XTQZZZ: "We should have lost a couple of times; even after rewatching the game I don't know what happened"

Vitality's coach talks about overcoming the pressure of the Grand Slam in their Melbourne comeback and how their mindset shifts in the run up to the Austin Major.

Just three days after ending their ESL Grand Slam campaign with a miraculous win in the IEM Melbourne grand final against Falcons, Vitality are back in action this week at BLAST Rivals and have already notched their first win at the tournament over Wildcard.

Following the first match, which extended the team's win streak to 22 in a row, Vitality's coach, Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam, reflected on going from looking defeated on the final map to completing the ESL Grand Slam against the odds.

"We should have lost a couple of times, I think, and even after rewatching the game yesterday I don't know what happened," he admitted. "It was crazy games."

"[It's good] for the experience of the team," he went on. "I could feel during the grand final some pressure of the Grand Slam from some of the players. I felt like we got scared to lose the final and be the first team not to win the Grand Slam at the first opportunity."

The coach went on to talk about how being able to close the Grand Slam doesn't relieve all the pressure from Vitality's shoulders. The team is two matches away from locking in the second-highest streak of consecutive wins, and that's the focus for the BLAST Rivals.

"We wanna try to break the Liquid record," XTQZZZ said. "And if we break the record, after that is the final. You can't not play at 100% in a final. It's just extra motivation for this tournament."

But the blood is in the water, with Falcons now joining a set of contenders lined up to try to take Vitality off their perch. "Right now, it's really clear, you have Vitality, Spirit, MOUZ and Falcons. We're happy to play against them no matter what, but if I need to give one name, I think Spirit is the biggest opponent."

"They don't have jetlag, they've had time to change their playbook a bit and maybe they can surprise us with the map pool."

You can read the full interview below or listen to the audio version on Spotify:

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Let's start with the Melbourne final. On the last map it was looking pretty grim at 12-6, I saw you pacing behind the team, what was going through your head at that point and then watching the guys make that comeback?

I felt like on the T side we were giving up a bit, so I tried to put a tactical timeout at 9-2 and we won the round. But after that during halftime I liked the reaction of the guys, like, "Let's go, guys, we win the pistol and we can do it." They didn't give up at the end of the day. After that, first the 11-5 clutch of ZywOo, 1v3 - okay, it's not over. Then 12-6, we have a forcebuy with a Scout and a Five-SeveN, we won the round.

We should have lost a couple of times, I think, and even after rewatching the game yesterday I don't know what happened, honestly. It was crazy games. It's not good to try to learn something from this game, even to try to fix mistakes, because it was definitely the pressure and after six hours, of course. I tried to stay calm, nothing more.

You stomped everyone on the road to the final and I'm sure you saw Falcons do the same thing, especially in the playoffs, but then you come into the final and destroy them on Inferno. Does it feel like that lured you into a false sense of security?

No, because if you remember, we won the first map against MOUZ easily... So we spoke about it and said, "Okay, the first map was perfect, so let's focus, we watched their Dust2, they are pretty good." So no, after the first map we knew it couldn't be like that when you have players like NiKo and m0NESY, especially m0NESY failed the first map, so we expected a reaction as they did.

Tell me about finishing the Grand Slam. apEX spoke about how he wanted to close as soon as possible, how important was it to do it at that moment and not extend it by another month before Dallas comes right before the Major?

We had a talk after BLAST Lisbon that we needed to try to close it as soon as possible. If we go to the Major with the Grand Slam plus the Major in mind, I think it's not that good. Also, it's not for the preparation for the next tournament because, after this tournament, we can take a week off and start to prep the Major completely. After Dallas we also have a bootcamp of three-four days and we will go to the Austin Major.

Also for the experience of the team, I could feel from some players during the grand final some pressure of the Grand Slam. I don't know if it's like that at the Major (laughs), but it's also a good experience. I will be honest, I felt like we got scared to lose the final and be the first team not to win the Grand Slam at the first opportunity. We made some jokes before, but you know what I mean, when you make some jokes like that maybe you're a bit scared to be the first one.

Did it then impact how your mindset changes for the rest of the season? Vitality's always been the team that prioritizes quite heavily in terms of what you put effort into, does that mean the pressure is now off and you can take your time to ramp up into the Major? How does Vitality approach these next couple of tournaments?

First, we wanna try to break the Liquid record.

Two away, not so far...

Not too far, but we play MOUZ tomorrow and a good opponent after that, for sure. After the tournament, yes, of course we will try to peak for the Major. But it's also going to be good repetition in Dallas because right now we are the main target. It can be really fast, Counter-Strike, and for example if in Dallas we lose two games in a row, it can be a different perspective for the Major.

Date	Matches
BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 1
01/05/2025	MOUZ 14:10 Vitality	Match

The thing for us is to take a week off to make sure we can recover and reset, especially after Melbourne and BLAST Rivals. For two months now we already prepared some different things for the Major. We didn't change anything for the Grand Slam. It was the same plan, we just had extra motivation to win the Grand Slam.

If you do manage to break the Liquid streak, does it mean the pressure comes off? There's another streak further up the road that you could think about somewhere down the line. Is that where the pressure release will come from?

If we break the record, after that is the final. You can't not play at 100% in a final. It's just extra motivation for this tournament. After that, of course we spoke about it, because everybody is talking about that, but we just want to make sure we try to fix our mistakes, review games, try to add things if needed, and not think about how maybe the next game we're gonna lose. We're gonna lose at some point. It's fair to say that because we are not believing we can do the NIP record or whatever.

Tell me about the energy levels now. It's been a tough travel, you came in last night and jet lag is going to be a question mark. How is the team feeling at the moment and after the first game that you won fairly easily?

We arrived at 3 PM yesterday. The first day was tough, but, honestly, this morning I felt good energy, not so tired. The only question mark was, can we bring the energy up again. After seven hours the pressure went down really fast. We had a talk yesterday and we said "Now we are here, so let's keep 100% no matter what."

Of course the expectation is not to play perfect, I don't believe we can do that after Melbourne, plus the jetlag, plus we are the main target and the opponents will try something against us. That's not easy, but I don't think right now jetlag is an issue.

Who do you see as the biggest rivals at the moment? We've had it shift in Melbourne with Falcons destroying MOUZ and then going on to almost beat you, then Spirit has had a month off to look at you a little bit more and they already got close in the past. How much of a challenge could this tournament become?

MOUZ was close last time, it's our next opponent. Falcons were impressive, their performance last week, maybe because they had no expectation after changing a player and with one day of practice. Spirit is ready to fight against us, so I don't know.

Right now, it's really clear, you have Vitality, Spirit, MOUZ and Falcons. We're happy to play against them no matter what, but if I need to give one name, I think Spirit is the biggest opponent.

Because of the preparation, I suppose?

Yeah. They don't have jetlag, they've had time to change their playbook a bit and maybe they can surprise us with the map pool. It's an advantage for them for sure, especially with the group they have, I think.