“It’s crazy to be part of a team now that’s had a season that’s maybe even better than theirs.” – mezii on Astralis 2018 comparisons, his Inferno performance, and winning the StarLadder Budapest Major
Image Credit: Monster Energy
Esports News UK spoke to William ‘mezii’ Merriman following Vitality’s 3-1 victory in the Grand Final of the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025.
Vitality won their ninth title of the year, including both of the year’s Majors, in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest years in Counter-Strike history, drawing comparisons to Astralis’ historic peak.
The Brit’s individual performance throughout the playoffs also drew praise from analysts and casters alike, as mezii delivered huge impact on the server, especially on Map 3 of the Grand Final on Inferno.
mezii talked us through his emotions in winning the Major, touching on his own performance and his growth as a more vocal element of this era-defining Vitality roster.
Congratulations on being the first team to go back-to-back in the Majors since Astralis. Even being compared to that team, how does it feel?
It’s crazy, I think. As a player who’s grown up with this game, and wasn’t even professional, I saw the teams like Astralis go through all these insane eras and win all these trophies.
It’s crazy to be part of a team now that’s had a season that’s maybe even better than theirs.
I think, of course, we didn’t win as many trophies, but the way we operate and the way we play this year has been incredible.
It hasn’t quite sunk in, the feeling. Even just what we did in the first part of the year hasn’t sunk in, I don’t think, yet.
It might take a while for everyone to take it all in and to really relax into this play break, but it’s a dream.
It’s crazy to be part of this lineup.
“I think it was probably the most calm I’ve been in the game ever.” – mezii on his outstanding Inferno performance
You just left for a second just to see your family. How does it feel to be able to share those moments with them?
It’s the best part.
Like I said, they’re the reason that it makes it so much easier for me to be able to focus on the server.
Of course, we make so many sacrifices to stay away from family, be away, so much travelling, but when they’re so supportive, and they’re able to come out to events or even if they’re just supporting from home.
I have so many family members who are doing that, and it makes everything so worth it when we can win.
Without them, it’d be impossible to be able to do this. Without the support network that we have, it’d be impossible.
I’m just so grateful for this team, and my family and everyone that’s able to support us, because without them, it’d be insanely hard to be able to perform this well.
One of the things that became evident during this major is the little bits of encouragement that you’re giving the team in comms, for example, in the slow start against Spirit. Can you elaborate on how you’re contributing in that sense to the team?
I think it’s something I’ve been working on a lot this year.
The whole year I’ve been trying to make it my main focus point; to help apEX to not just be the only one that’s having to make calls, and also pick the team up when we’re having slow starts, and we’re not as connected on the server.
It’s really important we have that second voice.
I think a lot of the other players do as well, but you need that consistency within a team that, whenever things are going bad or good, I need to be able to help apEX make good calls, whether it’s through ideas or just to build the team morale back up and just stay focused.
No matter the situation this team’s in, we’re so good at staying resilient and being able to bring it back.
It makes it a lot easier for my job as well. Even if I say a few words, everyone takes it on board instantly and is back focused.
It’s been my main thing this year is to contribute in that way and find impact in those areas as well.
“You’re constantly thinking, ‘Just make sure you hit the shots.’ That’s what happened.” – mezii on his Inferno boost play
Moving on to the game, on Inferno, you had an insane amount of impact on the server. Can you talk us through how you were feeling during that game? It seemed you just stepped up at the perfect times to stop FaZe from building momentum.
I think it was probably the most calm I’ve been in the game ever.
Inferno was very weird. I think I was just in that flow state. I just really focused on what my job was in the server and focused on trying to kill people.
Of course, sometimes when you’re in the arena, when you’re in the big games, it’s kind of hard to stay focused like that.
Sometimes you don’t want to always be in that flow state of just focusing on yourself because you’ve got to help teammates.
But this Inferno, it just felt like everything was working out well for me. I was having good duels, having good timings.
Sometimes CS works out like that.
I’m just happy that it was one of those games in the final for me. It’s always nice to find that impact and find those rounds that can help the team win.
In that Inferno game, I just felt like I was in a moment where I just felt super calm.
No matter what was happening, I was able to find impact. It’s the best thing.
“So many times, I was like, ‘Robin, you’re insane.” – on ropz’s Overpass performance
That balcony boost, where you displayed incredible trigger discipline, how do you stay calm in that moment?
I think these moments, especially in the arena, are always super hard because the crowd are always making so much noise.
You’re always constantly thinking, ‘Do I kill him, do I not?’
This time, just because of the way the round was, I had to try and keep it as long as I could. It worked out this time.
Especially when apEX died, they never expected me because I didn’t show myself.
In that moment, you’re constantly thinking, ‘Just make sure you hit the shots.’ That’s what happened.
It’s always tough in the arena to make those types of plays. I’m just happy it worked out this time.
It’s always nice to be able to find impact and find ways to win rounds for your team.
It being one of those games on Inferno where you’re able to do that multiple times, it’s always nice as well.
Moving on to Overpass, was it just fun for you?
For me, I was just kind of chilling a lot of the time.
Watching Ropz, no matter what the weapon, sometimes he has an AWP, sometimes he has an AK, just killing everyone.
So many times, I was like, ‘Robin, you’re insane. You’re insane every single time, every round.’
I was just there, just relaxing, watching everyone get kills. I think these games are so fun.
Also, everyone was just so focused on never giving them any rounds or even an inch to try to get back into a round.
As I said at the start of the game, if we play just like practice, we’re not too worried about giving them rounds or not too worried about what we need to do on the anti.
Just focus on ourselves, play like practice, and we’ll play well.
That was the result.
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