The Golden Hornets were with the team every step of the way. (Picture: ESL, Christoph Krause)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEven before the match began, high-quality Counter-Strike was a sure guarantee. But whether the players knew that: “To be honest, no. We are never thinking about this, because we never know what can happen,” ZywOo explained. “Before starting the Finals, we wanted to play in our own way, with our DNA, because the Final is always different. Even though we say it’s a special day, it’s a normal performance. It’s always tough to do it in the Finals. So we try our best during this game. It wasn’t perfect every time, but we always came back. We never give up. That’s what we showed.”<\/p>\n
In the arena, Vitality’s fan presence was near-unmatched, save for NAVI’s. Each team had a group of fans occupying almost an entire stand on opposite ends of the venue. The Golden Hornets, all dressed in matching jerseys, make it their mission to support Team Vitality throughout Europe. With orchestrated chants, drums, and a massive flag depicting apEX’s face, you’d have thought we were back in Paris.<\/p>\nA long overdue victory. (Picture: ESL, Helena Kristiansson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis victory for Vitality was immensely important for the team, yes, but for the fans it was an experience they would never forget. “They didn’t travel for nothing,” said ZywOo. “I don’t remember who, but they said in Cologne there were most likely NAVI fans. But with [our fans], I couldn’t feel that. They were screaming a lot. They gave everything, so they can take 5% of the win today. Because without them, maybe we would have lost. They gave a lot of support. They gave a lot of things. So I just want to say thanks to them. We’re going to maybe have a drink with them tonight and just enjoy it.”<\/p>\n
An evening of celebrations was clearly on the cards for Vitality. “Yeah, but we need to go fast because the bar is waiting for us!”<\/p>\n
We’ll be seeing plenty more of Team Vitality in the upcoming BLAST Premier World Final, and IEM Katowice 2025. See you there!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s been a long overdue victory for Team Vitality. Here stands a team that are no strangers to IEM Cologne, yet have been constantly evaded…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12874,"featured_media":66906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-counter-strike-2","genre-fps","content_type-interview"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
ZywOo on Team Vitality's Victory at IEM Cologne 2024: "We Were Ready to Fight Against Anyone" - GINX TV<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n