mezii: "I don't want to waste time away from family to come here and not do what we're meant to do"

"We want to make sure we come here and every minute we have we're making it efficient, whether it's in-game or outside of the game," the Briton said.

Vitality became the first team to qualify for the Shanghai Major playoffs, taking down MIBR in what was a dominant return to form after a tough day one match against FURIA.

After their qualification, William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman spoke to HLTV about the run. "It was a bit up and down," he said. "Yesterday's game against FURIA was really tough. [But] the mentality in this team is pretty strong, we never give up and we always know there's a chance."

"It's nice that we can make these comebacks. If it gets rough we know we have everything it takes to bring it back," he went on.

The Major has been unusual in that most teams chose to stay in China for nearly a month in total since the beginning of the RMRs. It's been important for Vitality to find the right approach to that, and so far it has been working, as they were the only favorite to go undefeated in the first stage.

"We try to switch it up because, being here for a couple of weeks, doing the same things each day can be exhausting, it can send you a bit crazy," mezii explained. "It's about switching things up, doing some new team activities, doing something different each day."

For mezii, it's been a particular challenge, as he has had to leave his partner and newborn child behind for the whole time. "It's a whole new experience for me," he shared.

"Having my family home has also added extra motivation because we don't want to be wasting any time here, we want to make sure we come here and every minute we have we're making it efficient, whether it's in-game or outside of the game."

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mezii, a 3-0 and straight to the playoffs. Apart from yesterday's second game it has looked pretty straightforward, can you tell me about your run here and making it to the playoffs?

Yeah, of course it was a bit up and down. Yesterday's game against FURIA was really tough for us, I think for one they played really well, they caught us off-guard at the start, they played a lot faster than we're used to. Overall the mentality in this team is pretty strong, we never give up and we always know there's a chance, when it's 12-10 and we have an AWP and a couple of mismatched buys.

It's a good run so far and even today we had a really good gameplan overall, everyone communicated well, everyone gave good energy. We knew it was gonna be a tough game, but our plan made it a lot easier today.

You required a pretty big comeback against FURIA, it came down to ZywOo's big play towards the end. Were there some adjustments to be made going into today, or what was the talk like afterwards?

FURIA played a good game, so that's why it was so close. With MIBR, we practiced them probably the most, even whilst we've been here, we probably played a whole best-of-five against these guys. Of course it's all mindgames going into it, you never know, they could change from practice, we could change...

It was nice that we could make these comebacks in the game like against FURIA, that we had that mentality. It's always a confidence booster going into today that we've done the hard game already, if it gets rough in this game, we know we have everything it takes to bring it back as well. Today we stuck to the plan, the coaches did a great job in the preparation and apEX as well with the calling.

It's been an uncommon Major in that you've had to stay here for quite a long time. Has that caused any changes in the way that you prepared? How were these last couple of weeks for you to prepare here, only having the teams that are competing to play against?

It kind of limits your practice. Like I said, we played MIBR so much, we played a lot of the Brazilian teams. But at the same time, the coaching staff, the backroom staff, the manager in Vitality have done a great job at trying not to make everything too much the same.

We try to switch it up because, being here for a couple of weeks, doing the same things each day can be exhausting, it can send you a bit crazy. It's about switching things up, doing some new team activities, doing something different each day. You can't sit in the practice room all day, it can have an adverse effect where we're not enjoying the game as much, aren't as ready, we might burn out a bit if we do that. We still need to practice but also have some time away from the computer and go visit some places in Shanghai. That's been our main focus.

You skipped Singapore to witness the birth of your child. Now to have to leave your family behind for such a long time, is it tough to take, personally?

Yeah, for sure. It's a new experience for me. Taking time away from my partner, even though you miss home you still have to get used to it, and now it's a whole new experience for me. Having my family home has also added extra motivation because we don't want be wasting any time here, we want to make sure we come here and every minute we have we're making it efficient, whether it's in-game or outside of the game.

We don't want to come here with any regrets, and that's the main thing for me. I don't want to waste time away from family to come here and not do what we're meant to do. It's been great that the guys have been so supportive, everyone in Vitality as well, which makes it a lot easier for me to focus just on the goal here.

We've seen a lot of the other favorites struggle so far, and some may not even make it with the way that it's turning out. Does this convincing run fill you with confidence heading into the playoffs?

I hope so. Our confidence is high for sure, we're growing with each game, and even though I had obviously missed a tournament, the preparation has still been pretty good even though it wasn't the full amount of time that we would like.

Our playoffs throughout most of the year haven't been the best, but we've been gainining experience from each playoff we've had. It feels nice when we're playing, the confidence, the communication, the unity, we feel like a real family in this event, and I think it's important when you're here for so long that we're not annoying each other too much. Everyone's been doing a good job to keep spirits high, that's the main thing for this event. The Major's a really long tournament, so that's the main thing, that we stick together well, it's the last tournament of the year, so we just need to give everything for this tournament.