Special thanks go to Jeff "JeFFY" Suckow and Mickael "mSx" Cassini for their contributions to this article.

Note: Zanatta's answers have been translated from French to English with as much care as possible to preserve the exact meanings and nuances from his answers.

Name: Michael Zanatta
Age: 21
Location: Paris, France
Current Team: emuLate
Past Teams: aAa, Bz and GG

Can you please start by introducing yourself?

Hi my name is Michael Zanatta and I'm 21. I'm a student in a multimedia school in Paris and I've played for teams like aAa, Bz and GG. I started playing Counter-Strike in a LAN center in 1999 . My first competitive experience took place in that same center in 2v2. The tournament was offering free hours and I still remember how much i was stressing out, my hand was so shaky i couldn't hold the mouse anymore. Finally and after playing at a number of events, I was able to manage this stress. Now I play with emuLate! assuming the position of ingame leader.


Besides gaming what else do you like to do?

Right now, school and eSports already eat up a lot of my time, so it's kinda hard for me to have any other occupation. When I was younger, I used to play for a football club, but as I started taking CS to the next level, I was attending more and more events and had to make a choice because I couldn't handle both.


What would be your most memorable gaming experience?

It ain't easy to mention just one, so I'll give 3:

- 2003 With Bz at the ESWC, my first international event and we were able to make it to the top8, it was huge.
- 2004 with aAa at the euskal, we're able to grab the 3rd spot, I've kept a number of good souvenirs with the team
- 2005 with Bz at the ACON5, a great 2nd place and the biggest cash prize I've ever won with a team during an event: $10000


You’ve played with a number of top players during you career. Who is/was your favorite teammate both in and out of the game?

It's still a bit hard to mention anyone because i've got many in mind. I'll mention two which are Mathieu "R!Go-" Bridet and his brother Benoit "MonsteR" Bridet. I've started CS for the first time with them, and I've played my first LAN event with them, and now I'm still playing competitive CS with Mathieu.


You’re considered one of the French masterminds of the game along with Marc "bisou" Naoum. You’re also contributing a number of predictions and game/strat analysis to some French CS sites. The French play style being more skill/aim oriented, you’ve chosen the more tactical and mental side of the game. What pushed you towards that ?

It's a bit hard for me to say why I favored the tactical side of the game. I believe it's something that depends a lot on the nature and character of the player. It's something that will more or less come naturally. When I started CS, I wasn't leading, but quickly I started having my own ideas about the game. So I started proposing my ideas to my teammates et when we looked at it, it kinda worked pretty well so I sticked with that to finally become the leader in each team I played in.