After conquering the world, Vitality look toward the future GG.BETTeam Vitality co-owner Neo and CS:GO duo apEX and Magisk spoke with Dexerto about the off-season roster changes and the reasoning behind moving on from dupreeh. Entering the player break, Vitality had what in traditional sports is described as a good headache. Or, as Vitality co-founder and owner Fabien \u2018Neo\u2019 Devide put it, \u201ca problem of rich people\u201d. Vitality had ended the tournament season as the No.1 team in the world, finally breaking their Major duck and giving Mathieu \u2018ZywOo\u2019 Herbaut the trophy he had been chasing since he started playing \u2014 and in front of the organization\u2019s own fans, in Paris, no less. With a solid foundation to build upon, Vitality looked set to keep the same roster heading into the off-season. After all, if something isn\u2019t broken, why try to fix it? But then that tweet happened. Player agent J\u00e9r\u00f4me Coupez\u2019s tweet announcing that Shahar \u2018flameZ\u2019 Shushan was exploring his options set in motion a chain of events that ended with Vitality signing the young Israeli to replace Peter \u2018dupreeh\u2019 Rasmussen, the winningest player in CS:GO Major history. It was a matter of opportunity, with flameZ\u2019s OG deal about to expire and many elite teams vying for his signature. With the Israeli\u2019s arrival, Vitality bring the team\u2019s average age down by nearly two years to 24.3 as they look to build towards a future with Counter-Strike 2 in mind. At the same time, they add more firepower to the squad with the sort of selfless entry-fragger player they had been missing. Shortly before the \u2018Match of LeGGends\u2019 showmatch against NAVI in Berlin, Neo, Dan \u2018apEX\u2019 Madesclaire, and Emil \u2018Magisk\u2019 Reif sat down with Dexerto to talk at length about this roster change and what it means for the team\u2019s future. This conversation has been edited for clarity. Changing a player after winning a Major is not something that a lot of teams have done. What was the logic behind the move, and when did you start considering this possibility? Neo: We are working with cycles. I think that\u2019s a really weird name for it, but this is what we are doing most of the time. When I contacted zonic, I told him that the main objective of Vitality was to be a Major winner at some point because my only responsibility as owner was making sure that ZywOo would become a champion on the biggest stages. It was the reason why we built this team and switched to international. We had ups and downs in 2022, we didn\u2019t have the best year. I think everyone has stepped up massively in 2023, but we wanted to be future-proof and ahead of the curve. For us, it was also about having our final version and final lineup for CS2, and it was also the next step forward to be sure that we can project ourselves in a new two-year cycle. And the opportunity became public with flameZ \u2014 I think it was through his agent on Twitter. dupreeh is a fantastic player, he was doing a great job and we were not sure that we wanted to make a change, it was only if we had a crazy good opportunity, with a player who fit our playstyle and identity, and that also ensured that we could maybe be a bit more future-oriented. For us, the opportunity was addressed by the staff after the tweet of J\u00e9r\u00f4me Coupez, his agent, and then it became an internal discussion between the coaching staff and ourselves about what we should do, the timing and stuff. From the outside, it looks a bit unfair, because dupreeh didn\u2019t deserve to leave in that way, after winning such a great event and playing that well, but we thought it was the best for the project, even if, on an emotional level, it was really complicated to do and a really hard decision to make as an organization. What was dupreeh\u2019s reaction like, when you spoke with him? Did he understand that it was a business decision? Neo: dupreeh is a great professional, with a perfect work ethic. To be honest, of course he was surprised \u2014 and I don\u2019t want to speak on his behalf \u2014 and felt that it was probably not 100 percent deserved, and he thought that this team had more to show and to prove. And I agree, he was not wrong. It was just an opportunity that we had, and he understood the business decision and the opportunity that it represented. He reacted like a champion because he is a f**king champion of the game and pure class. He was definitely upset and thought that the team could do more with him, but, at the same time, he understood our point of view. I have massive respect for him. What are your first impressions of flameZ? How is his integration going? apEX: I\u2019m not going to lie, we haven\u2019t had much time yet. We have only had three days of practice because we wanted to get some rest after the big season we had. But we can see that flameZ is really motivated. The good thing is that he\u2019s asking a lot of questions and trying to fit into the system as well as possible. I don\u2019t want to talk bullsh*t. I don\u2019t know much about him. I will get to know him with time. But he\u2019s surely a great piece and a really nice human being. We have known him for some time because we saw each other in tournaments. He\u2019s a really good human being and really easy to talk to. I think it will be kind of easy to fit him. