mezii: “If you’re not looking at XTQZZZ as the coach of the year, then I think you’ve been watching a different game”

After a historic 2025 that saw Vitality lift nine trophies, including both majors in Austin and Budapest, William ‘mezii’ Merriman and Vitality are at the top of the Counter-Strike mountain.

The year saw the Counter-Strike community draw parallels between Vitality and the Astralis era, becoming the first team since Astralis to win both majors in the same year. Yet, there are still more records to break.

No team since that lauded Astralis roster has been able to stay at the top of the mountain for two years in a row, something which mezii and Vitality are hungry to achieve as we enter the 2026 season, starting with BLAST Bounty.

Esports News UK caught up with mezii to look forward to the upcoming season, and to reflect on the internal structures and processes that allowed Vitality to achieve a year which many thought was impossible in modern Counter-Strike.

The British player also shared a special emphasis on UK esports, hoping to use his position to elevate players and organisations in the UK scene.

“It’s nice as an individual to be able to be that guy that’s trying to help UK esports, and trying to find the success and be accomplished, but it would be even more rewarding if we can try and find some other UK players or UK organisations to try and get into esports and try and support it.” – mezii on his ambitions to help the UK esports scene

Esports News UK interviews mezii before the beginning of the 2026 Counter-Strike season (Recorded 09/01/2025)

What are your reflections on 2025? How are you feeling now that you’ve had a bit of time to reflect?

Yeah, it was a crazy year.

Even in a short time, we’ve had a few weeks after the major to kind of reflect, it’s always crazy to reflect on it.

But esports moves so quickly that we’re already getting back into the preparations and getting ready for the next season. So it’s always tough to even think too much about it.

I think, as individuals and as a team, we’ve obviously had so many great memories over the last year, and it’s insane, even now, to think of what we were able to achieve and all the trophies we’ve won and the records that we were able to make.

But like I say, CS and esports as a whole just move so quickly that I think it won’t even be until after I have finished playing, or have a really long break maybe, that I’ll be able to realise exactly what we did and really let it sink in.

You don’t want to spend too long thinking too much about what we have been able to do over 2025, as we start in 2026 now, and we don’t want to think too much about what’s in the past.

We need to focus more on now what we’re able now to continue that, and make sure that we’re really able to solidify ourselves as one of the greatest teams to play CS.

So I think that’s our main goal now that we continue our success.

Of course, it’s always going to be tough to match what we did, but we can at least get as close as we can to it.

In the first half of last year, once you won Katowice, you won seven tournaments in a row, won the major. Second half of the year, you won Pro League and the major. It wasn’t as dominant. Do you have any reflections that and how are you going to use the second half of the year to motivate yourself for 2026?

In the first part of the year, there weren’t as many moments where we thought, ‘Okay, we need to fix this and fix that.’ Everything was happening so quickly, and we were constantly winning.

So when you get to second part of the year, and it wasn’t as successful, I think we can still look back and still see it as a success because we made so many deep playoff runs, so many semi-finals and obviously a couple of finals where we could have gone our way, and we could have been looking at the year completely different season with even more trophies.

But at the same time, I think those moments also helped us improve and to get back to our level for the major at the end of the year in Budapest.

So I think for us, we definitely had those moments where it helped us gain more experience and gain more ideas and try and look at things in a different way to find more solutions to improve this year for 2026.

Because, as I say, I think when you’re constantly winning things, you don’t want to change too much. You don’t want to think, ‘Oh, we need to fix this,’ because you don’t want to change a working recipe that was working so well for us.

But for the end of 2025, going to 2026 now, we don’t want to think too much about the past, but we want to learn from our mistakes or learn from things that we didn’t do so well in the second part of 2025.

We weren’t as dominant, but I think we still were showing that we were one of the best, if not the best team throughout that part of the year as well, because our main goal was to peak in the major for the Budapest major, and we managed to make it happen.

And we felt that same magic and that same kind of vibe as we did at the first part of the year at the Budapest major; it kind of felt more like it each game. In some ways, I think they were somewhat easier games compared to like Austin, where we had a lot of close games in here.

Of course [in Budapest], we lost a map to FaZe, but I think we were still assured we were pretty dominant on the other three maps in the final as well.

So I think that’s the main thing, and the thing that was very impressive with us is that we managed to find our level towards the end.

And that’s our main focus now, to show that we still can play at that level.

We found a way to do it at the end of 2025. And now in 2026, we need to find a way to get back to that level as well.

Can you elaborate on the things you’re working on that maybe you were dissatisfied with in the second half of the year?

