Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
IEM Katowice content powered by Predator Gaming | Photo copyright: Helena Kristiansson, ESL Faceit Group
William ‘mezii’ Merriman cuts an assured figure as Team Vitality struts towards the press for interviews, IEM Katowice trophy in hand. The British superstar seems to have newfound comfort in the roster after the addition of Robin ‘ropz’ Kool. The addition of the former Faze lurker has opened up new possibilities for mezii not only in the server, but also provided a visible jump in personal chemistry amongst the international roster who “were not a team” for much of 2024 according to IGL Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire.
As the confetti was still falling in the Spodek Arena, Esports News UK caught up with mezii to discuss how Vitality demolished Spirit in the IEM Katowice 2025 final, the impact of ropz on the roster, and his old organisation Endpoint’s sad withdrawal from CS.
Mezii, you’ve just become the IEM Katowice 2025 champion! How does that sound?
It sounds pretty good, I can’t lie. It’s my first time getting the chance to play in front of this crowd in this arena, it’s one of the biggest tournaments that every player wishes to be a part of and to win.
And yeah, it feels good to be there and to win. It feels great.
As you say, it’s one of CS’s most historic trophies, your team name gets engraved on that trophy. That trophy is probably going to be around for a long time. And you have a kid that’ll know this win will go down in history.
Yeah, I think whenever you do these things, it always feels like everything pays off. It always feels good.
I think there are so many sacrifices that we make as players, whether it’s like, me becoming a father and spending so much time away from home and all the work that we put in, it feels great.
“Knowing that we’re gonna be one of the teams that are going to be remembered for doing something in CS, whether it’s winning these tournaments like Katowice. It just feels amazing to know that the hard work and the sacrifices pay off.”
mezii, Team Vitality
The final itself. A bit easy, wasn’t it?
Scoreline wise it definitely looked easy, especially the first two maps. I think we had really good plans overall to go up against Spirit. I think we’re definitely comfortable with how they play and how we want to play against it. Yeah, I think the first two months went exactly as planned and Mirage was going that way – they fought back well.
But I mean, we have some really experienced players on this team that have won everything. Just bringing in ropz, he’s won this before, it feels nice and really calm on the server. When it gets close, when they make the comeback, we know everyone’s fine. We know we’re gonna be able to get one more round and close it out.
And that’s how I felt in this game even though they pulled a few rounds back, they made it close. They tied it up. But yeah, we knew we were going to be able to close out the game.
So, I think it was the scoreline looked easy overall, but overall mostly it was a tough game. I think it’s always tough going up against Spirit.
Regarding your roles in Vitality, now that ropz is here you’ve been given a bit more freedom to play some rotational roles and stuff like that. How are you finding that and is it making you a better player in the server?
Yeah, overall I feel really comfortable. I think it’s something I’ve always had within a lot of teams. It’s the best of me, usually, when I have this good mix of roles where some maps I’m rotation, but some maps I also like to anchor and play those positions. On T-side there’s been a couple of changes as well where I can get a bit more involved.
I think, definitely in this final I didn’t have to do too much. I think overall in the first couple of maps, ropz took care of the first and ZywOo took care of the second one.
So I was just there for the moral support and to make sure the boys were there and focused. Then when it came to it, I’m always ready to to show up and make sure I’m doing my job, because I think you always need five players that are gonna perform well.
“Overall, I’m feeling really good in the team, confidence-wise and also positionally. I think I’m still yet to show my best and I think it will happen soon. But I’m just trying to find the consistency in making sure that I can be someone that the team could still rely on as well.”
mezii, Team Vitality
You guys won IEM Cologne 2024 and are holders of that and now you’ve won Katowice. So, there’s really only one trophy that every UK player wants to win that you haven’t won… Epic.LAN. So when’s that gonna happen?
(Laughs) Hopefully one day. I said to my brother a few times because I really want to go to one of them with him. He’s been to a couple but it’s always during the season when we’ve got a tournament.
If we have our time off, I would love to go back to an Epic.LAN and play because it’s one that I’ve never won.
I won i-series a few times and Epic.LAN is definitely one that’s… if I get to the end of my career and I haven’t won it, whether I win the major, Kato or whatever, it’s gonna bug me that I didn’t win one.
Are you surprised that you [Vitality] look this good this early?
Not really. Of course, some teams have a honeymoon period at times, but I’m also not surprised because as soon as ropz joined the team we definitely saw the switch in terms of not just the atmosphere in the team or how we were playing. What he brings is he’s a real hard-working player inside the game. He’s constantly looking for new things and how to evolve and so on.
I think that kind of spreads throughout the team and I think we see everyone I think for this event and even before Blast Bounty, we were working so hard as individuals and as a team to make sure that we’re ready for this event and ready for the next tournament.
So, I wouldn’t say that I’m really surprised that we’re playing this well. I think that the hard work pays. Everybody’s making sure that, even though we’ve won this one, it’s still the very start the season. It’s the first big one of the season, and we need to make sure that we keep on doing what we’re doing.
I can’t interview you and not touch on the news that the Endpoint CS division is on a hiatus. You have a great history with them, so did you have any reflections or feelings about that news?
It’s sad to see because a lot of players have come through the organisation and UK esports overall. I know they’ve said it’s not a goodbye. They’re definitely gonna, at some point, come back, if the opportunity is right. I hope so because like I say, it wasn’t just for me, it was a great home for a lot of players to grow and also get to take the next step.
Without them I don’t know if I would be in this team because I think they came at a great time for me to be able to come back and get into a tier-one team. So of course it’s sad news, but I really hope that they can come back with a team in the near future because UK esports needs them.
I think UK esports needs organisations anyway, but especially Endpoint, because they’ve been here from pretty much the start. And, yeah, like I say, I hope that they will come back at some point.
Do you have any advice for up-and-coming British players as someone who has broken out of it and got to the next level?
It seems like at the moment that a lot of players, a lot of people, think that UK esports, especially in CS is kind of at its lowest point, with a lot of organisations pulling out, or not in the best place. But for me, I wouldn’t say there was always a hundred different opportunities even when I was there.
There’s definitely a small amount. But it’s just making sure that these UK players just continue to work hard because whenever it seems like the most rough or there aren’t as many opportunities, that’s when a lot of players will take a step back, but it’s about taking this next step forward. Just keep pushing because you never know what’s going to happen.
You never know when the game’s changing or when the opportunity might come and it’s making sure that when the opportunity does arise that you’re ready as a player.
“I just hope we can see some more UK players come through. We definitely have some talent there, it’s just making sure that they continue to work hard.”
mezii, Team Vitality
So anyone you kind of have your eye on or that you have played with that you like?
I’ve never played him but I’ve watched a few of the games. AZUWU for Endpoint. Not only have I watched games before – he seems like a really solid player, he could be a good talent – but I’ve heard a lot of good things from other people and have asked them about him.
They said he’s got a really good attitude and a really good work ethic. So I think it’s something that hopefully he can continue even though Endpoint is no longer, hopefully he can continue to work hard and find the next step because you never know when the next opportunity could come, a bigger team could come for you so just make sure you keep working hard.
Related article: Vitality’s UK CS2 team manager Aphiren on falling in love with player management
Darragh Harbinson is a freelance writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK as well as the likes of UKCSGO, Dexerto and Rush B Media.
