2015
• 1st place — Dreamhack Stockholm 2014
• 1st place — Gamers Assembly 2015

• 2nd place — ESL One Cologne 2015
• 1st place — IEM Gamescom 2015
• 1st place — Dreamhack Open London 2015
• 1st place — Gfinity Champion of Champions 2015
• 1st place — DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015
• 1st place — Game Show Global eSports Cup 2016
• 13th to 16th place — ESL One Cologne 2016
• 5th to 8th place — ELeague Season 1
• 1st place — World Electronic Sports Games

• 1st place — DreamHack Tours 2017
• 1st place — HTC 2vs2 Invitational by PGL
• 1st to 2nd place — DreamHack Open Austin 2017
• 1st place — ESL Pro League Season 5
• 1st place — DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017