I think in the second part in 2025, we were just a bit more disconnected as a team in terms of not being on the same page. We were kind of rushing to do certain things.

Of course, it’s map-dependent. We fell off in a few maps, like Train wasn’t our strongest map, like it was in the first part of the year when we were one of the best teams on it, and then it kind of fell off, and we had some map pool problems.

Overall, we were just a bit more disconnected. We were not on the same page as much on some of the tournaments. And I think we’re trying to find a way of getting back to that, where we were sometimes in the first part of the year, when we didn’t really even have to communicate sometimes, and it was just clicking.

Sometimes, that’s how CS goes. But in the second part, we definitely needed to work a lot harder and work a lot more on those details in the game, especially with the communication, helping each other, being better teammates to each other in-game, and that’s something we tried to really work on at the end of the year.

I was just happy that we were able to win Pro League, but also at the major, we were able to get back to that level where we were just in that flow state of teamwork, and that team chemistry was just there in all the games.

Sorry for this one. It hurts for real.
But we wont stop working hard to get trophies again and again.
Gg wp @FURIA Well deserved.
Cya next week for Hong Kong

— Dan Madesclaire (@Vitality_apEX) November 9, 2025

“We’re super motivated to try to prove to ourselves that we still can play at a high level and get back to a strong year like we did last year. As a player, you never get tired of winning and lifting trophies. So I think when the opportunity is there” – mezii on BLAST Bounty

You mentioned the season coming fast. You have family; it’s a short break. How do you prevent burnout?

Yeah. I mean, I think it’s tough. I think one thing that I think is that in Vitality, like all the backroom staff, everyone who works here does a great job.

Especially with the schedule and the tournaments. Of course, there are some tournaments that you just can’t miss. You have to be at these tournaments, like some of the bigger tournaments, and then you’ve got to make sure as well that you’re still staying active as a team with VRS and so on.

So I think that’s one thing that’s kind of out of my hands as a player, but I think Vitality are constantly talking to us, what tournaments are coming up, how we want to schedule our breaks around it.

I think if you go from tournament to tournament and then you’re also going home and hitting practise the day after, and you’re just constantly CS, CS, it will end up with players burning out within a few months, and you don’t want that.

So I think Vitality or the management do a great job of making sure we put in breaks after certain tournaments when we’ve got that time to have it and just to kind of rest and recover during the season. Because, say, if we just keep going at it, it’s going to end very badly.

For us, I think Vitality do a great job, all the management does a great job at kind of scheduling those breaks, making sure that we can recover and rest between tournaments.

I’d say sometimes it’s unavoidable. I think at the start of the season, we’ve got a lot of tournaments back-to-back with maybe a couple of days at home, but that’s the CS schedule.

It’s kind of what we have to do as professionals, but at the same time, I think it’s about making the most of the time at home or between that.

I think we do a great job as players and as an organisation, that we give ourselves time and space to be able to recover and rest between tournaments, so we don’t have this space where we get burnt out and feel like we just don’t want to play.

So I think we managed it as well as we could last year.

Ever since I’ve been in Vitality, it’s always been a really good point that I’ve always had, that they give us time to be able to rest and to peak when it’s needed.

Going into the first tournament of the year at BLAST Bounty, how do you kind of gear up mentally for a tournament like that?

I mean, in the past year or so, it’s kind of changed, with obviously some tournaments, a portion of it being online.

It’s always a bit different for us as players after you’ve been playing LAN events for so long, and then obviously a lot of tournaments have changed to online, especially to start the year.

For us it’s important to start strong and to try and win as soon as we can, but I think for us, it’s also about making sure that we use this time to improve as a team, get back that feeling of CS, get back that feeling of playing team Counter-Strike and kind of get into the flow of things before we have the big one with Krakow coming up after as well.

So it’s also important as a team to prioritise events and prioritise where you want to peak. Like I say, BLAST is the perfect place for us to get back into the swing of things, get back to winning ways, and, of course, it’s a great opportunity to lift a trophy as well.

So I think the motivation is always high at the start of the season. No matter what you start with, whether it’s Blast Bounty or Krakow, I think as a player, you’re kind of, of course, it goes so quickly, but you’re always waiting and just ready to go for that first one, get back into competition again, and for us, it’s no different.

I think we’re super motivated to try to prove to ourselves that we still can play at a high level and get back to a strong year like we did last year. As a player, you never get tired of winning and lifting trophies. So I think when the opportunity is there, even with Blast Bounty, it’s the first part online, but you have to win those games to get to the LAN part.

