Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Team Vitality secured their third title of the year on Sunday, defeating Natus Vincere with a decisive 3-0 sweep in the best-of-five grand final of BLAST Open Rotterdam.
Vitality’s victory in the Netherlands cements their position as the undisputed top team in Counter-Strike. Building upon an incredibly dominant 2025 campaign, the international roster has maintained a firm grip on the competitive circuit for the past 18 months. Their 2026 season has already yielded three significant trophies, continuing a streak of consistency that leaves other top contenders struggling to keep pace.
Overcoming a late push from NAVI
Despite NAVI being widely considered the second-best team in the world, the best-of-five series showcased a clear gap between the two finalists. Vitality established massive early leads of 12-6 and 12-5 on two of the maps played. NAVI managed to string rounds together late in those games to close the gap, a situation ZywOo attributed to a temporary drop in focus from his squad.
We could have finished the game earlier, I would say, but it is also a way like maybe we took the game a bit too easy at the end,” ZywOo explained after the match. “Less communication, less individual kills. So it was tougher for us to find again the way to find the win. But yeah, we played better than them in this event.
Internal competition fuels roster depth
While ZywOo posted the highest individual rating in the final, the overall tournament MVP award was handed to his teammate Robin “ropz” Kool, with Shahar “flameZ” Shushan also remaining in the MVP conversation throughout the event. Rather than creating friction, ZywOo noted that having multiple players competing for the top individual accolades only strengthens the team’s dynamic.
It is always fun to have this, like all the teammates are making fun of that because it is a small competition inside of the team,” he said. “Obviously, it is always fun. There is no ego. For me, for anyone, because if someone is performing, how can you be mad at him? I think if he deserves it, he deserves to be at this level.
The French superstar highlighted that this shared responsibility and immense roster depth are the core reasons behind Vitality’s ongoing era of dominance.
We have this feeling for one year and a half right now,” ZywOo said regarding the team’s current form. “Every time someone is not there on the server, someone else is taking the place. It is always amazing to have this team. That is why we are maybe one of the best teams right now. Everyone can bring so much into the game, even though sometimes I am feeling bad, or sometimes it is ropz, sometimes flameZ, but everyone can pop up into the game.
You can see the full interview with the current best player in the world in the video down below.
