Vitality claim Grand Slam with epic five-map win over Falcons

Vitality entered as favorites for IEM Melbourne this week and while they've walked away champions and ESL Grand Slam winners, it was as tough as it ever gets.

Falcons made the champs work for it, with the 3-2 (13-2, 12-16, 13-9, 10-13, 22-20) victory taking a monstrous six-plus hours. The 10,000-strong Aussie crowd were as lethargic as the players by the end, but both left it all in Rod Laver Arena for the history books.

William "mezii" Merriman, a vital piece to Vitality's puzzle, spoke to esports.gg following the grand final epic, discussing the team's approach to Falcons in the veto, his individual improvement over 2024, and what it will take to stay on top in such a competitive CS2 atmosphere.

Six and a half hours of Counter-Strike. IEM Katowice, EPL, BLAST Lisbon, and now Melbourne plus the Grand Slam in the bag. Did you expect 2025 to begin like this? 

"No way. I mean, when we picked up ropz, I think we knew we could do some damage. We knew we were ready to start winning some tournaments. I think we had a rough 2024, but I think you can never expect to win this many tournaments that quick. 

"We knew last year it's tough to win CS tournaments, it's really tough, so I'm just happy that we can ride this wave, this momentum, and really be dominant because it's really tough at the moment. 

"Even you saw today, Falcons, who are a new team and got a new player and they haven't had much time to practice, they made it really tough for us and I'm just happy we closed it out."

m0NESY spoke to me earlier this week about Falcons working on getting reps on Train. What did you think of their Train when you guys got to it? It seemed like a map that we thought you guys were going to have in the bag pretty comfortably but it was a bit closer than expected. 

"It's always tough because we don't have a lot of prep on them [on the map] but we're really confident in how we play. I think it shouldn't have been that close. We had like two or three 5v3s or something where we really shouldn't be losing these rounds. So it made it a lot closer than it looks. 

"Overall I think they played a solid train. I think it's also down to time. I don't think they have enough time to be able to add depth to their strat book. It was more of an advantage for us."

\Was there any expectation or any concern about Falcons coming into this event? So many were preparing for the MOUZ challenge in that grand final.

"I think overall you kind of expect them to be on this kind of honeymoon period. m0NESY is a great addition, he's a top-three AWPer and I've said before it's the difference when you have a player like ZywOo or donk. You can have these top five, top 10 players and of course they're great. 

"It takes your level to another game and even with not much time for them in terms of preparation and practice, you can see what they can do. We had a close best of three initially against them, we knew this best-of-five was going to be tough as well."

That’s 21 wins in a row. The comparisons to prime Astralis are rife. How do you personally stay grounded and improve when you’re on top like this? Grand Slam is one achievement, but a Major win is another, right?

"I think for us it's kind of like a redemption or revenge kind of feeling from 2024. We felt like we definitely wasted some time. We didn't close out any of the tournaments that we wanted to. We didn't win as much as we wanted to and we wasted the second part of the year.

"When you're putting so much time in coming into this year, we were going to go as hard as we could and win as much as we could because you never know when the next win is going to be.

"Of course, we won four of these tournaments but for us we need to just keep going. If we bum out of Austin, all this isn't going to matter. We win the Grand Slam, yeah, it's great; we've got a 21 win streak, great. But if we don't do well at the Major then its all for naught.

"Every player wants to be in the record books of playing well at the Majors and winning a Major and I think that's what we want to do as well—it's our main goal."

The team’s strategy is top-notch, your mental fortitude is world-class, but you’re also all showing you can hang with the best individually, too. All of you guys seemingly had your moments, even in tonight's game. Where would you rate yourself individually where you're at compared to where you've been in the past? 

"I'm playing some better CS, some more consistent CS I think is the most important thing. The first part of last year, I was not playing very well. I was very inconsistent but towards the end of year it picked up. This year I'm seeing things at a much better level.

"I want to be a solid player for the team. I want to be someone they can rely on. For me, I've been working really hard with a lot of the staff, the coaches, the assistant coach as well, Matt has been helping me work on my game and improve in some positions. 

"I’ve been more consistent, but I know I can be better."

What's the plan for the rest of your time here before you head to Copenhagen? Early night after such a slog, or hitting Melbourne to celebrate? 

"I'm not going to have much time [to celebrate] but at least for tonight there's going to be a few drinks. I've already done my first shoey which has been fun, I would have enjoyed doing it on the stage!

"We want to let it all soak in, speak to the family as well and just enjoy this time. Of course, we're going straight into the next tournament and we don't want to fall off. Like I said, we've got a win streak to keep up now."

ESL Grand Slam and IEM Melbourne champs Vitality will enjoy the night out before they fly to Copenhagen for BLAST Rivals Spring.

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