A ninth-place Summer split finish saw Team Vitality end a forgettable 2024 season on a whimper. Now, additions of rookies Naak Nako and Czajek in the solo lanes see the side try to mould to the vision of coaches Mac and Pad, joining their long-term jungle target Lyncas and veteran bot lane duo of Carzzy and Hylissang on the lineup
After the announcement of the 2025 roster, Esports.net was able to speak to Carzzy about the changes, getting his thoughts on the upcoming season and revealing the outcome of Vitality’s early scrims during Worlds.
Was there a consideration that you might leave VIT this off-season? Or was it a non-starter given you’re already under contract until 2026?
Carzzy: No, I knew that I’m going to stay in Vitality this year for sure because my contract is 2 more years. And usually on the second year of the contract, nothing really happens, nobody is buying out other people anymore because teams don’t have any money. So usually when you’re contracted, you’re just in the team and there is nothing happening.
What are your thoughts on the newcomers Naak Nako and Czajek?
Carzzy: I’m excited because they are rookies and they’re very motivated, so I expect them to work really hard. I expect them to work hard so I don’t really have to, you know, so I can take it a little bit easier. Just joking, of course, for legal reasons.
I just like playing with new players because when they try hard it motivates me and then I can play better myself.
Lee Jones: You said on The Sack Down that the team works best when everyone trusts Hylissang.
Do you think it helps to have more rookies, sort of like a blank slate, to help build a team around Hyli’s play style?
Carzzy: He already created a really good bond with the new players. I’m really excited to see how it goes because I have high expectations and he is happy right now with them. And I’m pretty sure that he’s going to be happy because so far they were hard-working, open to any criticism and they’re willing to learn. So I’m just excited, you know, not much else to say.
Image credit: Riot Games
Lee Jones: You also said in that interview that your and Hyli’s relationship is like a couple at this point, and now you’re heading into your third year as his lane partner.
What has it been like playing together for so long, have you noticed any specific stages to the partnership?
We know each other really, really well at this point, so it’s kind of comforting to play with each other because we know exactly what to expect from ourselves and we know how to work with each other. So I think this year is going to be the best so far for us.
I think we suit each other well personality-wise and gameplay-wise, so it’s always a lot of fun to play. Especially when we play good, the game becomes a lot of fun. But even when we are not the best, like we do a lot of crazy stuff. So it’s never boring, you know?
Vitality started some early scrims last month to take advantage of the teams coming to Europe for Worlds. How did that go?
Carzzy: Actually we did pretty well. I was surprised because we improved and we played kind of well I’d say, better than the previous team that we had against the other Worlds teams. So it gave me a lot of hope and it was a nice time that we spent together.
Image credit: Riot Games
Was there any team you scrimmed that surprised you in any way?
Probably Flyquest. We scrimmed against them on our final day of scrims and we got completely destroyed by them. We scrimmed them at the beginning and it was fine, and then at the end, they stomped us. So they improved so much during Worlds.
What will the aims be for VIT in 2025? Given G2 is taking some risks on their roster it feels like titles will be more up for grabs next year.
Of course the aim is to win, but the main goal for me and I think the teammates is to go to Worlds. Especially since it’s in China this year, I really want to go back to China. So that’s the main focus, you know, go to Worlds and go to China.Is that for the clubs again?
Yeah, for the clubs, we need to go explore Chinese clubs again.And remember it this time?
[Laughs] I don’t think I will.
Of the other 2025 LEC rosters, is there one that caught your eye?
I think GIANTX might be top four contenders actually, and I think Karmine Corp as well is a really strong team. I still think that G2 are going to win it all. KOI have Jojopyun, they will actually be better as well. The LEC is kinda stacked, except for like, on paper, us, Heretics and SK Gaming are probably the worst teams. But we will have to see how it goes of course.
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