“It was just flawless for me and for the team” – ZywOo on his IEM Kraków Grand Final performance

Esports News UK spoke to Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut following a historic Grand Final masterclass that led Vitality to victory at IEM Kraków 2026.

The Frenchman reflected on his own startling performance, which saw ZywOo dismantle Furia across the Best of 5 contest.

ZywOo also took the time to reflect on what makes his teammates special, reflecting on how this Vitality roster has created its own era in Counter-Strike.

We can say this is one of the best teams ever. I think we can say we have been Astralis right now in terms of performance.

Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut

Back-to-back at this event. How does it feel to be in such a rare company?

Feeling amazing. Like you said, back-to-back.

Even though we, as a team, didn’t even talk about it. We just played our game by game, round by round; didn’t ever think about what could happen at the end.

Obviously, now it’s back-to-back. But before that, we were just so focused on what we can do, what we can improve in the game, that the result is coming.

That’s the back-to-back now. I’m just feeling amazing for that.

From an individual point of view, it’s your best big event of this level ever. I feel like you took over the game at times, especially on Inferno and at the end of Overpass. How were you feeling in the server?

It was just flawless for me, and for the team. Obviously, when I’m playing like this, the team will feel really confident to do things, to push or to take a duel or anything.

I will try to do that in any tournament, I would say, but it’s always difficult to be at this level and to keep this level.

Obviously, it’s going to be a good thing to have and to keep. I’m looking forward to keeping this level. I’m really happy with what I’ve shown tonight and for this tournament.

I think it’s been a while since I felt he AWP like this.

Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut

You’ve become known as a great hybrid AWPer, but I really felt like today was the peak of ZywOo on the AWP. It reminded me of 2019 ZywOo. You were just taking the game by the scruff of the neck.

I think it’s been a while since I felt he AWP like this, to be honest. When I’m playing like this, it opens a lot of opportunities for the team to make some decisions. I think that’s why we played good as well.

I won’t say it’s only because of me, because it would be a lie, because we have so many team things as well. But when I’m playing like this to unlock some rounds or to push myself, it’s easier for my team to be better.

Now, I will try to keep this level with the AWP, and my team will feel good as well.

Just a word about FURIA. Obviously, apEX won this event for the first time last year; you prevented FalleN from winning it for the first time. How much do you respect the FURIA team?

Obviously, it’s always tough to play against them. As you can see on Mirage, we were winning 9-3, and they managed to take the comeback, I would say pretty easily.

We maybe took the game a bit too easy at the end, because we were up 9-3, and we didn’t talk to each other. We were bad at refragging. We took some entry frags.

All this combined was tough for us to have good team play, I would say.

After this Mirage, we were a bit frustrated about the way we were playing. We know how good we are when we play as a team.

On the last stream map, we played as much as we wanted. We just showed that we are good as a team.

I think everyone will remember this grand final for your performance, but flameZ, mezii, and apEX all had amazing moments. What’s it like to play with them on the server?

We can say this is one of the best teams ever. I think we can say we have been Astralis right now in terms of performance because we know we can beat anyone.

We can face anyone. We can win any tournament when we are playing at this high level. Now it’s been a pleasure to have this team because it’s really rare.

It’s really rare to find four guys who match the energy, to match the team play, to match everything. It’s a pleasure to play with these kinds of guys. These kind of four GOATs in the team in their own role, so it’s good.

About apEX, you can see his leadership, the way he’s pushing us to be better every day, to push us to be better as a team. That’s the reason why we are good right now as a team.

Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut

Throughout the tournament, I’ve asked your teammates what they appreciate about each other and how they inspire each other. Could you talk about your teammates and say what you appreciate about each of them?

About apEX, you can see his leadership, the way he’s pushing us to be better every day, to push us to be better as a team. That’s the reason why we are good right now as a team. He’s always pushing us to the best.

He’s a bit too much perfectionist, I would say. That’s also his style, to be like this.

Robin, ropz, you know him. He’s one of the greatest players who ever touched this game.

He’s a real critic, the way he’s thinking about the game, the way he’s always trying to push himself to work harder, so it’s always a good feeling.

flameZ, he’s always a guy you can trust in the game. You know he’s going to go crazy, but he’s a good crazy guy, so it’s always good to have him. He’s always trying to find ideas for the team and how he can also improve himself.

mezii, I think ropz, mezii and flameZ are pretty much the same right now. They’re trying to find the best way for them to work, and mezii is pretty much the same. He’s working a lot on himself and as a team as well.

I would say he’s kind of the second caller, but in terms of strategy, he’s always trying to find the new stuff, always the new thing for us. So it’s always good to have this in the team.

IEM KRAKOW CHAMPIONS🤩🏆 pic.twitter.com/TuSNcuN3zu

— MEZII' (@kingmezii) February 8, 2026

Obviously, you’ll want to win every tournament you’re part of, but is there any specific goal going forward?

We don’t have any expectation to win. It’s just game by game, round by round, tournament by tournament.

We’re not thinking about what we can achieve at the end of the year because we know it’s going to be a fast year, so we don’t have time for that.