Ahead of StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, Team Vitality is one of the favorites to lift the trophy. The European squad has insane results this season. They won seven Tier-1 tournaments, while their superstar, ZywOo, reached a new individual peak. We have decided to learn more about the preparation for the Major and spoke with Jack Birtwhistle, the performance coach of the CS2 team.
A Typical Tournament Day depends on the match schedule. Sometimes we play early, as early as 10 AM, sometimes we play as late as 8 PM. So we always have to plan the day around that. If it is an afternoon or evening game, often apEX and mezii will start it with a workout around 10/10:30 am. At around 12 pm, we will have our team walk. This is our first team activity of the day; we get outside, get some sunlight, movement, and fresh air. At 12:30, we will have lunch together as a team before starting match prep at 13:00.
Match preparation is when we start to focus intensely on the game and what needs to be done, both technically, tactically, strategically, and mentally, to succeed in the game. This usually takes about an hour. After this, the players have some free time to get themselves ready for the game, get changed, pack their gear and do some individual warm up and prep.
We then have our shuttle to the venue. Depending on the TO and the location of the venue, this can be anywhere from 75 minutes to 2 hours before game time. Let's say, for example, it's a short shuttle like it was at IEM Chengdu, it would be at 15:45, we would arrive at the venue at 16:00, one hour before the game.
As soon as we arrive, the players will go to the booth and begin setting up and warming up, and the coaches will go and do the veto. At 16:30, once all players feel comfortable and ready, we will head outside and do a short physical warm-up or activation. We have two games we play, Brazil, it's basically keep-ups with the football. Then 2 balls which is us throwing two tennis balls around trying to eliminate each other.
Now, if the game before us goes to a third map or is delayed, we adapt the schedule to the expected match start time.
At 16:40, we will have a quick team talk before we head back to the booth or stage ready to play at 17:00.
After the game, the players will have various media obligations. Once those are all done, we have a quick debrief we call a capture. Its about quickly identifying important things from the game (good and bad) that either need to be addressed or to move on from and close the game before focusing on our next opponent.
After the shuttle back to the hotel we will take dinner together as a team, the boys will have some time to chill and unwind before we start to focus on the next opponent. Shahar prefers to workout in the evening, so he will likely do his session here. Almost straight away, Mat (team analyst) and XTQZZZ (head coach) will begin analysing our opponent to prepare for the next game, and when the players are ready, they will head back to practice to play some CS or start their prep for the next match.
We don't really get an off-season. We have 3 weeks off over Summer and Christmas, and during that time it's entirely about rest and reset for the players, so we don't keep a team schedule.
Every team has its mix of personalities. Who’s the biggest joker in the squad, and who’s the calmest one in high-pressure moments?
We have a pretty special group of young men in the team, special in every way. The biggest jokes are probably flameZ and ropz. Ropz might seem quiet, but he has a very funny sense of humor, and flameZ is the team jester, always trolling, etc. But also apEX, mezii, and ZywOo are funny guys. We have a very jokey, light environment when outside the server, and I think it helps keep a good environment and mood when dealing with the stress of the CS calendar.
Calmest under pressure is a hard one. They are all so good, as you can see from some of our crazy wins we have had this year. No one is perfect, so everyone has challenges, but the best thing about this group is that when one guy is down, someone else will step up. mezii is super calm under pressure, even when he is having a rough game personally, he looks to do what he can for the team. flameZ is the same. ZywOo is a star, and loves the big stage. Robin is super experienced and is never bothered. Dan is a great leader in the biggest moments: usually, these moments help him be even better than the smaller events.
The loudest and most intense is definitely apEX. It's not even close. We have 4 pretty chill personalities in ropz, ZywOo, mezii, and flameZ, and apEX is the fire that drives the team forward.
We have also prepared a little quiz for players from Vitality. They shared with us about their life away from CS2, what kind of hobbies they have, favorite places to travel or go-to ways to switch off from the competitive grind:
Since Skin.Land and Team Vitality became official partners, we decided to ask players about their “lucky skins”. ropz and mezii told us that there are no lucky skins for them, while flameZ shared that M9 Bayonet | Gamma Doppler Emerald is his favorite skin to play with.
According to ZywOo, the AWP | Dragon Lore is one of the most overrated skins in CS, while USP-S | Kill Confirmed is the underrated. He and his teammates are choosing Skin.Land as a trusted platform to buy and sell skins in CS2.
Join the special Major-Season Giveaway by Skin.Land. Complete simple actions to boost your chances of grabbing some really cool prizes: Limited Team Vitality Long Sleeve Jersey, M9 Bayonet | Autotronic, Karambit | Freehand, and more great skins.
As a sign of gratitude to our community, we offer a $10 bonus with a code “vitality”. Head over to Skin.Land, activate your bonus for the first sale and browse the vast assortment of skins and other CS2 customization items!
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