ZywOo on Team Vitality's Victory at IEM Cologne 2024: "We Were Ready to Fight Against Anyone"

It’s been a long overdue victory for Team Vitality. Here stands a team that are no strangers to IEM Cologne, yet have been constantly evaded by the trophy. For as good as this team is, and for the high skill of each individual player, luck has rarely been on their side. But there was a dramatic shift on the evening of the IEM Cologne 2024 Grand Final. A showdown between Team Vitality and Natus Vincere had lit a fire across the entire LANXESS Arena, and every fan knew, regardless of allegiance, that they were in for some incredible Counter-Strike.

For Team Vitality, it seemed the stars had finally aligned. A combination of skill, determination, and a little bit of luck saw the French team finally emerge victorious in the legendary Cathedral of Counter-Strike.

Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut who, despite lifting the IEM Cologne 2024 trophy and walking away with his 20th HLTV MVP medal, was still self-reflective of his performance: “During this tournament, I could have played so much better, I swear. I made a lot of mistakes. There was a lot of frustration on my side,” he told us after the Grand Final. “Sometimes we have to talk with the coach or with apEX to release this.” 

Team Vitality’s IGL Dan “apEX” Madesclaire had been on the Grand Final stage in Cologne twice before, but had never secured that victory until this very tournament. In the eyes of onlookers, it was abundantly clear that Vitality was working with a winning formula throughout the show. “I think in this roster, if we play like we always do, as a team, as five individually but also with good chemistry, we can beat any team,” ZywOo continued.

“Because like we always say: we are a family. We spend more time together than with our family. So, we try to help each other, we try to not put too much pressure on each other. There is a lot of frustration sometimes, but we are like a family and we try to help each other. That's how we think in Vitality, and that's how we play as well. If all five of us are in a good mood, good energy, and if we bring this to the table, I think we are one of the best teams in the world. So we just need to remind ourselves of this feeling, and just keep going.” 

Vitality’s winning roster consisted of mostly the same line-up as 2023: apEX, ZywOo, Lotan “Spinx” Giladi, Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, but with the addition of UK player William “mezii” Merriman, and coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam. On the whole the roster is relatively new, minus apEX and ZywOo, but watching the team in the immediate moments after winning you would have thought they’d been playing together their whole life.

“The team played amazingly in this tournament. We are ready for anything, ready to fight against any opponent,” ZywOo said. “We played against good teams: MOUZ, FaZe, and now NAVI. We were ready to fight against anyone. I'm really proud of the team because we finally lifted the trophy this year. It was our goal. It was a beautiful moment.”

With two iconic teams taking to the stage in the Grand Final, it was one of those moments you knew you’d be in for a long evening. NAVI themselves had enjoyed one hell of a year, having won both the PGL Major in Copenhagen and been crowned the first ever CS winners of the Esports World Cup. And it showed, with the Ukrainian team putting up an incredible opposition fight.

Even before the match began, high-quality Counter-Strike was a sure guarantee. But whether the players knew that: “To be honest, no. We are never thinking about this, because we never know what can happen,” ZywOo explained. “Before starting the Finals, we wanted to play in our own way, with our DNA, because the Final is always different. Even though we say it's a special day, it's a normal performance. It's always tough to do it in the Finals. So we try our best during this game. It wasn't perfect every time, but we always came back. We never give up. That's what we showed.”

In the arena, Vitality’s fan presence was near-unmatched, save for NAVI’s. Each team had a group of fans occupying almost an entire stand on opposite ends of the venue. The Golden Hornets, all dressed in matching jerseys, make it their mission to support Team Vitality throughout Europe. With orchestrated chants, drums, and a massive flag depicting apEX’s face, you’d have thought we were back in Paris.

This victory for Vitality was immensely important for the team, yes, but for the fans it was an experience they would never forget. “They didn't travel for nothing,” said ZywOo. “I don't remember who, but they said in Cologne there were most likely NAVI fans. But with [our fans], I couldn't feel that. They were screaming a lot. They gave everything, so they can take 5% of the win today. Because without them, maybe we would have lost. They gave a lot of support. They gave a lot of things. So I just want to say thanks to them. We're going to maybe have a drink with them tonight and just enjoy it.”

An evening of celebrations was clearly on the cards for Vitality. “Yeah, but we need to go fast because the bar is waiting for us!”

We'll be seeing plenty more of Team Vitality in the upcoming BLAST Premier World Final, and IEM Katowice 2025. See you there!