Vitality have started PGL Masters Bucharest with four straight map wins, and they are doing it without their regular in-game leader. William “mezii” Merriman has taken over the calling duties from Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, and the team has not dropped a single map so far.
This matters because Vitality are close to a playoff berth with a stand-in and a temporary IGL. Few teams can handle both changes at once. In an interview with HLTV, mezii shared how the team is making it work.
A New Look for Vitality
Vitality arrived in Bucharest without apEX. Justinas “jL” Lekavicius returned as a stand-in, and mezii stepped in as IGL. This is his first time leading a team since his stint in fnatic. He sees a big difference from that time.
It’s very different. I’ve got a lot more experience now, and also learned a lot from apEX. Also, of course, the guys probably won’t mind me saying it, but it’s obviously a much better team now compared to what I had in fnatic. That obviously helps, and everyone is doing a good job with the communication part, helping with ideas, and MaT and apEX as well with the game plan part. So that’s going well, but it’s a lot more work than I remember.
Vitality had also found their form before the event, as they had won a couple of tournaments. As a result, losing apEX could have been frustrating. The team has instead stayed relaxed and kept enjoying the event.
Four Maps Played, Four Maps Won
Vitality beat 9z and The MongolZ, and both series ended 2-0. The match against 9z was the harder one. It was the team’s first official match, and 9z played well. Vitality had to solve more problems to win.
Against The MongolZ, things went much more smoothly. Vitality had a clear game plan, and their preparation showed that The MongolZ were not comfortable on Cache. Cache therefore became a good pick. On that map, mezii barely needed to call anything, because every player was winning their duels.
Sharing the Load in the Server
mezii is not leading alone. He pointed to the communication from the whole team and to the game-plan work from MaT and apEX. In addition, flameZ helps with ideas and preparation, and he takes a lot of entries. ZywOo also contributes ideas, especially when he wants to make certain peeks or plays.
The team had some practice before the event. As a result, the players knew what to expect from mezii, and he knew what to expect from them. mezii also tries to bring some of apEX’s approach into his own calling. However, once he is in the game, he goes back to his own style. He believes apEX’s work is hard to copy in a single event, because the IGL has to create plays on the fly when rounds go wrong.
Even so, mezii enjoys the new responsibility and sees it as useful for his future.
I’m enjoying the experience, at the moment anyway. Of course it’s only going to get more difficult with the better teams we play, but it’s only going to help me for the future. I’m getting old, so maybe at some point I might have to do this job as well, so we’ll see.
Welcoming jL Back
mezii was also positive about jL. He praised his energy in and out of the game. With apEX away, jL brings the same fun, chatty personality to the team. Meanwhile, jL is still learning the system, because several roles have changed.
Looking Ahead
Vitality have shown that they can win even without their usual IGL. However, the opposition will get tougher, and mezii knows it. For now, the team feels no pressure to reach the final or lift the trophy. Still, mezii would like to keep the trophy streak going. If Vitality keep playing this way, a playoff berth at PGL Masters Bucharest looks within reach.
The main thing is that we just keep enjoying it, keep having fun. There’s no pressure to have to make finals, we have to do this, we have to lift a trophy, but it would be nice to keep the trophy streak even without apEX as well.
