When Vitality dropped dupreeh in favour of flameZ shortly after winning the BLAST.tv Paris Major, many were confused as to why a team would make the decision to break up a Major winning roster so shortly after winning the event,
However, now six months into his tenure with the team and with three trophies already added to their cabinet, every question has been left answered.
A young star who continues to impress at every event he attends, he and mezii have reinvigorated this Vitality team and will possibly be the main reasons as to why they stay at the very top for a long time coming.
Before Spring Groups, we sat down with flameZ to discuss the move for mezii, proving the doubters wrong, and the future star recently signed by OG.
2023 was a good year for you; you went to new heights in your career and ended up with a few trophies. How are you looking back on it?
Well, I had one goal for 2023 when I ended 2022 with OG and that was to win a tournament. I didn't care who it was with, I just wanted to win one to know how it feels. I accomplished that, so that's the most important thing to me.
I'm really happy that I accomplished it alongside a fellow Israeli player in Spinx, and many good guys as well. I'm very happy with how things went, I had a sloppy half a year from January to June and then a really high point with Vitality.
Many people thought it was brave of Vitality to make the change to add you just after winning the Major, do you feel like you've justified the move in your first six months and proved any doubters wrong?
I think that the move itself, people didn't doubt it as much because of the switch to CS2, it made sense to bring a young guy in and I think Dupreeh was playing really well before and after the kick.
The move itself may not have made sense if you're looking at it from the side, but it was good when we won Gamers8 and it assured the people within the team and the coaching staff that it was a good move because Vitality could still win trophies.
I think us winning a tournament justified it with Mezii as well, that it's a good pick up I mean.
You mentioned Mezii, what's he added to the team?
I think he's added a freshness. Playing with a new player, and specifically him, we love the English accent and I've said it in many interviews that the English accent is really funny and we have some rounds where in practice they could get sloppy in practice or be demotivating but him speaking sometimes just makes the difference.
Also, in games he is really chill and he can be aggressive, which has added more to our game. Mezii coming in has changed the vibe, people are fresher and more motivated. We've won the two events we've played with him so far so I don't think it could feel better.
How does he differ from Magisk?
Well, outside of the server William [mezii] is more calm, he's less talkative. With Magisk he was very experienced so he would chime in on almost everything to share his opinion which was really good most of the time. That's the difference outside that's related to CS.
In-game it's just that he's more aggressive than Magisk in his general play. If you tell him to hold W he will hold W, and I think that's the difference between the two of them. Magisk gets the game tactically and teamwise and Mezii does as well.
On a team level, Vitality was the best team in 2023, have you spoken about 2024 at all yet? Are you hoping to match that level or do you think it will be harder to win as many trophies given the new teams that are around now?
I think it's less about the other teams and more about the fact that people will come for us because they know that we are the number one team right now. Every game is going to be tough and we need to be really sharp if we want to stay on top.
The second thing is that the only time we've ever talked about 2024 was in Abu Dhabi and we said that it would be important to win there to come into 2024 with confidence. Soon we'll have a boot camp where we will have a meeting about the year ahead and our goals making sure what we want to achieve so that our goals can align and we're all on the same page.
In terms of those other teams, the likes of Falcons, Liquid, and Spirit, what are your thoughts on them?
I think they're all pretty good, and I'm curious to see how Falcons play because Snappi has new players and I think they're really good those other players, it's just a big change, and I think they'll be really good at the start, but who knows, they could be really really solid after it.
Do you have any goals of your own for 2024? The Major? The HLTV top 20?
I thought about it during the HLTV Awards Show, I was thinking about it being my name on the stage and wanting to get it there, so I think that's a solid goal.
I could get there if I keep my form high for the year, but I don't have an intense feeling of the fact I have to be there. The way I see it is that if ZywOo and Spinx are going to be up there in the top five, then I'm doing my job correctly. But at the same time, if I'm going to be in one of the spots, I also can be doing my job correctly, it will just be harder in my current spots.
It's a possibility, it's just not my main focus right now.
HeavyGod has recently made the same move you made by going from Endpoint to OG; what are you expecting from him this year?
I think many have seen already in the Major qualifiers that he's absolutely carrying OG in some sense. I think they understand that they have a gem that they can work with and work around, so now they're going to get him in better positions and situations and I think they'll do that well.
HeavyGod himself is a really nice guy, he's going to be good and he's always going to sacrifice himself for the team. But I think, above that, you have the extra things and he has all the things that are required to be good on a team and he does it all. I have high hopes for him myself and many in the tier one scene might not have their eye on him still, but soon he will show promising stuff.
Is he the next big Israeli star?
Maybe, I think so. I don't know if he will do it with OG or another team, but I think right now, with the situation that he joined Endpoint and then OG like I did, I think so.
The coaches at OG are also more experienced with sharpening the young players on the team and preparing you for everything, so I think he will join the stars sooner or later.
Endpoint and OG now both have decent track records of bringing up and refining talent, what would you say about the two organisations and how they helped your development?
I think specifically with Endpoint, the management is really nice. When I say management I mean like the CEO and the coaching staff that I worked with, I can't say about the current coaching staff and what they're about but when I was there it was like a home. I joined them and after a week it felt like I was playing with friends and not colleagues.
It's a really good home for young players. When you join Endpoint you're not really shining in any way, maybe just in FPL, so when you come in even if you're in a pressure spot you don't feel pressured. You just play your game and see that you are welcome either way.
There's no huge pressure from the organisation and you don't feel like you're getting scammed in any way by them, they're not gonna screw you.
With some tier two orgs when I was getting into the scene, they would scam the players with salary and contract clauses. When I joined Endpoint I just took a lawyer who was a friend of mine and all of the current players told me I'd get the same salary as them and to not worry about it.
It's really easy to join them and not feel overly pressured or hyped by the team. You progress with them, and I think that's a crucial part when you're young and you want to build yourself.
I think with OG, which was a much different team to the one HeavyGod is joining, I had very experienced players with good individual skill, so I think the main difference is that he will need to push himself further for OG to win than I had to, which might result in him becoming a really really good player or pressure him onto a downwards path.
OG themselves, the organisation is really nice like Endpoint. They don't pressure you so much, and although it can be healthy sometimes, they don't pressure you as much and you have good people behind you at all times.
I'm not sure if I like this OG roster so much, but they have the right tools to succeed if they do some good stuff and pull some responsibility away from the players, it can be good.
You've been handed a pretty tough group at Spring Groups; how are you feeling about it?
Wait... who am I playing against?
OG is your opening game and then Astralis and Falcons are the other two teams.
Oh, okay.... oooh, okay [laughs] that's a good group.
Okay, so, I think we're comfortable in that group and it's cool that we play OG because that's my old team and it will be cool if we play Falcons because that's our old teammate and coach. I don't know how Astralis are, but I feel like they always come back the strongest after the player breaks.
It's just up to how we play. If we go in with good form then we can do good.
So, you'll be at Spring Final then?
Well... I think it's better to be humble, at least for myself at least. It's never easy in CS2 and you could lose to the worst-ranked in the tournament and you'll never know where it came from.
If we focus on ourselves then everyone can see that this roster is good enough, so if we do that I think that we will win. But if it doesn't showcase then I don't think the other teams will give us easy times intentionally.
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