Vitality on top of the world!

It doesn't really get any better than that. Vitality have elevated their own legend throughout 2025. With 7 trophies out of 8 participations, including IEM Katowice, the Grand Slam and a Major, they have left nothing but crumbs for the rest of the scene. We are living in the Vitality era. Let us dive back into the madness.

The "ropz" factor

There is plenty of praises to distribute in the Vitality camp and we will get to it. However, we have to start with what was undeniably the deciding factor. The arrival of ropz changed everything. If the first tournament (BLAST Bounty S1 Finals) was shaky, history would show that it was just about finding his place and for the rest of the team to adapt to a new piece. Once that - very short - period passed, ropz evidently blossomed into a difference maker for the team.

The beauty of what ropz brought to the table is multidimensional. Firstly, as a player, ropz put together a world class first season in 2025. His sheer numbers make him one of the five best players in the world without much of a debate. His reliablity, on the CT side, allowed him to douse his opponents with continuous multikills throughout the events. On the T side, his flanks have been sharp, aptly varying aggression and patience and finding the right balance to be almost unpredictable for his opponent. Tactically, his quality and independence also benefitted apEX's leadership greatly. When you have a player as trustworthy as ropz, you know that you do not have to micromanage him and you can devote your ressources to what truly matters. On top of that, solutions will be brought to you, round after round, by a mind as sharp as ropz. Finally, gambles and stacks are easier to call when ropz is capable of beating the odds, being left alone in tricky situations, but somehow being capable of turning things around on his own. There's no denying it, ropz was a blessing for Vitality. Talk about a win-win situation.

mezii's improvement

If you've been around Counter-Strike for more than a year, then you surely lived through the times in which the community was asking for mezii's head. As Vitality struggled to put together convincing results in 2024, mezii felt like the perfect scapegoat. To be fair, his output was actually problematic. The least we can say is that he's corrected the course.

Two ways mezii's been particularly contributing for Vitality; pistol rounds and CT sides. We believe mezii might even be underrated when it comes to his pistol prowesses. By the eye-test, the British anchor might just be one of the most precise pistol player there is in the game. His first bullet accuracy is deafening. More importantly, his reliability as an anchor has helped turning Vitality's defense into a fortress. One has to remember that some adjustements were needed to accomodate ropz. For example, on Inferno, mezii had to leave the big pit position to transition towards B, teaming up with flameZ with apEX's help from time to time. On Nuke, after having teammed up with Spinx for a while, he had to rework an entire duo with flameZ, ropz logically taking position towards ramp. All of these challenges were handled with brio by mezii. How many times have we seen him win rounds on his own on Mirage for example, left to his own devices, with very little back up and ressources from his team. He is the definition of a low maintenance / valuable return anchor.

ZywOo continues to make history

Did you think a Vitality article would not mention ZywOo? Ah! We can play the game of "where did it come from", but by all accounts 2025 has been historical for the best player in the world. Some say his ego was slightly hurt after his #3 rank earned in the HLTV Top20 players list of 2024. As a precision, this was the first time, in six years of professional career, that ZywOo was left out of the top2, yep. Evidently, ropz's arrival and all the advantages attached to it helped ease the pressure on ZywOo's shoulders to continously make the difference. Paradoxically, it seems to have freed him to be even more impactful. That's how it works sometimes. Confident in his team's ability to turn a round on its head, ZywOo has been more proactive, aggressive and daring.

ZywOo's 2025 so far boasts a 87,5% MVP medal ratio per event. 8 tournaments attended, 7 titles for 7 accolades. The man does not share. Currently, the conversation about who's the best player in the world is a topical monologue. Nobody even comes close to ZywOo. The accolades have piled up in the last few months with the prodigy earning his 27th MVP medal, his second Major MVP, his first Grand Slam and his second Major title. All of that in just six months. The sniper currently has taken an inhuman lead in the race for HLTV #1 of 2025. Earning this honor would make him the first player in history to be a four-times best player in the world. As time passes, the infamous G.O.A.T debate loses its fire. ZywOo is quietly putting everyone's doubts to bed. He is the greatest player to ever touch the game.

A comprehensive map pool

One does not create an era without a ridiculously solid map pool and Vitality did not escape that rule. To able to resist the high level preparation of every other teams in the circuit and to withstand, series after series, all the adjustments made by your rivals, you need flexibility in the veto. Vitality worked really hard to close any gap strategically and the numbers show it.

These are Vitality's numbers throughout 2025. First remark, having four maps out of six players with 83%+ win rate is incredible. The Nuke / Dust2 / Inferno was a bermuade triangle for anyone willing to test them. Even though Inferno marked the rare few misshaps of Vitality at the Major, when it was necessary (i.e: In the Grand Final) Vitality corrected course and put The MongolZ in their place. More importantly, apEX never let Train, the latest addition, become a possible target for punish pick. As we can see, even if ZywOo and his crew did not play the map too much, they mostly won it when they did. This dissuaded a lot of people to go and pick Train against Vitality, giving them a great advantage in any veto situation. The only wonder we have, watching these numbers, is why other teams did not attempt to punish Vitality on Anubis a little more. This could have been the only "weakness" (used liberally here) in this otherwise fortress of a map pool. This might be a lead to follow in the future for whoever wants to kick Vitality off the throne of Counter-Strike.

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