flameZ: "[We're not] in a position to say we're only happy with the trophy"

Vitality's main goal in Denmark will be to work on their consistency.

Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan took some time to talk to HLTV during the BLAST Premier Fall Final media day, which is being boycotted by several teams who did not send their in-game leaders to fulfill their media obligations after light was shed on the possibly illegal emergency substitution of Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller by Astralis.

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Astralis got cadiaN in for the Fall Final on an emergency sub. Was it against the rules?

"We're going to show up to the match tomorrow, we're going to play, and do our best," flameZ said, as Vitality will open their run in Copenhagen against Astralis. "No matter if it's going to be with br0, with cadiaN, or whoever they're going to show up with."

flameZ also spoke about Vitality's tussle with Natus Vincere at the top of the world ranking — which has gone back and forth —, keeping an eye on energy levels in order to peak at the Major in November, and generally trying to become a more consistent team.

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I wanted to ask you about the season for you guys so far. You won Cologne but then EPL didn't exactly go to plan, so how are you guys feeling coming into this tournament?

To be honest, EPL didn't go as we hoped. We wanted to go deeper, but we're very excited about this tournament because we feel like there is more at stake here. I feel like we do well in these BLAST events, and I personally really like everything about Denmark.

Everyone would like to go deep in every tournament, but I would especially like to grab this trophy again, like last year, to just keep the streak going. We didn't have many days off, so we don't feel as prepared, but on the other hand, we have everything set and done. We just need to show up individually and it will be okay.

You said EPL was not your biggest focus, and you also mentioned in a broadcast interview that you don't want to peak too early due to the Major being so late. So despite this, is Fall Final still a tournament you prepared a lot for?

We would like to prepare for every tournament, but the scheduling doesn't allow that. We just finished Cologne, and a week after we were already in Malta for Pro League for two weeks, and then again went straight to Denmark. We didn't even go back home, we just stayed in Malta. So we would have loved to be prepared, but we're not as prepared as we would like to be.

A lot of this is because of the Major being so late, which is why we need to gather the energy, we don't want to push too intensely in the start. On the other hand, every tournament matters. We will try to give our best here, and we know that we're capable of winning. We just need to show up and not lose to ourselves. I feel like this year we lost a lot of matches to ourselves in those big tournaments, so we need to go for the win in every tournament now.

That's never going to change in how Vitality looks at those kinds of things, but as you said, we didn't have much time. So it's not only because we want to peak late or early, but also because we can't focus too much right now.

You said you want to win every tournament. Given the lack of preparation time at EPL, though, was the team disappointed after the exit? Especially after you saw how good Eternal Fire were in the final.

To be honest, we were disappointed, but less than I expected. We know Eternal Fire are a threat. In CS2, everybody can beat anyone, so no matter the team, you need to be on high alert. We just didn't show our best CS in that game. Anubis was really close, Inferno too, so it could have gone both ways, and it went their way. We weren't so upset with that.

We obviously need to improve on Anubis especially because we lost to Liquid and a lot of those teams. For us, Pro League gave us a chance to explore our map pool again, see where we lack, and work on that. BLAST is going to be more about focusing on those maps and trying to play well on them, and then… It's weird to say that again, but this streak of tournaments till the Major is about getting to know our gaps now and trying to fix them.

Specifically for BLAST, the goal is to focus on those maps because against Eternal Fire I feel like we could have played a way better Anubis, and that would have changed how the BO3 would look and maybe even the outcome of the tournament. Obviously we were upset, but we were also looking to the future and telling ourselves that this loss might be beneficial to us in the sense that we will improve a lot and get to know our stuff.

You mentioned the back-to-back tournaments, that you didn't have any days off, and it looks like it's going to get even more packed in 2025. Did you speak about how you are going to approach next year with the team yet?

We haven't done it, we just had some five-minute casual talks about that. I'm a player who really likes this kind of back-to-back tournaments, but I think at the end of the year or at the beginning of next year we will discuss it as a team, like we always do, and we will prioritize some tournaments.

If we have the option to attend all the 25 events, then we're going to see what we want to attend based on the location, too. I feel like we haven't seen much else other than Denmark and Sweden, these kinds of tournaments, so it's going to be nice to mix up the locations. The prestige of the event [is important too], and then we will sit and talk about how we do things.

Some tournaments don't allow you to bring girlfriends or families, so [it's important] which tournaments are going to be the ones that allow you to be more chill. You're still grinding, you're still playing Counter-Strike, but there's just more freedom in the team structure. Then there's going to be those tournaments that are before the Major, which no matter how big they are, they're going to be sacrificed in order to practice your maps.

But I'm very excited because I haven't seen many sports, maybe due to my lack of education as well in this, in which you go back-to-back-to-back. Usually it's like a very intense two-month season, and then you have two or three months that are a bit more relaxed. I would really love to experience it, see how it is, and how I maintain my composure. I feel like it will be slightly easier for me because I really like traveling, going to new locations, seeing new places, and meeting new friends and a new culture. I'm really excited for that as well.

You and NAVI have been fighting for that number-one spot for a while, you were on top for a week, then NAVI retook it after they won EPL. Even though you faced them just once this year in Cologne, is this still a bit of rivalry for you guys?

This year has been pretty weird because you had FaZe, more at the start of the year, Spirit, us, MOUZ are also very competitive, and G2 as well. So there is a sort of rivalry, but even though we beat NAVI last time, I think they're a better team right now. They won the Major, EWC, and Pro League. I feel they're playing really well as a team and they have everything going for them right now. I would like to call it a rivalry, but right now they're a better team.

They have better results under their name and they know that as well, but everybody knows that it's not like if a team is better than you, then they will beat you for sure, everyone can beat everyone. But right now they're just playing better Counter-Strike than us, they're more consistent, so I wouldn't call it such a rivalry, I'll just say that everybody is aware that every team can beat every team right now.

Moving to the Fall Final. You're facing Astralis in the first game. They have a bit of controversy surrounding them, and your captain, apEX, is also not not here at media day. Do you have anything to say as an individual or as a team about the whole situation?

To be honest, nothing much. apEX is sick, so even if someone else was sick, you prefer to let them rest before a match day, no matter the situation. I think it's very fair. Regarding the Astralis situation, it's not my problem. It's not my stuff, so it's a different topic for a different person. But we're going to show up to the match tomorrow, we're going to play, and do our best. No matter if it's going to be with br0, with cadiaN, or whoever they're going to show up with. So for us, for myself, it doesn't matter.

What would the team be happy with as a result here at Fall Final? Is the trophy the only thing you're aiming for?

The main goal is to show consistency. I don't think we are in a position to say we're only going to be happy with the trophy, we need to get to the quarterfinals and semis first because we lack those in some tournaments. The main focus is going to be being consistent and not losing to ourselves, and I think if we fulfill that, we're very likely to get to the finals, which we'll be happy with.

Obviously Vitality are not coming to try to qualify for playoffs only, we're always coming to win, and even If we lose the final we will be upset, and we're going to tell ourselves we could have done better. The main goal is just to be consistent as much as we can and show up better for each other. But we're not going to be mad at ourselves if we lose in the quarterfinals after playing a very good team that played a very good CS, but only if we also played good CS.