2025 has been an unbelievable yr for Group Vitality. A win at IEM Katowice noticed them full the trifecta of Cologne, Katowice, and a Main, while their wins on the BLAST Austin Main and the StarLadder Budapest Main have seen them develop into the primary back-to-back Main winners because the legandary Astralis staff of 2018-2019.
Add on the very fact they received seven occasions in a row within the first half of the yr, and ended the yr on 9 occasions received in complete, it’s arduous to argue as their British star, William “mezii” Merriman calls them “one of the best staff of all time.”
The Biggest Yr in CS Historical past
That stated, Vitality’s yr hasn’t been with out criticism. Following their successful streak and first Main trophy of the yr, occasion wins turned more and more arduous to return by. They first missed out on a second IEM Cologne win, and losses within the finals of BLAST Open London and IEM Chengdu to G2 and FURIA appeared to sign that the Vitality period had come to an finish.
Nevertheless, it’s criticism that Mezii tells esports.internet he feels is unwarranted. He stated: “We made so many semi-finals and made some finals. Some we should always have received, in London we should always have crushed G2, nevertheless it didn’t occur.
“However I knew on this staff, we have been so assured that if we have been only a bit extra linked like we have been within the first a part of the yr, if we listened a bit higher to one another, then I used to be so assured that we’d get again to this degree.”
Given the extent of competitiveness in elite-level Counter-Strike lately, it’s nonetheless fairly arduous to fathom the precise weight of Vitality’s achievement. In a world the place Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov and Danil “donk” Kryshkovets all the time lie in wait, Vitality has nonetheless managed to place itself on a degree with Astralis, a staff so dominant that it appeared nobody would ever match them.
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A giant purpose for that, although, is the power of their stars. Though there may be an argument for m0NESY being one of the best AWPer on the earth, and donk is actually one of the best opener on the earth, Vitality have one of the best IGL in Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, greatest lurker in Robin “ropz” Kool, and one of the best participant in Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. Even mezii, the quiet and unassuming Brit, has introduced himself as an elite anchor, the mandatory glue that each one elite groups can’t hope to win with out.
“I’ve by no means been somebody who targeted a lot on the person points or targeted an excessive amount of on being one of the best in my position,” he stated. “However I stated to myself after going to the HLTV Awards final yr and seeing all these different gamers and all these different groups successful every thing, it made me say ‘this must be our time and me individually, I have to be a part of this, discovering my affect and stepping up as that second voice.’ So yeah, possibly for this yr I’ve been one of the best.”
As CS2 heads in the direction of its 2026 season, and as Vitality reminded everybody simply how robust they’re with their dominant grand ultimate victory over FaZe Clan, they could nicely go down within the historical past books as the best staff of all time. Nevertheless, with a busy rostermania anticipated, they’ll have to keep up their present degree in the event that they wish to stay one of the best staff proper now.
