Team Vitality’s major victory on Sunday night triggered an outpouring of joy and pride from the UK CS scene as one of its own reached the top of the Counter-Strike mountain with victory at the BLAST.tv Austin Major.
Not only did Birmingham native, William ‘mezii’ Merriman, become the first Brit to win a CS major, he did so in a team which has officially defined an era in Counter-Strike.
The undisputed GOAT of UK CS
As the confetti fell on the stage at Austin, British players and broadcast talent alike came together to crown mezii as the rightful true king of UK CS, with many labelling him as the GOAT in the UK scene, including stage host James Banks, former Fnatic and BIG AWPer Owen ‘smooya’ Butterfield, NiP Impact’s Mia ‘aiM’ Cooper, and ten times EPIC.LAN winner, Ireland’s Matas ‘Extinct’ Strumila.
A source of inspiration for a struggling scene
In an era where UK CS has struggled to find consistency and organisation support, mezii’s victory with Vitality has proven all the more inspiring.
GamerLegion coach, Ashley ‘ash’ Battye, pointed to mezii as a source of inspiration for UK players, stating, “Don’t look for excuses, look for improvement.” mezii and ash came up together, with ash coaching mezii at the grassroots level.
Britain’s Aphiren playing a key part in Vitality’s success
Mezii isn’t Britain’s only success story in Vitality, in fact, far from it. Amy ‘Aphiren’ May has played a central part in Vitality’s success as CS2 Team Manager. Speaking to Esports News UK in January, Aphiren described her new role:
You are the glue that holds the communications together, you have to work with broadcast, work with competition operations, the teams and the players. When there are issues, find compromises.
Amy ‘Aphiren’ May
While the role of behind-the-scenes staff is not a tangible in-game metric, they can prove decisive in managing the player’s energy levels and focus. As such, Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire was quick to thank Vitality’s background staff in his winner’s interview.
Birthday boy flameZ another beneficiary of UK CS
Celebrating his 22nd Birthday on June 22nd to capture Vitality’s 2nd major trophy, Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan could not have asked for a better birthday present. For Endpoint, it was also an event of twos as they celebrated two major winners passing through their doors.
Endpoint’s CS division is currently on hiatus following a difficult 2024. Historically, the organisation has proved to be one of Counter-Strike’s most successful paths to tier one, with several notable players from mezii, flameZ, Guy ‘NertZ’ Iluz, Nikita ‘HeavyGod’ Martynenko amongst Endpoint’s graduates.
While UK CS awaits the return of its titan organisation, the scene can at least celebrate its indelible effect on the history of Counter-Strike with this major victory.
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.
