Hometown Heroes: Enzo

Longtime Team Liquid Valorant fans may remember that last year, we produced a series of articles titled ‘Hometown Heroes’, which functioned as a way to showcase the diverse backgrounds and upbringings of all our Valorant players. This year, we’re bringing it back for our new additions — starting with our indomitable IGL, Enzo!

Enzo hails from France — in case you couldn’t tell from the accent — and has been playing games for as long as he can remember. He’s also been to plenty of different places, thanks to both his esports career and a personal love of traveling. Interestingly, one of his main passions — music — has been hugely influential when it comes to building his esports career. Read on to find out more about how Enzo balanced esports with getting a Master’s degree, what kind of music he’s listening to right now (although it could change at any time), and what it’s been like to be neighbors with his teammates for the first time.

Can you talk a bit about where you were born and where you grew up?

I was born in Bordeaux, in France. It's a city located in the Southwest of France. So, yeah. I’m definitely French.

How would you describe your upbringing? What would you say is the most unique thing about the place where you grew up?

It's a very beautiful place, full of culture as well. I grew up there surrounded by my family as the youngest brother — one sister, one brother, and me. The funny thing is that since the age of maybe three or four, I’ve basically had a mouse in my hands. They were working with computers at home, and I always wanted to try it out. I’ve been playing games since the age of four or five — games for children, of course, but that's where I started.

I feel like a lot of players that I talk to have the same backstory, where their older siblings would play games and sometimes let them play too.

Yeah, I mean, my father and my brother were playing games. And I just followed along. I was competing against them, and I wanted to get better… and one day I got better. At a certain age — I don't know, 13, 14 — I got better.

Did gaming play a big part in your social life as well? Did you have friends who played games, or were you an early adopter?

I was an early adopter. Back in those days, it wasn't like it is now, because I was born in 1996. I'm not gonna say I'm old, right? I'm currently 27. I don’t think I’m old. But what happened at school back in those days is that I was usually playing games, and my friends at school were not necessarily playing as well, so it was two different worlds for me. I had all my friends at school, and then I was playing games and I had different friends while playing games.

I can imagine that these days, this has changed a lot. A lot of children, while growing up or at school — they have some more common gaming activities. It wasn't the case for me. I had a lot of friends in-game and also outside at school. One thing that characterizes me a lot is that I've always been studying while playing. After turning 18 I started studying in France while playing CS. After that, I joined business school while playing CS, and as soon as I got my degree, Valorant came out, so everything was in sync.

Where did you go to school?

I did what you’d call a preparation class in France, while unfortunately playing CS. I say “unfortunately” because it's supposed to be a class where you are, for two years, tryharding, barely sleeping, and only working for a competition at the end of the two years. So it's like a no-life experience. I'm being very positive here.

And then I went to a business school called SKEMA, in France. I got my Master's degree and as soon as I got that, I started Valorant. I think I started on the second day of the beta [test], and I’ve never stopped since then. I have stopped CS, of course, but I have never stopped playing Valorant. I play every day now.

So, while growing up, when you were not playing games, what were some things that you might do with your friends or family on a free day?

I do spend a lot of time with the family because I don't see them a lot, especially these days. But when I was with them we would spend a lot of time together, and I really enjoyed those moments. We just do things together outside of home, like traveling abroad, if we can. Visiting many countries — that's what I enjoy, when we have time, and if we have the resources to do so.

Also, I do, personally, enjoy two things a lot: The first one is music. I do play music in general. I do play the guitar. I understand the piano pretty well and can play it a little bit. So those are my passions. I listen to so many styles of different music.

The second thing I like a lot is competition and sports in general. Any domain where people strive to be the best at what they do. That, I have admiration for, and I really enjoy that — whether it's Formula 1, football, climbing, music… anything where people try to be the best in the world, I have a huge admiration for. Even different games — like League, Dota, CS — I really enjoy watching and getting inspired by these people.

I've often felt that esports players and musicians have a lot in common. It’s about being dedicated to a single thing for a very long time, and not everyone's built for that.

Yeah, it's about dedication. It's about learning. It's about grinding it if you have to, and also it's about pressure, because performing in front of people from a very young age teaches you a lot. about yourself, and about people. And here I am today, also performing in front of people — and you learn from that, especially when you're growing up.

Do you still perform music live?

Yes, because I started so young. I've done some small performances in front of gatherings, but one was quite big in a big room. It was quite fun — I'm talking maybe 500 [people] or so — and it was quite professional. It was fun to do because it was with my friends. It was just one of the experiences I've been through that forged me for the future a little bit and, piece by piece, you grow up.

What kind of music have you been liking recently?

I enjoy listening to French 79 at the moment, and a piano composer called Patrik Pietschmann. And, obviously, Sofiane Pamart. He's a French pianist as well. I enjoy those three at the moment, but it can switch at any time. Next week I might listen to other artists, and so on… but those three are definitely ones I enjoy a lot.

So, you’ve said that you and your family would travel a lot. But if someone were to visit your hometown and asked what they should do, what would you tell them?

Go take a walk at night, across the river, and just enjoy the architecture and the lights. It's one of the most beautiful things you can find there. By day, just walk around, enjoy the museums, the architecture… and everything there. And above all, because it's French, just enjoy all the restaurants, because you're gonna have the best food of your life.

As a pro player, you’ve lived in a lot of different places. You're in Berlin now, so what's it been like to live there? Has it been a big change for you?

Berlin has been a big change for me because it's the first time that I can be living next to all my teammates, and be with them absolutely every day. And I think I'm grateful for that because we get to work together every single day and improve as a team. I think it's good to be together.

Have you gone anywhere interesting with the team? What do you guys tend to do on your days off?

On days off, usually, we just try to recover. These days we have very intense practice, because our goal is to improve at the moment. So we spend a lot of time practicing and playing the game. So at the moment, [off days are] just for resting and recovery. Sometimes we do team bonding together. We did a lot of team bonding, especially at the start of the year, but at the moment, as our preparation for the split is ongoing, we are practicing a lot.

Can you talk a little bit more about living with the team and if there have been any hurdles that you've had to overcome as you adjust to living together?

We don't all live together, but we definitely live next to each other. The positive of that is that when we’re in and out of practice, we can directly communicate with each other without any delay. Whether it's about something in or outside of the game, everything is instant. Also, whenever you feel like your teammate is not feeling at his best, you have the opportunity to talk to each other because you are next to each other. So whether it's for good or for bad, for cheering each other up, for helping each other improve… when someone is down and you try to help him back up, anyone in the team can do that with anyone else. 

Is there any place that you'd particularly like to visit next?

I would really like to go to Japan, and visit everything there. I would like to go to the US once, because I've never been there. And, obviously, I would like to go back to South Korea again. Especially at the end of this year.

‍