So for us, it’s just as important as any other opportunity to win a trophy. So it’s also a priority.

https://twitter.com/BLASTPremier/status/2009704952617472496

So during the off-season, I noticed you were streaming with Smooya a lot. How was that in contrast to Team CS?

Yeah, I mean, it’s good fun. I think it’s something that I’ve kind of wanted to do for a little while now.

I think just throwing on the stream and interacting with all the fans and all the supporters online, I think it’s always fun.

And when you’ve got a fellow UK guy who also wants to hop on the streams, and he makes it entertaining in his own way as well. It’s a fun way to do it.

I think it’s been really fun to just to interact with everyone, also get back into the swing of things before the season starts, get playing some CS out of the break.

It’s something that I’m enjoying doing, and I’m going to try and do as much as I can outside of the tournaments and obviously be smart about it.

Like I said, I don’t want to burn out too much from CS, and, you know, I’ve got to keep my eyes on the Streamer of the Year award as well. [laughs]

But no, I think it’s been a fun thing, and I’m trying to do more and also get more UK guys on the stream as well from all different levels as well.

So that’ll be the plan in the future, just to get some different UK players on stream and have some fun with some FaceIt.

You had quite a lot of viewership, I think you had over 5,000 people, so it’s quite a lot, right?

Yeah, I was quite surprised, honestly.

When I first started streaming, I was just like, ‘The viewers, it doesn’t really matter. I just do it for fun,’ but I think the support has been crazy.

I think I had the best duo the other day when I was playing with Apex and Smooya. I think in the middle of the season, that could be a fun duo to stream with.

But we’ll see, I think a lot of the viewers enjoy it as well, just seeing some of the other Vitality guys, seeing some of the other streamers, everyone enjoys it in the chat.

So yeah, it’s been crazy, the support, I didn’t really expect it, but it’s been a nice surprise, that’s for sure.

https://twitter.com/smooyacs/status/2006709505078472986

“I think all the teams anti-strat and put in so much preparation now, it’s kind of to the point where you’re also second-guessing. You have to do a lot of mind games in terms of what you switch up as a team. What do you add? What do you take away?” – mezii on Tier 1 preparation

Looking at Vitality’s process, when you know you’re going to play a certain opponent, how are you preparing for that?

To be honest, we always try to prepare as much as we can for most teams. Of course, sometimes it can vary, the way teams play or the way they set up.

Sometimes preparation isn’t needed as much, like I think some teams are very specific, I think some of the IGLs, like when you look at players or teams like FaZe with Karrigan, I think it can be tough to prepare for a team like that because he’s so good at being able to switch things up and switch the pace and he micromanages so well where it’s so tough to say, ‘OK, this team, they play like this, this, this, and it’s like a book.’

I think it’s really hard to prepare for teams like that. So for certain changes, we always have to adapt as a team and kind of be aware of it.

I think one thing that I’ve realised as a person who’s played Tier 2, Tier 3 and also Tier 1 now is, as Vitality, we play against all these top teams so much that you kind of remember the preparation from before, or you get used to playing them.

So, I wouldn’t say the preparation becomes easy, but you get more familiar with how they like to play and how you will kind of match up with them and so on.

So I think when you’re a Tier 2, 3 team and you don’t get the opportunity to play against some of these teams, it’s kind of harder because you’re not as familiar with the game. You have to put more time into preparation and so on.

I think all the teams anti-strat and put in so much preparation now, it’s kind of to the point where you’re also second-guessing.

You have to do a lot of mind games in terms of what you switch up as a team. What do you add? What do you take away?

There are so many mind games that go into that, and it can be really tough because some games for us, the preparation has been incredible. Like everything we say, okay, this is the plan, and it works so well, and some games, it can be really tough, where they’re counteracting something that we did, or they’re one step ahead.

The mind games and the preparation in tournaments now have got to a really crazy level where it can be really tough to prepare for some teams, but some teams also are very stubborn in their ways and like to play certain ways.

And it also works for them as well, when teams play with that conviction, that confidence in their own game, it can also be tough in certain ways as well.

So, I think CS at the moment, I think it’s been like that for a little while, but the details and all those preparation things, it’s 101 different things that are going on, which can be really tough to prepare for as well.

You mentioned Karrigan being difficult to read. What other opposition has been difficult in that sense?

I think, if you look at the end of 2025, FURIA were a team that was always difficult to play against and go up against.

I think on some maps, like Overpass, towards the end, we felt a bit more comfortable, even though they were one of the best teams on it. I think we kind of felt like we were in a position where we knew how they like to play, and we tried to come up with our plan.

But I think overall FURIA were pretty tough to go up against.

