The 2025 Counter-Strike season came to an end at the StarLadder Budapest Major, ZywOo’s throne this year is unreachable. After an almost perfect season at the start of the year with Vitality, multiple trophies, MVP and records, ZywOo has proven this year that he was the best.
A record-breaking year
ZywOo’s individual level in 2025 is the embodiment of an elite Counter-Strike player. In the 16 events he attended, he won the MVP award 8 times, exactly 50%, a feat never witnessed before in history. While tying up s1mple’s record of 2021, he is also surpassing it, counting LAN’s, Big Events and Majors.
Thanks to the 8 MVP medals he got this year, ZywOo also surpassed s1mple 21 MVPs back at the ESL Pro League 21 and managed to get 6 more, reaching 28 in total. Also, with two Major victories at Austin and Budapest, ZywOo became the first player in history to win 3 Majors MVP, surpassing olofmeister and coldzera’s previous record of two. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut reached a whole new realm of individual prowess.
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Elevating Team Vitality
What further strengthens ZywOo’s case in 2025 is the overall success of Team Vitality. At the start of the year, Team Vitality signed an almost perfect season, losing only a best-of-three and a best-of-one, achieving what many believed was the most dominant run in Counter-Strike history. And in 2025, the team won 9 Big Events, including 7 trophies in a row, both Majors trophy and an Intel Grand Slam.
And, after a dip in form following the first player break, Vitality remained a constant presence at the top. The team never finished outside the top four at any event and added an ESL Pro League Season 22 title to their tally before closing out the year with a second consecutive Major win at the StarLadder Budapest Major. By achieving a back-to-back Major victory, a feat unseen since Astralis in 2019, Vitality cemented their campaign as one of the most successful years ever recorded in history.
Fierce competition
Even at the top, ZywOo was not alone in the race for the best player of the year. In 2024, Danil “donk” Kryshkovets took the world by storm as he was crowned the best player of the year. In 2025, their rivalry reached a new height, as both of them would challenge themself to be the best. But, even if donk topped the charts in many categories and could be the best in the world, Counter-Strike is also a team game, and Spirit didn’t win as much as Vitality.
During the year, donk and ZywOo clashed 5 times, always in playoffs, two times in grand finals, and once at a Major, and every time, Vitality came out on top. At Katowice and the three Blast events, ZywOo topped the charts in every series. It’s only at the Budapest Major semi-final that ZywOo was outfragged by donk, but as Vitality went on to win the series and the entire event, the MVP medal was awarded to the Frenchmen.
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A Complete Player in a Complete Season
Beyond trophies and records, ZywOo’s 2025 stands out because of how complete it was. Individual prowess directly translates into team success. His presence on the server elevated his team, allowing Vitality to be as dominant as they were.
Winning back-to-back Majors, securing an Intel Grand Slam, and maintaining near-perfect consistency across the calendar year is something few teams, and even fewer players, have ever achieved, and ZywOo was not just part of that run; he is the most important player of the team. As the curtain closes on the 2025 season, there is little room for debate. ZywOo did not simply have the best year; he set a precedent that may not be matched for years to come.
