ZywOo: "I won't stop just because I am one in front of s1mple"

After cementing his place in CS history, ZywOo says he will keep grinding to extend his lead at the top of the MVP leaderboard.

Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut secured yet another well-deserved MVP award by leading his team's charge to the ESL Pro League Season 21 trophy, and wrote another piece of CS history for himself in the process.

The French AWPer is now one ahead of Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev at the top of the MVP leaderboard, inching himself ahead in a rivalry that defined the latter years of CS:GO.

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ZywOo overtakes s1mple with 22nd career MVP at ESL Pro League S21

"Before the final, I wasn't really thinking about it, but I'm really happy with it now," ZywOo states. "I'm really happy with the performance I showed for six years now."

Fresh from his record-breaking performance and trophy-winning campaign, ZywOo spoke with HLTV to talk about Vitality's run at Pro League and what this MVP win means for him and his legacy.

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Vitality dismantle MOUZ to win ESL Pro League S21

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Congratulations ZywOo, how are you feeling?

Obviously feeling good because we won this final. We wanted really bad, like apEX said on the couch, the Intel Grand Slam. So after this win we are feeling good, I think we played really great CS today, happy with the team because we showed a really great face today. I think we didn't show any mistake, or anything they can grab, today, so really happy with the performance.

Were you expecting it to be as easy as it was? It was a pretty quick series.

I don't think we can expect a final to be easy, but we knew if we play to our level, our level from all of ESL Pro League or Katowice, there is no doubt we are going to win this final. That's our mindset before starting the final, if we play our A plan, our A game, they have no chance. That's the feeling we had before starting the game.

You seem to be a step ahead of the rest of the teams right now. Why do you think that is?

Actually, I don't know. Maybe I would say individually, I think everyone in the team is performing really well. You can see the final, I think the lowest rating is 1.24 and the highest 1.33. I think everyone is playing good. Also in terms of teamplay I think we cannot ask much more. Obviously we do some small mistakes, which is normal in the final, a bit more pressure.

I think with these two things combined we are one of the best teams right now, there is no doubt about it, We can still win a lot of trophies and a lot of tournaments. With these two combined, we can see that Vitality right now are fucking strong.

With this MVP medal you now overtake s1mple's record. What are your thoughts on that?

Like I said, before starting this tournament I wasn't really thinking about it, because I know with this team, like you see in the final, everyone can pop off. I knew that if I just play my A game, if I just wait… maybe I wasn't thinking at this EPL, but maybe in the next two or three tournaments, I can get it. So I wasn't really focused about it, I was just living the life, trying to play as a team first, and after I was thinking about individually.

First of all, before the final, I wasn't really thinking about it, but I'm really happy with it now. I'm one ahead of s1mple, so I'm really happy with the performance I showed for six years now. I will just keep going, keep grinding, and I will never stop just because I am one in front.

What does it mean for you and your legacy to now be the leading MVP winner, and it looks like you could add a lot more to your list?

Like you said, I can add a lot more and I think I won't stop just because I'm one in front of s1mple. I will just show I can go 25, 30 MVPs, I will just keep grinding, keep doing myself and what I am doing. I will never stop playing with my confidence, and playing like Vitality does.