I think we played them on Overpass a few times before we ended up beating them, and it was really tough to go against them. We tried to have this plan of different executes, different ways of defaulting, and they were just kind of doing the opposite, and it was really tough to go up against because they were constantly switching things up.

Like I say, sometimes you can go too far into the anti-strat against them, and they’re doing something simple, and you’re trying to do X, Y, Z, but sometimes the answer is right in front of you.

But yeah, I would say FURIA because I think we, of course, I think the first time maybe it was Pro League where we played them, and we beat them, and then after that we couldn’t beat them, and it was really tough to go up against them.

It was obviously close games, but I think they do a really good job as individuals or as a team. I don’t know how they do it, but after switching just the smaller details, they don’t need to change overall game plans, but I think they do a good job at switching small details, which makes it hard for you as a team to get the full picture on how they like to play.

“If you’re not looking at XTQZZZ as the coach of the year, then I think you’ve been watching a different game because there’s no way anyone can go against what he’s been able to do with this team.” – mezii on Vitality coach, Rémy ‘XTQZZZ’ Quoniam

In terms of people discussing the HLTV Awards, we’ve seen some coaches be more popular or receive more acclaim. From the outside, we don’t get to see what happens in a team. From your point of view, what do you think XTQZZZ’s kind of strengths are, and how would you celebrate him?

I’ve definitely seen a lot of stuff over Twitter and stuff, but I think the results speak for themselves.

I think Remy, XTQZZZ, does an incredible job with our team of, first off, making sure that each individual is comfortable in the game, constantly asking questions on how we feel on this map, on this position, coming up with new ideas.

I think one thing Remy does as well that’s really great is that he comes up with a lot of new ideas and a lot of ways of innovating certain positions or new grenades that we can add to a position that can create new ideas.

So I think in-game, he has a really smart mind for CS.

He really knows the way he likes to play CS and the way that we can improve in our CS, and I think that’s one great thing that maybe a lot of people don’t see, because of course, they’re not in the backstage or in the practise room when he’s coming up with these ideas or helping me as an individual, as an anchor or on T-sides in how I can improve my play or how I can add this to my game.

Of course, I haven’t had huge experience with loads of coaches, but for him, I think one thing he does incredibly well in games, especially stage games… I’ve never seen it so much where a coach takes a timeout, and he calls this one thing, you’re like, ‘Okay, let’s see how this goes.’

The amount of success, if he calls, ‘Okay, guys, we’re going to do this, this,’ and there’s so much success, and the way he calls it, there’s always so much confidence.

I think the respect and the trust everyone has in him when he makes those calls, or in the timeout, in what he sees and how we can improve on it, whether it’s communication and so on…

I think there’s so much trust and respect there in everything that he says. Everyone’s listening, and we’re so on board with what he says.

The number of times he’s called a certain strategy or a certain way we should be playing when things aren’t going well, and we can switch the momentum in the game, I think it’s happened so many times, it feels like.

Going back to what so many people say online and so much on social media, I think, of course, people don’t see, like you say, what people do behind the scenes, but I think a lot of people also maybe try to be a little bit out there and try to be a bit different by putting other names forward.

But I think when a team wins nine trophies, and we win both majors, I think if you’re not looking at XTQZZZ as the coach of the year, then I think you’ve been watching a different game because there’s no way anyone can go against what he’s been able to do with this team.

And where we were in 2024 to 2025, it’s not just us five players that are able to just win these trophies; it’s everyone, and XTQZZZ is a huge part of that, in being able to make sure that we find success in the team.

https://twitter.com/HLTVawards/status/2010088394505027756

Outside of XTQZZZ, who’s coming up with ideas in the game?

I think, of course, when you’ve got someone like apEX, he’s always going to be one of the bigger voices in the team. I think as well, his intelligence and his IQ in the game is so high as well. So I think he’s always coming up with ideas.

But a thing I’ve also worked on throughout 2025 was being that second voice as well, trying to help apEX, trying to help XTQZZZ with that side of things as well, because it can be so hard.

I’ve had this experience as well as an IGL, where you’re kind of, not stuck, but maybe you need something to feed off, some energy to feed off from the other players as well, to try and come up with the ideas, and that’s something that I try to work on as an individual to try and help Dan [apEX] with those things as well, and that’s something I felt like worked this year.

And I work very closely with apEX as well on a lot of the game plans or a lot of plans in-game and things that we can do, ideas, and also just try to give that extra energy in the game as well.

I think it’s something that can definitely still improve them, but that’s usually how it works.

I think, of course, apEX and XTQZZZ will always have the most to say, but I think it’s important within the game when there’s no timeouts or when XTQZZZ can’t talk, especially at Majors, it’s important that other players can give their ideas as well.

