Vitality showed up in full force at IEM Katowice 2025 and they are already through to the semi-finals. We had the chance to speak with William “mezii” Merriman on media day.
Bruno: First of all, congratulations on qualifying.
How would you rate your performance as a team so far in the event?
mezii: Thanks. I think our performance has been pretty strong. I think we had a bit of everything. Obviously against Virtus.pro it was much more clean, it was a bit of an easy win. But then when you look back when we played FaZe, it was definitely a bit of a crazy game. I think a lot of viewers probably enjoyed watching this game, but for us it was a very stressful game. But I think overall we’ve been playing very well and, of course, we always look to improve our game. We know going into playoffs it kind of turns into a different tournament. It’s on stage, it’s always a bit different. But I think for us, we’ve been playing well and I’m happy with how we’ve played so far.
Bruno: I wanted to ask about the FaZe game, because you dominated them on the first map, on the second map it looked like it was going to be more of the same, but then the ropz team kill happened and it sort of turned everything around and it was a close game from after that.
Was it FaZe powering up? Did you lose control? What happened?
mezii: I think especially on the second map of Anubis we… I think we had a pretty strong T-side, we were 6-0 up and we could have got more rounds, but it still was like 8-4 I think. And then we won the pistol on the CT side, and it’s 9-4 and we’re like… we always know how tough CT Anubis is. I think a lot of people have been talking about it, it’s really hard to play CT side Anubis, I think it definitely needs some changes. But I think it was definitely us losing that game in comparison to FaZe playing the better game, to be honest. I think after watching the game we had a lot of rounds where we could have done a lot better. We should have closed that game out and, unfortunately, we didn’t. They managed to outplay us on Anubis. But then going into the last map of Dust 2, we always knew FaZe on Dust 2, we always have close games, it’s always overtime. So we knew what was gonna happen and I’m just happy that we could close it out, because in a lot of games last year we couldn’t close out the close games and this time we managed to do it so I’m happy.
Credit: ESL Faceit Group | Adam Lakomy
Bruno: Obviously, ropz joined your team instead of Spinx. I wanted to ask:
What’s the biggest difference between ropz and Spinx inside the server and how they work with your team?
mezii: I think on T-side they are definitely kind of similar in the fact that they are both like the lurker on the outside of maps. But on the CT side it kind of changes a lot, because ropz has kind of a mix of positions.
He does anchor some positions, so it definitely frees up maybe me or flameZ on some maps where we get the chance to play some more rotation roles.
So I think that’s definitely the biggest difference because ropz is an anchor on a lot of maps and he does a really good job. He takes a lot of space in terms of making plays and taking the high-risk plays and I think in a team you really need that person to do it. I think that’s probably the biggest difference on CT sides, but on T sides, yeah, it’s kind of similar in terms of positions, but also when you have ropz’s… he’s someone that is one of the best clutchers in the world when he gets into those 1vX situations or even when you play the 2vX situations with him, he’s really good at playing calm. Everyone saw when he was in FaZe, they win some rounds that they should never win and it’s down to a guy like ropz because he’s really calm in those situations.
Credit: ESL Faceit Group
Bruno: I wanted to touch on the playoffs. You’re in the semis, but you might be playing Eternal Fire again and they seem to have your number.
What is about them that catches you out?
mezii: I mean, overall I think individually they’re really strong and we always need to make sure we match that. I think also they’re one of the teams that have… they probably have the best Anubis in the world, so we always know we’re gonna play that against them. It’s always going to be a tough game, but I think we definitely obviously always feel confident. I think at some point we have to beat them, but I think most teams would say they’re tough to play against just because individually they’re really strong, and also CS wise they play a really solid game. So for us, it’s just about making sure that on the day we have to be there individually. We have to make sure that we’re hitting our shots because first of if you don’t XANTARES is gonna come round and headshot you, Wicadia is gonna headshot you. So I think for us it’s making sure that we’re stepping up individually and making good plans because if our headshots aren’t working we need to make sure as a team we’re playing well and the chemistry is there. So we need to make sure we do that, but I think the last couple of times we played them we’re not playing the best as a team and we kind of give them what they want in terms of playing solo, playing headshots, and we need to be better with that.
Bruno: Lastly I wanted to talk about the FAMAS and MP9 update.
Do you think they are in the right place now or do you think there needs to be further changes?
mezii: To be honest, I think they are in a pretty good place. I mean, we still need to have more time to see how it goes, but I think it’s good that the FAMAS has had an update because it’s been kind of a useless weapon previously. Even it could still have a bit more work like, maybe some work on the burst fire. I remember in other game modes, like in Source, the burst was really nice. So I think in CS2 it would be nice if they could update that, but overall I think they’ve done a good job with the update. I think there might be some still more way to go, like with the MP9, I think it can still be pretty strong, but overall I think it’s good that they reduced the price of the FAMAS and buffed it a little bit. I think it’s been a good update, it feels good. But we’ll see how it is with a bit more time.
Bruno: Okay, thank you mezii, and good luck in the playoffs
mezii: Thank you.
Next up: VP fame - I like Train, much better for me than Vertigo