Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut spoke to HLTV after Vitality won ESL Pro League Season 24, discussing the upcoming absence of Dan “apEX” Madesclaire at PGL Masters Bucharest, the form of the team during the playoffs and his individual performances on Cache.
Vitality defeated MOUZ 3:0 in the Grand Final in Katowice, securing a second consecutive tournament victory. ZywOo finished the event with a 1.44 Rating 3.0 and received the 34th HLTV MVP medal of his career.
VITALITY STILL AIM TO WIN WITHOUT APEX
apEX will miss PGL Masters Bucharest due to the birth of his child, with Justinas “jL” Lekavicius set to step into the lineup.
ZywOo said the temporary change will not affect the objective for Vitality at the tournament.
It doesn’t matter if he’s there or not. We’re going to try to win the tournament.
He compared the situation to BLAST Open Porto, where jL previously played with the team, and said Vitality will again approach the event with the intention of competing for the trophy.
William “mezii” Merriman could take over in-game leadership duties during the absence of apEX. ZywOo added that the rest of the players will also need to take more responsibility in communication.
When apEX is not there, we’re going to try to talk more, try to make our IGL on point.
The tournament will therefore give Vitality another opportunity to test the lineup with jL while adjusting the leadership structure.
ZYWOO CREDITS TEAM SYNCHRONIZATION FOR PLAYOFF FORM
Vitality increased their level during the playoffs after already completing the Swiss Stage with a 3:0 record.
ZywOo highlighted the performances of Robin “ropz” Kool and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, explaining that strong individual form throughout the lineup has a direct effect on the rest of the team.
When everyone is in sync, whenever we are doing anything, when the communication is good, good individually, we know what everyone’s going to do on the server, I think it makes everyone play good.
Vitality defeated PARIVISION in the quarter-final, Aurora in the semifinal and MOUZ in the Grand Final.
ZywOo also said the collective level during the playoffs was high enough that several players could have been considered for the MVP award.
CACHE BECAME THE BEST MAP FOR ZYWOO
ZywOo averaged a 2.03 Rating 3.0 across three Cache appearances at ESL Pro League Season 24.
His best performance came against Aurora in the semifinal, where he posted 23–10 K–D and a 2.36 rating. He followed that with a 2.00 rating on Cache against MOUZ in the Grand Final.
The AWPer said the map has been one of his favorites since its previous competitive version.
Even back in the days in 2017, it was maybe one of my favorite maps.
ZywOo explained that he feels comfortable with the available fights and positioning on Cache, where he currently plays around the A site.
I know what to peek, I know what to swing, I know how to help my teammates on this map. I love this map too much.
He also said the current map pool feels relatively balanced, although Vitality were disappointed when Overpass was removed because it had been one of the strongest maps for the team.
VITALITY END KATOWICE RUN WITH ANOTHER TROPHY
The ESL Pro League Season 24 title also ended a long stretch without a deep run for Vitality at the Katowice arena.
ZywOo referenced six years of quarter-final finishes before finally winning in the Spodek Arena.
After six years of quarter-finals, it feels good to win in the Spodek Arena and Krakow.
The title followed the victory at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026, giving Vitality two consecutive tournament wins.
ZywOo also collected his second consecutive MVP medal and the 34th of his career before the team turns its attention to PGL Masters Bucharest with jL replacing apEX.