I think everyone does it in their own ways and tries to give ideas, but I think that you kind of need that consistency with another player. Most teams have the second IGL or the second voice, and that’s something that I try to give to the team and try to find my impact in those areas as well.

“He’s one of the most annoying players to play against. Before he joined us, I really didn’t like playing against ropz because he might have five different plays, but you never know which one he’s going to do at a certain time. It’s so tough to play against him because he’s so intelligent in the game.” – mezii on Robin ‘ropz’ Kool

When it comes to ropz, he has 1000 variations of little nerdy plays that he likes to make. Is that something which is communicated in the game, or does he just go off his own initiative?

I think one thing is that ropz is obviously always very calculated.

Like you say, he has a lot of these different ideas, and he knows all these timings and these small details about the game, and he’s always preparing very well for his games individually, on what he wants to be able to do within the game.

He definitely communicates it across, whether it’s me on the bombsite, or whether it’s on T-side, where he wants to switch things up and say to apEX, these are his ideas.

I think with a player like that, like it’s so calculated, he kind of plays off how the game is going. He reads the game very well, so he has to adapt within the game, but he has to do that, and I think he is always, in the game, communicating that across.

I think, of course, he’s one of the quieter guys within the team, like in-game, because that’s his role. He’s kind of on his own a lot and towards different positions, but I think he does a great job of adapting.

People have seen it so many times throughout the games where he’s making crazy plays, or somehow he’s behind someone.

He’s one of the most annoying players to play against. Before he joined us, I really didn’t like playing against ropz because he might have five different plays, but you never know which one he’s going to do at a certain time.

It’s so tough to play against him because he’s so intelligent in the game. He knows exactly how he wants to play.

One of the best things is that he’s so calm, and he doesn’t really care about the time in the game.

Maybe it’s a major final where he needs to make a play, where some players would be scared to do something, but for ropz, he’s so confident in how he likes to play, so he’s going to go ahead with it, and it pays off so much and it helps us so much throughout this year where he’s able to find those plays.

There’s been so much that I’ve been able to learn from him as a player as well.

https://twitter.com/HLTVawards/status/2010112910756806978

You’ve secured 12th in the HLTV Top 20 of 2025, been interviewed by the BBC, and received praise from London Major, Sadiq Khan. How do you feel about receiving so much individual praise in 2025?

Yeah, I mean, it’s been really crazy, everything that’s happened over the last year. It’s something I never really expected.

Of course, when you’re coming from other teams into Vitality and the expectations, I think, change, and you go through 2024, which was obviously a tough year, and then 2025, which was just insane.

You get all this positive publicity, you get all these interviews. As an individual, it’s crazy to think that this is what’s happening.

Like I said, being on the BBC, having all these interviews, it’s insane. It’s so great to have us on, just trying to put more eyes on esports, and especially esports in the UK, and trying to find more ways to help it grow.

So as an individual, I’m always happy to try to find those ways to try and help the UK as much as I can, because, of course, it’s nice as an individual to be able to be that guy that’s trying to help UK esports and trying to find the success and be accomplished, but it would be even more rewarding if we can try and find some other UK players or the UK organisations to try and get into esports and try and support it that way.

I think all these interviews and all this publicity obviously helps, but I’m trying to find ways to try to help as much as I can wherever I can to try and help esports grow as well.

Because I think it’s something that would be nice to see if we can see more UK players or more UK teams come through the ranks.

That would be the main goal, and that’s why I think it’s so nice to see all that support after 2025, whether it’s interviews, whether it’s fans, or whether it’s other UK players messaging on Twitter and Instagram, it’s always so cool to see.

And it’s one of the reasons why we do what we do as well. So it’s, it’s really cool.

https://twitter.com/HLTVawards/status/2010086650714722616

I’m sure you’ve been keeping up with transfers. So far, is there anything that’s caught your eye?

I mean, of course, it’s always gonna be interesting to see how Spirit do. Having the new IGL with magixx, it’s going to be interesting. I think he’s got the personality and the mind for it.

To see how they play, maybe they change. I think they’re one of the teams that have played a similar style for a long time, and they have the individuals who are obviously incredibly talented as well, so that’s going to be cool to see.

But, of course, good luck to 100 Thieves, with what they’ve gotta do; a lot of grinding for them. A lot of tournaments, they’re probably gonna have to play to gain some points.

But yeah, it’s gonna be interesting as well with that team. I think they’ve got a good mix of experience and also young talent. So yeah, I’m excited to see how 100 Thieves play as well.