RpK’s story: The legacy of The Tank

Most of the true CS:GO fans will still remember veteran RpK aka The Tank, who’s considered one of Counter-Strike’s most legendary players, and who once proved that one can return from esports retirement and become a legend for the second time in their career. RpK is not in the scene anymore, but he recently opened up about why he decided to retire and how he’s doing now. 

Cédric “⁠RpK⁠” Guipouy started his Counter-Strike career back in 2007 and definitively ended it by the end of summer 2021. The 33-years-old Frenchman is now working with his father in their car family business.

Rise of RpK

RpK appeared on the competitive scene in 2007 during the Counter-Strike: Source era, and quickly made a name for himself. His immense talent became to truly show after he joined team VeryGames in October 2008, as the team with his help won the vast majority of tournaments they attended throughout the following three years. The pinnacle of their complete dominance over the Source scene came by the end of 2011 with the Electronic Sports World Cup title. 

Later the team was joined by another future French legend Kenny “kennyS” Schrub and when CS:GO came out in August 2012, VeryGames switched to the new title. Here they faced a new rival — Ninjas in Pyjamas led by CS1.6 legends Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund and Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg — who ended up destroying them in every encounter that year, each time on the final stage. This included two top-tier events: ESWC 2012 and DreamHack Winter 2012, where he ended up being statistically the best player. 

The last straw for RpK was another grand final loss against NiP at the AMD Sapphire Invitational in December 2012, after which he announced his retirement. Following only a few months in competitive CS:GO, The tank more or less completely disappeared from the scene. 

Return of the legend 

RpK’s unexpected return to CS:GO competition came in late 2014, following one of the biggest and most controversial cheating scandals in Counter-Strike history. Earlier in November, AWPer for Titan eSports Hovik “⁠KQLY⁠” Tovmassian, received a Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC), resulting in Titans needing a replacement fast. 

In hopes of clearing their name, the team, at the time fielding former RpK’s teammates kennyS and Ex6TenZ, reached out to the retired veteran to come back to action. And just like that, The Tank was back.

While he was able to quickly adapt to the new strategies that had meanwhile developed in competitive CS:GO, the team didn’t really see any notable success in the following season, and at the beginning of 2016, the organization ceased its operations, citing financial constraints partially related to KQLY’s ban. 

RpK spent the following years with G2 Esports and Team Envy, and set back by health issues, he never quite regained the former glory he boasted in the CS: Source era. That said, the best years of his CS:GO career were still only ahead. 

Reaching heights with Team Vitality

In October 2018, RpK signed with the newly formed team Vitality squad, which also included the rising french talent Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. The team flourished, and with The tank gaining his form, they started claiming the titles. Their biggest successes came in 2019, as they won cs_summit 4, Esports Championship Series Season 7, finished second in DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019, and then concluded the season with another top-tier victory at EPICENTER 2019. 

It took Vitality a few events to get used to the online 2020 era, but in the second half of the year, they rose as champions of IEM XV Beijing and BLAST Premier: Fall 2020. This was the last victory in RpK’s illustrious CS:GO career and after multiple disappointing results at the beginning of 2021, he officially announced his departure from, Team Vitality’s active roster in April. 

“Today marks the end of a long & beautiful career. It started long ago, had ups & downs, but I always loved it. I’m grateful for your support over the years, I won’t forget it.” 

How’s RpK now? 

Now, more than a year after leaving CS:GO for good, RpK elaborated on his decision in a recent interview posted on YouTube by KRL_stream. 

RpK admitted that he was exhausted at the end of his career, as the mental pressure in top-tier CS:GO is huge. He wanted to follow his life-long love for cars, which, according to his words, helps him to relax. He also revealed that he was considering joining T2 after parting ways with Vitality, but he decided to end his career as he didn’t see himself grinding from the bottom again. 

He is now working with his father on their car family business, while he is mainly doing preparation on cars to increase horsepower. Among many of his cars, the best is BMW M4 and he enjoys drifting and street racing. As for playing Counter-Strike, he doesn’t play anymore but says he’s following the scene from far away. 

Recalling his best career memories, RpK doesn’t mention only winning trophies, but also vibes in his previous teams and discovering new countries while traveling. He also revealed why he is called LE TANK — one he was asked to describe his play style, to which he replied that he was like a tank.

Although RpK’s Counter-Strike career is definitively over, the legacy he has left behind will forever be a part of the title’s history and remain an inspiration for many talented players who aspire to become the next CS:GO legends. Not only he proved that one can return from retirement and become a legend one more time, but he also did it at an age when CS:GO pros are considered rather old for staying at the highest competitive level, showing everyone that CS:GO is not only for players in their early 20s.

Header: RpK/ Twitter