mezii on beating NAVI: “We wanted to be the ones to put them back down a peg”

It’s another tournament win for Vitality at BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026, continuing their incredible chokehold over the professional Counter-Strike scene. After their win, we had the chance to talk with mezii, who gave us his thoughts on how that Grand Final against NAVI went.

mezii on Anubis triple boost: “I think a team actually did it against us in practice and we got f***ed”

Daniel Morris: mezii, another 3:0, another. It all looks too easy for you guys. Tell me your first thoughts coming out of that one.

William “mezii” Merriman: Yeah, it feels good to close out. Especially after Dust2 getting a bit too close for comfort. I mean, yeah, it was a bit of a mess at times. I think we definitely were trying the right things. We were trying to still make plays and so on, and sometimes it doesn’t work out, but I think that’s the main thing. It’s something that apEX said during the game, “Guys, let’s keep doing our thing. Just because it’s not working, let’s not be scared now, keep playing,” and yeah, it worked out in the end and we were always confident, so I’m happy we closed out. Yeah, I think the way the team’s playing, I’m not surprised as well.

Daniel: Anubis was another map that looked like it was starting to get close, and then you bring out that crazy triple boost on A. Was that something that you’ve been holding onto for a little tight moment like that?

mezii: To be honest, yeah.  we haven’t played Anubis for a long while, at least in official. It wasn’t even too long ago, a team actually did it against us in practice and we got f***ed. But I think we went straight into the demo, like, “How did we die to these guys?” We didn’t even know in practice and we were like, “Oh, they did this.” Then since then we were like, we need to pull it out. And yeah, we waited a couple rounds to pull it out. We maybe waited a bit too long, but at the same time we were like, “Yeah, let’s do it now.” We got the entry. Little tricks like this are really important, especially on Anubis, because CT side can be so tough, I think. I mean, even with the changes, I think it’s still a T side map and it kind of is a bit too easy for a lot of the T’s at times. But, yeah, I’m just happy we have these tricks to kind of pull us out as well.

Daniel: You guys let the comeback on Anubis and Dust2 drag all the way back to 12:10 before you do find the right answer. Did you feel that pressure of both maps starting to get close. Like you said, Dust2 started to feel like a little bit of a mess by the end?

mezii: I mean, the pressure is always there, especially as a player when you are so close. You want it just to be closed out. You just want to be there lifting the trophy. But I think at the same time, we tried to stay as calm as possible. We knew we were doing the right things. And I think at the end of the day, some of the rounds we end up losing just because we’re just not hitting shots. I think we kind of had a whole half where everyone was switched on. We were hitting a lot of shots and then got to CT side where, yeah, they were hitting more headshots. We were whiffing a little bit more. And, yeah, I think that’s kind of how CS is at the end of the day. If we don’t hit our shots, it’s kind of going to be tough. But we were always confident.

Daniel: A lot of the narrative surrounding this game was about how NAVI felt like the closest thing to a real contender to you guys at the moment. Do you think such a comprehensive win has put that idea to rest for now?

mezii: I think they were a team that we wanted to go up against. I think they were a team that we wanted to go up against. We were happy we were playing them in the final because, yeah, we… I mean, of course they’re going to be confident. They came off a win in Pro League, but we kind of felt like maybe they were getting a bit too confident. I think maybe sometimes teams, even though they’re gaining confidence, we weren’t at that last tournament. Maybe they forget how long we’ve kind of been staying consistent in lifting trophies. But at the same time, we were excited to go up against them.  We wanted to be the ones to put them back down a peg. It’s kind of what our main goal was. And of course, they’re going to be there at the next tournament fighting against us and other teams that are going to be fighting against as well. So we know when you’re number one, a lot of the teams are going to try to be the next number one and try and beat us. But at the same time, we just want to keep working hard and keep staying consistent. That’s the main goal.