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to work out immediately, but he\u2019s really nice and ready to put in the hours to fit into the team. He also knows the opportunity he has, to play for a team like ours, because we\u2019ve been doing really well. For him, it\u2019s also a really nice opportunity, one that he deserves. Magisk: As Dan said already, it\u2019s too soon to say. From three days of practice, you don\u2019t get the full picture. I think the most important part is finding out how he likes to play and him finding out how we play. I think in the beginning, with Spinx, we made the mistake of not being aligned in terms of what we expected from him and what he expected from us. I think that\u2019s definitely something that we\u2019re trying to take with us and finding out how flameZ wants to play the roles and how we expect him to play those roles, and then finding out the best way to play. I think in the future we will definitely see his full potential, but that will take time, and no one can expect him to perfectly fit into the team after a few months. We saw that with Spinx. Sometimes it takes a lot of time, sometimes it takes less. I definitely think we will have to see with time. Overall, he is a hard-working guy and he\u2019s really motivated, and that\u2019s always good for a team, when you have a young guy who is really motivated and has a lot of things he wants to achieve. I think it\u2019s time to see his full potential. On a personal level, you played with dupreeh for many years and you won many tournaments together. What does it feel like to part ways with him after so many years, and where do you see his career taking him next? Magisk: It\u2019s always tough to lose a good friend and good teammate. It\u2019s never fun. We achieved a lot of good stuff together. We also went through bad periods together. Losing a teammate like that is never easy, but it\u2019s part of the industry. You have to be professional and you have to understand that, sometimes, these decisions are out of your hands. With that said, I think it\u2019s important to say that investing in the future is never a bad idea. Obviously, I\u2019m sad that I\u2019m losing a good teammate and a good friend because he is a gem and he can be a valuable asset to a lot of teams. It\u2019s quite difficult finding a person like dupreeh, especially in a professional scene like this. He\u2019s really professional, he handles a lot of stuff with a big smile and, in that sense, he can contribute to a lot of teams. I hope the best for him in the future and I hope he finds a team that suits him well. He definitely deserves it. He\u2019s a strong player and, on a human level, he\u2019s just a really good person. I have nothing bad to say about him. After so many years, you\u2019d imagine I could find a lot of bad stuff, but it\u2019s really difficult about Peter. Of course, I\u2019m sad about Peter, but I also look forward to getting to know flameZ as a person and as a teammate. I\u2019m looking forward to the future because I definitely think there\u2019s a lot we can achieve as a team. Talking a bit about flameZ and what he brings to the team. He\u2019s more of an aggressive entry-fragger \u2014 something that maybe you were lacking a little bit with the previous roster. When JACKZ played for the team in EPL, did you realize that you needed a player like this? apEX: To be honest, the period before JACKZ, playing a bit faster and with more explosion was a big tough because dupreeh is not that kind of entry-fragger, who can go in first. It wasn\u2019t the plan to do that with him at the beginning. When JACKZ stood in, I told zonic that I knew how to use him and that we would play really fast during the group stage because I knew that this guy was fearless and really good aim-wise, so I thought it would be easy to use him like that. So we did it that way, and it worked out pretty well. Then, I had a talk with zonic about how my style as a caller is to call a bit faster. We were playing way too slowly, in my opinion, and then, when we took JACKZ, I could see that playing fast is easier and is good for me as well. I had always done that in the French teams. I went to zonic and told him we had to have Peter do this role more and have him be someone who can run in first with me more. I was kind of the only one able to do that. While dupreeh was at home, he could watch JACKZ play, and he understood what he had to do. We changed dupreeh into more of an entry-fragger role and it worked out well for us. For flameZ, it comes more naturally and I think that\u2019s good as well. But dupreeh did a really good job after we asked him to do it. Right after EPL, he improved a lot, and you can see that in his stats. I think he understood his role. He wasn\u2019t the old dupreeh like in Astralis and we didn\u2019t need that from him anymore. We had ZywOo, we had Spinx and also Emil, all of whom could put in the numbers. We just needed someone that could sacrifice himself and also be good at big tournaments, and that\u2019s what he did. But now, we have in flameZ someone in this role in a more natural way. For him, it\u2019s normal to run in first. If for some reason, you couldn\u2019t get flameZ, would you have signed a different player or would you have kept the roster as it was? Neo: I think we would have kept the same players. We were not in a hurry to make a change. It was not our initial plan or our initial thought. Of course, when you have \u2014 I\u2019m sorry, Dan \u2014 30-year-old players, you are starting to question yourself because at some point, Spinx, Zywoo, they are 22, and Emil is 24. apEx: 25. Magisk: I\u2019m getting older, sorry [laughs]. Neo: Sorry [laughs]. You have to surround them with [players from] the same generation. Of course, we had a lot of question marks with older players, and also with the transition to a new game. Usually, when there\u2019s a new game, most of the time the youngsters take over because they are hungry, they can play like crazy without thinking about anything