Envy Return to CS2 With Former 3DMAX Roster After Nearly Six Years

Envy have returned to Counter-Strike 2 by signing the former 3DMAX roster. The move brings the American organisation back to the game almost six years after it last fielded a team. Envy unveiled the all-French lineup on 29 September with a post reading “A NEW ERA BEGINS. Welcome ENVY CS.”, and the players arrive in the middle of a race for a place at PGL Singapore Major 2026.

A NEW ERA BEGINS. Welcome ENVY CS. @Makazin_ @misutaaaCSGO @LuckyCSGO_ @Kursycs2 @graviti_cs pic.twitter.com/0C59TDknSK

— ENVY (@Envy) September 29, 2026

The five players are expected to make their first appearance under the Envy name at Stake Pulse Beat III, which starts on 12 October. They currently sit 21st in the global Valve Regional Standings (VRS), the ranking used to decide Major invitations.

The Former 3DMAX Lineup Joining Envy

Envy have taken on the full five-player lineup that competed as 3DMAX:

Player	Full Name
Maka	Bryan Canda
Lucky	Lucas Chastang
misutaaa	Kévin Rabier
Graviti	Filip Brankovic
Kursy	Jeremy Gast

Maka captains the side as its AWPer and in-game leader, and he joins Envy in form. The lineup’s most recent event as 3DMAX was Logitech G Play Connect 2026, which the team won, and Maka was named tournament MVP. Envy are therefore picking up a roster fresh off a title, with its ranking already in place, rather than a group that has to learn to play together before the Major cutoff.

Envy’s History in French Counter-Strike

Envy first hinted at the signing on 23 September, straight after the Logitech G Play Connect win, with a teaser video captioned “The bomb has been planted.” The 29 September announcement ended months of speculation linking the organisation to the roster.

For Envy owner Mike “hastr0” Rufail, the French connection is central to the return. In a quote repost of the announcement, he thanked the French Counter-Strike community and said he hopes the new team can “achieve a similar success” to Envy’s earlier French lineups, which featured Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub. That era gave the organisation its only Major title, at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, where Envy beat NAVI 2-0 in the grand final.

Envy’s last Counter-Strike lineup, in 2020, was an international one that included Michał “MICHU” Müller, Noah “Nifty” Francis, and Thomas “Thomas” Utting. By signing an all-French roster for the comeback, Envy have gone back to the scene behind their biggest result.

How Envy Signed the Roster Without 3DMAX’s Debt

The move ends a difficult stretch for these players at 3DMAX. In late August, Maka, coach Damien “wasiNk” Dufour, and former coach Pierre “YouKnow” Marco spoke publicly about ongoing payment delays, which they said had put pressure on the team and hurt results. 3DMAX’s total debt has been reported at around $2 million. That figure reportedly includes about €1.5 million in unpaid salaries, prize money, and sticker revenue owed to current and former players and staff.

Envy weren’t the first organisation to try for the roster. Team Heretics reportedly offered to take on part of 3DMAX’s debt, and French content creator CYRILmp4 also held talks, but neither deal went through. TSM and Luminosity were also reported to have shown interest at various points.

Envy’s agreement reportedly took a different form. It covered the players and their VRS points only, and none of 3DMAX’s outstanding debt moved across. That is a much lighter commitment than the part-debt offer Heretics reportedly made, which likely helps explain why Envy completed a deal that earlier suitors didn’t. The VRS points matter just as much, because they keep the lineup at 21st in the standings used for Major invitations. The roster’s qualification race carries on from where it was, instead of starting from zero under a new name.

Read More: 3DMAX Players Speak Out on Unpaid Salaries and Payment Delays

Why Organisations Are Leaving CS2 as Envy Return

Envy are coming back while much of the scene is moving the other way. Organisations say Valve’s change to how Major sticker revenue is shared, introduced earlier this year, has sharply cut their share of that income. They say this has made it harder to cover player salaries, international travel, coaching staff, and other running costs.

The squeeze followed Valve’s 2025 ban on promoting skin gambling, case-opening, and skin trading websites at officially licensed tournaments for its games, including CS2. Those sites had been an important source of sponsorship and advertising revenue, particularly in tier-2 Counter-Strike. The ban therefore removed a large pool of endemic sponsors, meaning brands that come from within gaming itself.

Both changes have already reshaped the team list. Gaimin Gladiators benched their entire CS2 roster in June 2026 and pointed to their low share of Valve’s sticker revenue as the reason. Complexity Gaming had already left CS2 in 2025, when their roster moved to Passion UA, and the organisation shut down entirely in late September.

Envy are not the only organisation bucking that trend. Copenhagen Wolves, who are American-owned, returned to the game with a new international roster on 28 September, a day before Envy’s announcement. In a market where organisations are struggling to cover a roster’s day-to-day costs, the reported debt-free structure matters more than it would in better times. Envy take on the running costs of a team without also taking on its previous owner’s unpaid bills.

Envy’s Chances of Making the PGL Singapore Major

The Major race will be the first real test of the signing. A Major qualification simulation from Mischief gives Envy a 38.8% chance of reaching PGL Singapore Major 2026, a little under two in five. The same model places Envy’s expected final ranking anywhere between 14th and 26th, and their current 21st place sits outside the projected qualification line. The figure is a simulation rather than a guarantee, and it can move sharply with results at the remaining ranked events.

Envy are scheduled to play two of those events before the 2 November invitation cutoff: Stake Pulse Beat III and DraculaN Season 7. With the debut not until 12 October, the new Envy lineup has three weeks of results to climb inside the line that decides whether their first season back includes a trip to Singapore.