XTQZZZ: “It’s tough to win a trophy… When you have an opportunity, you have to take it”

Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam is the coach behind Vitality’s incredible period, during which they have undeniably become one of the greatest Counter-Strike teams of all time. After an excellent start to 2026, the team have already secured another Semi-Finals berth at BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026.

Ahead of their Playoffs start, we spoke to Vitality coach XTQZZZ to get his thoughts on the team’s excellent start to the year, flameZ’s form, and the motivation to keep up their winning form well into 2026!

XTQZZZ: “I think something that is a bit underrated in my opinion is the relationship between coach and in-game leader”

Daniel Morris: I think when people look around at the rest of the scene at the moment, they see the gap between Vitality and everyone else widening rather than getting closer. Has it felt that way so far in 2026?

Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam: I don’t know, I think I’m waiting for the NAVI games. NAVI can be close also – we won 2:0 lately, but we had some overtime. I think it’s not about us. I think it’s the other team. They need to find a way to play their A game or at least to be consistent. I mean, I would say we don’t mind. Just focus on what we have to do.

Daniel: I mean, when you look around, you MOUZ, you see FURIA, you see Spirit, not really the forces they were last years. That’s how it looks so far. Out of the teams that you’ve seen so far, would you say NAVI are the closest, or who would you say are the closest to being able to actually challenge you guys?

XTQZZZ: Yeah, because NAVI won a tournament. But we cannot forget we lost to Falcons at the beginning of the year. PARIVISION are playing pretty well, actually, and they are really, in my opinion, they are dangerous. And we never know with MongolZ. Even without the coach, they beat MOUZ and Spirit 2:0 this tournament. We them 2:0, but it was really close on the second map. So yeah, NAVI first, and we never kow with the others. They can pop off at any time.

Daniel: It feels like you guys are always chasing some kind of record. Is that something that you actually think about and is that part of the motivation to keep winning?

XTQZZZ: We are more interested about the Playoffs streak, for example, the Semi-Finals streak. It helps us to stay motivated, in my opinion, because we won everything last year. Of course, we have some goals, especially the Grand Slam and Major, but it’s easy to motivate the guys. So it’s more about the Playoff streak. It’s fun. Semi-Final streak, we want to beat Astralis actually. It’s the goal. The rest, map win, etc, it’s a bit ridiculous to say, “Guys, the next game we need to win 2:0 just to make sure to beat the next record.” No, I will never say that, and we don’t think about it.

Daniel: You’ve obviously worked with apEX across two stints now, up to nearly six years together in total. Given that you’ve won just about everything there is to win together, what is it about that working relationship that results in such consistent results?

XTQZZZ: Actually with Dan, we know each other for 15, 16 years from Counter-Strike: Source. I mean, I think we have the same idea of how to deal with the players, how we see the games, etc. So it’s easy. I think something that is a bit underrated in my opinion is the relationship between coach and in-game leader. So that’s something we try to work. Of course we also have MaT, our assistant coach, we are really close with each other. So for us it’s easy to work together and can be… I don’t know if it’s the main reason because you have ZywOo behind, etc, but it can explain why we are consistent.

Daniel: I do want to ask you about flameZ. It feels like, even by his own high standards, he’s gone crazy this year. Could I just get a coach’s perspective on what has really allowed him to take that next step?

XTQZZZ: The next step is not easy because right now, he is playing really well. I just want him to keep the same routine, the same work ethic, etc. Because he’s still young, and not overthinking about, “Maybe I can play the same level as donk” or whatever. Just keep his role, work, try to improve on what he can do, and that’s it.

Daniel: I want to ask about ESL Pro League. Obviously, you guys chose to skip that. What does that sort of break look like for you personally? Why do you think it’s important that you guys have the luxury of being able to take that break compared to other teams?

XTQZZZ: I mean, it depends on the team. Some teams decided not to do BLAST Bounty, but for us, it was four weeks in a row. Even more maybe. I’m not even sure. And I know my players and sometimes we need some time off. So for us the goal was to take some rest. It was eight days. Then we have time to think about the game as well. What we want to work, improve and focus for the next… the break is not like skipping a tournament. It’s also for the future because now we have Rotterdam. But then after, in 10 days it’s Rio, BLAST Rivals, Atlanta. So you cannot grind the game all the time with the schedule. It’s not possible. It can also explain sometimes why some team can struggle to do a back to back tournaments. But this is the idea behind this.

Daniel: You guys come to BLAST Rotterdam, you pretty much coast to the Semi-Finals. What’s the energy been like in the team during that run? To me, it looks like you’re ready to go all the way again.

XTQZZZ: Oh yeah, in Group Stage, we think about one game at a time, but we want our Playoff streak. And then now we are in the Semis. So now we are like, we want this trophy. It’s kind of easy for us to start our tournament thinking about small goals at the beginning. Then when we are in Playoffs, you are really motivated to win another trophy. It’s tough to win a trophy. So when you have an opportunity, you have to take it.