else. It was definitely in our mind but not a top priority. The only reason we made this change was for a player that we liked and that ticked all the boxes. I think flameZ was this kind of player, one who gave us a headache. It was like a problem of rich people, when you have a winning team, a Major-winning team, and then you can add a top prospect. It was a really tough conversation. Money-wise, opportunity-wise, future-wise, everything was aligned to make the move. Sometimes, you need to make hard decisions. I\u2019m not afraid to make them because this is what we try to build with Vitality. We want to make sure that we are at the top every year, and the thing I\u2019m the proudest of right now is that we have been top 5 or top 3 almost always since we joined Counter-Strike. This kind of commitment and legacy, this is something that I\u2019m really proud of. Right now, winning one Major gives us more appetite to win another one. In the beginning, you\u2019re aiming for one, and then, when you have one, you want 10. That\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re trying to build, but with a lot of modesty and stuff like that. In esports, everything changes super fast, so we need to make sure we have plenty of time. Adding flameZ right now makes sense because there\u2019s no Major at the end of the year. It\u2019s a transition to the new game, and having a lot of time with a rookie to give him the right habits and methods is also great. Usually, in esports you don\u2019t have time. Our main objective, and the main goal of this team, is to win Majors. So having eight months in front of us is also a luxury. What are your expectations for the new season, now that you have a new player? How long do you think it will take to be at 100% with flameZ? apEX: I really don\u2019t know. We haven\u2019t talked about it yet. I prefer having a team talk about that. For sure, we are one of the most exciting teams to watch. Having this young gun with us is adding even more firepower to the team, I would say. But I have no idea how long it will take. I don\u2019t want to say two months, one month, or six months. I have no clue. We need to see. We have only been playing for a few days, and I cannot say much about that. Let\u2019s see how long it will take. I wish we could be ready for Cologne, but if that happens it will be more like a one-shot than a team effort. I think we can be really good there, but most likely we won\u2019t. We will have a lot of tournaments in the next two months without a lot of practice. We\u2019re going to work a bit here and there. It\u2019s going to be tough, for sure. What are your thoughts on the off-season changes? In your opinion, which teams made the best changes? apEX: It\u2019s not done yet, but Cloud9. If they pick up electroNic and Perfecto, I think it\u2019s going to be crazy. Individually, it can be something really great. I think they may have won the off-season. So many teams have changed so much, so I don\u2019t know what to expect. NAVI changed three players, MOUZ changed two. A lot of teams have changed a lot of guys. FURIA as well. This off-season was the craziest we\u2019ve ever had. Seeing NAVI going international when they have a crazy scene around them \u2014 but, obviously, with the war it\u2019s pretty tough to take in Russian players. It\u2019s crazy to see this many changes. It\u2019s exciting. If the Cloud9 rumor is true, they are going to be one of the teams you have to be the most scared of. Magisk: I think it\u2019s really difficult to say who\u2019s going to be the winner and who\u2019s going to be the loser. There have been too many changes and a lot of teams have changed a lot. I think there are many big question marks. NAVI is going to be a big question mark. You basically have no idea. It really depends on the team chemistry, how they are going to fit together. In the beginning, when we became international, it was so much different because you have different cultures. I\u2019m not sure people are ready for that, I\u2019m not sure people understand the importance of aligning cultures and finding how to work together. apEX: And playing the same CS. Thinking CS the same way. Magisk: That takes time. You have no idea. They might be good for two months, but then, when reality hits, they start having problems, and they start not performing. How are they going to react? That\u2019s the big question. I think Cloud9, if it\u2019s true, is definitely exciting. But I also think it\u2019s going to be difficult because you\u2019re going to have a lot of star personalities. You\u2019re going to have a guy like electroNic, he will probably have to sacrifice a lot compared to what he is used to. Is that going to interfere? He has also tried to be the in-game leader. It\u2019s going.to be a big question mark because there are so many star personalities. Perfecto is a really good anchor player but he\u2019s not really an entry anchor. Who\u2019s going to go in first? Ax1Le is not an entry-fragger, sh1ro is definitely not an entry-fragger. It\u2019s really difficult to say how it\u2019s going to work. That is definitely a team that could be really dangerous if they make it work. I have no idea, mate. It\u2019s difficult to say what is going to happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After conquering the world, Vitality look toward the future GG.BETTeam Vitality co-owner Neo and CS:GO duo apEX and Magisk spoke with Dexerto about the off-season roster changes and the reasoning behind moving on from dupreeh. Entering the player break, Vitality had what in traditional sports is described as a good headache. Or, as Vitality co-founder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}