I Never Understood National Pride in Counter-Strike. Then mezii Came Along

In recent years, the Counter-Strike esports meta has been defined by international rosters. FaZe Clan. Modern NAVI. Even Vitality, despite their strong French ties. The formula to build a winning roster has changed, with players from all over the world combining their unique styles to reach the Counter-Strike pinnacle. However, it wasn’t always like this. Back in the early to mid days of CS:GO, one-nation teams were the norm, fostering a sense of national pride in these rosters and creating natural storylines in a way that doesn’t happen too often nowadays.

Sweden had Ninjas in Pyjamas. Denmark had Astralis. Russia had Virtus.pro. North America had Team Liquid. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. In truth, I never understood the calls for this to become the norm again. International CS has undeniably yielded a better ceiling for the game, despite the aforementioned storylines, and frankly, the idea of national pride in Counter-Strike had totally passed me by. “Who cares?” I thought. Those who wanted it just wanted to go back to the “good old days.” At least, that’s how I brushed it off.

And that’s when mezii came along. You see, I’m from the UK, a region arguably best known in Counter-Strike for giving you smooya. We’re not exactly renowned for our long list of winners at the Tier 1 level. Vitality’s mezii has changed everything.

mezii has made me proud of UK CS

Let’s take a quick look at the history of UK CS in Tier 1. You have ALEX, who won a few events in 2019 but has essentially fallen off the face of the Earth. There’s smooya, who is best known for his antics off the server than any particular prowess on it. And Into the Breach, who made the Quarter-Finals of the BLAST.tv Paris Major in 2023, a moment too fleeting to have any lasting impact on the scene. Beyond that, it’s totally barren.

Then there’s mezii. Having previously represented Cloud9 and Fnatic, he joined Vitality in November 2023. After a rocky start individually, mezii has found his feet in Vitality, tallying up six trophies in yellow and black, including the coveted IEM Katowice and Cologne trophies. Right now, he’s a key piece in a Vitality side lauded as comfortably the best CS2 team in the world, seemingly shrouded in an aura of invincibility while on one of the longest LAN win streaks in Counter-Strike history. Their latest win at BLAST Open Spring 2025 has only cemented this further. A Major win in just a few months’ time almost feels like a formality, such is the state of Vitality’s dominance.

His trophy cabinet has utterly demolished that of any UK player who has come before. His GOAT status in the region is cemented for now. It hit me recently that I found myself unknowingly rooting for Vitality, all because of the mezii factor. I was awash with a feeling I’d never felt while watching before: pride, specifically of the national variety. That’s just a normal lad from Birmingham taking the Counter-Strike world by storm, staking his claim for an era among the best the game has ever seen.

Oh my God. I get it.

Is this how the Swedes felt when NiP were nigh unbeatable? How the Danes adored when Astralis collected trophy upon trophy? Now, it should be noted that mezii is just one Brit in a roster also featuring two Frenchmen, an Israeli, and an Estonian, but you must understand that we have to take what we can get. We’re in uncharted territory here, folks.

I admit it. I was wrong. Fans calling for the return of national rosters in Counter-Strike were not just codgers longing for an unattainable nostalgia of 2014. They were just tapped into a pride of seeing one of their own succeed in the scene they love more than anything. One I simply couldn’t fathom because of UK CS’s drab history.

UK CS still has a long way to go beyond mezii

Again, it’s important to recognize that mezii is one part of a larger machine. His wins are his, but not his alone. And there’s a reason his breakthrough as a winner is so big for UK Counter-Strike. We can be proud of him, while also knowing that he shouldn’t exactly be in any rush to be part of a UK superteam. The depth of players simply isn’t there yet.

There’s not going to be a competitive UK CS roster at the top any time soon, and that’s okay. If that day ever does come, I know that I’ll actually know how to enjoy and cheer for it now, just like those fans of national teams did back in the day.