Team Vitality have cemented their place in Counter-Strike history by winning the StarLadder Budapest Major, becoming one of a very small number of teams to lift consecutive Major trophies and the first squad to accomplish back-to-back Major victories since 2019.
After the final, team star Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut described the moment with disbelief and pride: "I have no words to describe this feeling. Back-to-back Majors, winning this way against FaZe, I think it's a perfect time for us to be honest. It's an incredible moment for us, for me and the team."
ZywOo also added an individual milestone to the team achievement: he is now the only player to have won three Major MVP awards, and only the second player to claim two Major MVPs within a single calendar year. He reflected on that personal achievement with humility, saying it means a lot and acknowledging that none of it would be possible without his teammates.
In a post-tournament interview, ZywOo talked about Vitality's landmark year, his own form throughout the season, and what continues to motivate him to pursue more success at the highest level.
When asked how he was feeling immediately after the win, ZywOo repeated his astonishment and joy. He emphasised how special it was to complete back-to-back Majors and to do so in the manner they did against a top opponent like FaZe, stressing how proud he was for himself and for the whole roster.
The grand final did not start smoothly for Vitality: they lost the opening map, Nuke, where FaZe outperformed them both individually and tactically. ZywOo noted that FaZe were on point with their individual plays and calls, and that the team struggled to find cohesion on that map. Despite the rough opening, Vitality were confident in their map pool for the rest of the series.
The team had Dust2, Inferno and Overpass lined up as maps where they felt stronger, and that depth allowed them to recover from the early setback. ZywOo underlined that the series was a best-of-five, so a single loss did not derail their plan; they remained composed and focused on executing the maps they preferred.
Reflecting on the season as a whole, ZywOo accepted that Vitality had experienced two distinct phases: an explosive, dominant start to the year with multiple tournament wins, followed by a stumble after the player break which saw them mainly reach semi-finals in the latter half of the season. He pointed out that they had been close to trophies in events in Hong Kong and Chengdu but had fallen short, and that they were determined not to let that happen again at the Major.
He credited a renewed mentality and the work the team put in leading up to the Major for the turnaround. A focused boot camp immediately before the event, combined with clearer communication and training, helped the squad recapture the form they showed in the opening months of the year. When everyone was aligned and performing together, ZywOo felt Vitality were extremely difficult to challenge.
About his personal place in the game after winning a third Major and a third Major MVP, ZywOo remained modest while acknowledging the rarity of the achievement. "It's always nice to achieve something like no one is doing it," he said, expressing pride in his own performances but quickly noting that the team’s support was essential to those successes.
On what keeps him driven despite already reaching the highest milestones, ZywOo made it clear that competition itself is his primary motivation. He said he does not measure his ambition by trophies or MVP counts — whether he has two or twenty such awards is irrelevant — and that he simply enjoys competing and wants to continue testing himself against the best.
The Budapest victory therefore represents both a culmination of a season-long goal and a new starting point. For Vitality, it confirms that they can respond to adversity, refine their preparation under pressure, and deliver when it matters most. For ZywOo, it underlines his status as one of the game's elite performers while reinforcing his desire to keep chasing the next challenge.