mezii: "Winning two titles in a row would be a dream come true"

The British rifler gives his thoughts on his successful start to life with Vitality.

William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman had the perfect start to life as a Vitality player, winning the BLAST Fall Final in his first outing in the black and yellow jersey. It wasn't the best showing for him individually, but that fact is insignificant if a trophy is secured regardless.

The Brit has completely revitalised his personal performance at BLAST World Final, sitting second for rating only to teammate Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut, and this improvement has come at no detriment to his team as they are set to contest yet another grand final.

Having just set up a matchup with FaZe after beating Natus Vincere, mezii spoke with HLTV to talk about his start to life with Vitality, his impressive tournament showing, and the magical clutch that helped clinch a spot in the final.

If you can't see the Soundcloud embed above, the audio version of the interview can be found here.

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First of all, talk to me about that clutch.

It actually started off with apEX saying ‘I’m sorry, but just plant the bomb, we need the money,’ so I was like ‘Okay then, I guess I’ll go plant the bomb.’ The bomb got planted and then ZywOo heard them jump, so he heard them boosting and knew both were long which was good information, and after that I just had to hit my shots, and luckily I did. It was definitely a weird start to the clutch, but I’m just happy I got it over the line.

That was quite a strong showing from your team, especially on Anubis. Did things go as you expected and were you confident heading into the match?

Yeah, to be honest I think we expected them to switch up the pick, because they picked it before against us, but when they picked it we were really confident going into the matchup. We knew we had a good plan and good reads on how they like to play, and what we wanted to do to counter it, so overall I think it was a really good game plan and great calls from apEX.

flameZ was having a quiet tournament but he really stepped up on Inferno, which is quite the confidence boost ahead of the final.

Yeah. For flameZ he’s been pretty sick this event, and even here he’s struggling a little bit with being ill. I think it’s very tough for him, but he showed up really well today and gave everything in terms of energy and communication, so he’s doing a great job overall. That’s what is so good about this team, when one person is down, someone else will step up, it’s a lineup that’s doing a great job for the team.

You are now averaging a 1.30 rating which is quite an improvement considering the way you played in Copenhagen. Are you more confident in the team, are you finding your feet in the system?

Yeah I think so, it’s just with time. After Copenhagen and having practice after I was getting confident in my positions, and also the way that everyone likes to call and communicate. How I have to react off information is a really big thing in how I like to play CS. It was important for me to get comfortable, and over time I am getting more confident and comfortable.

Do things come easier when you play on a team like this?

Yeah, like I said before with the individuals we have on this team, and I think we showed this in Copenhagen with not so much practice, you are always going to be contenders and looking to win tournaments. One person might be down but you have four other players who are going to step up and be there in the big moments. It’s just good to have all these individuals around me that can always step up and do the job.

apEX said before this match that you were trying too hard to be the perfect teammate in Copenhagen. Are you playing more loose now, playing more to your strengths?

Yeah, like he said I think before I was trying to do the perfect thing all the time, and also maybe to not make so many mistakes, focusing on always helping the team. Here it’s about making sure I have the mixture, being comfortable in my moves and how I like to do things on the map, and mixing that in with what they like to do. I think now it’s a really good balance, and in the future it’s only going to get better and we’re going to be able to make it even easier for me to get comfortable, and for me to add ideas to the team as well.

I noticed during the match that a large portion of the crowd was cheering for NAVI, did that affect your team in any way?

Nah, for a large part of the team they are all experienced and they have probably had crowds against them before. Even for me it was fine, I am always confident and have the belief in the team to do well, no matter the atmosphere and surroundings I am definitely confident.

You are now going to play FaZe in the final, are you excited about it? Many people see this as a dream final.

Yeah for sure. Obviously we broke their streak in Copenhagen and we want to make sure that we keep our streak and keep going, because I think we are playing really well. Even against FaZe we are always going to be confident. It’s definitely a good matchup and I am looking forward to it.

FaZe haven’t looked that dominant in this tournament as in the past, probably because of the recent changes to the team. Do you think that gives you an edge, or do you think that maybe it makes things a little bit more unpredictable?

Of course they’re still going to play a similar way. They’ve added a new player but overall it’s always going to be tough. They’ve got nothing to lose, they’re a team that has just brought a player in and maybe they’re just using this tournament to bring him into the system, so for us it’s just about playing our game. We know they might have a few new moves with frozen, but at the end of the day it’s still FaZe, we know we are going to have to turn up as individuals on the day and hit headshots.

You are now going to play a second final in a row with this team. Joining this team and having no titles to being on the verge of winning your second in a row, would that be the dream?

Yeah. Before I know Vitality were here and always looking to win tournaments, and they’ve had an incredible year as well throughout other tournaments. Coming in and winning the first one was great, but even better would be to win the second one as well, it would be a dream come true.

Maybe getting an MVP medal as well, would that be the cherry on top of the cake?

I think ZywOo is creeping up on me (laughs) as he does with most tournaments, but it’s not something I am really focusing on. Obviously it would be great if we finish the tournament and I was MVP, but like I say, it’s not a big focus for me, it’s just about getting a win and that’s all I care about.