After Vitality secured their first win at the StarSeries Fall, defeating magic to advance to the upper bracket semifinals (where they will face the winner of FURIA vs MIBR), we interviewed flameZ.
This Israeli rifler talked about how Vitality are navigating a season full of uncertainty after their tremendous success, and how they are fighting to secure a spot in Stage 3 of the Major, with their biggest goal of the season set on the Major.
flameZ: The situation is indeed tough right now, but if we can win the match and make it to Stage 3 of the Major, we know we'll be fully prepared for the Major. We'll have a chance to perform well at the Major, and that's the main goal.
Q: Let's talk about Vitality trying to get back on track. You just played an event with jL, and you'll continue to play with him. Can you talk about what difficulties this has brought?
flameZ: It's tough, because VRS points are very important, but you know that in some tournaments we won't have our full roster, so our strength will be discounted. Training is also very hard, because mezii took leave for Porto, and then due to his child, he won't be able to train for a while. Then apEX's child will probably be born during PGL, and before that we definitely won't be able to practice with him. Afterwards we might practice with jL, but it feels completely different.
You have to adapt to a new calling voice, and adapt to a new teammate playing in different positions. Although we know jL and he can play many different positions, the process of practicing and building chemistry is still awkward, because swapping one player out and bringing another one in is really strange. At least we know JL, that's the good side.
Q: So what is the goal? Is it to go as far as possible, stay competitive, and then make a push when the full team is assembled before the Major?
flameZ: What we want right now is to get our form back and play a bit stronger. In some of the matches we lost this season, we didn't even play our own game. If we play badly, we don't really care that much whether we win or lose. We want to play good CS.
We certainly care about winning and losing, but losing when we play poorly feels much worse than losing when we play well and our opponents are outstanding. That's been the case this season, so we just want to get back in form — that's the main goal. If we do that, titles will come naturally, and we know everything we are capable of winning will follow.
Q: You mentioned JL's situation. That's quite interesting, because you know him, but he's replacing another player, so the lineup will change somewhat. Since you first started working together, has he brought anything, or made you think about anything—has there been any chemistry?
flameZ: It forces you to focus more on basic teamwork rather than just staring at the playbook, and that's exactly what happened. We spent a lot of time on trading and doing the fundamental things, but trying to do them well. The most crucial thing about him is that he's like a source of energy. In matches, he can create a different atmosphere, it feels more alive, with lots of jokes, lots of weird stuff... We're having a lot more fun in the server. But on the other hand, he moves around a lot. He's a player who wants to create opportunities by running around, so he brought his own style, we had to adapt to him, and he had to adapt to us.
But I think the situation will be very different because we don't have apEX. It will be very different for him because mezii's calling style will be different. We might have very different positioning and stuff like that.
So I think it will be a bit strange for him and for the whole roster, but at least we have more time to practice. With JL this time, we only had about two days of practice time, one day was media day, and the other day was because we flew from EWC to Copenhagen, so going forward we'll have more time to practice, more time to unify the playstyle we need.
Q: Looking at the bigger picture, you built an era, set a very high standard, and won many championships. Now facing so many changes, how do you view getting back to the top? Are the best days behind you? Can you get back there?
flameZ: We believe we can come back, because in 2025 we also had a very difficult start to the season (or second season), but we still came back, won the Major, and then won five titles early in the year. So we believe in everyone, believe in this lineup. I don't think anyone would think there is another group of five better than our team.
The key is to keep our heads down, put in the hard work, and get back in form. Sometimes you need to go through these moments to become the strongest team again. We accept these moments. It may be tough, but it's been a tough season and the points situation is very tight. If we can win our matches and reach Stage 3 of the Major, we know we will be fully prepared for the Major and have a chance to perform well there — that's the main goal.
Even if we don't win any titles this season, as long as we win the Major, I think that feeling would be amazing. Of course, we strive for everything, the goal is not the title itself, the title is just the result of playing good CS.
Q: This event is a bit different as well. It's a studio event with eight teams. It's quite different from the many stages you're used to, right? How does it feel to return to this relatively relaxed environment?
flameZ: It's definitely a bit different. Honestly, we don't really like it this way. We like stage matches, we like playing in front of the crowd. We sometimes miss that feeling. But this tournament is a good opportunity to earn VRS points. We haven't played StarLadder in a while, the last time was the Major, which was an amazing tournament, so we're looking forward to it. We just want to play good CS and get back in form, because including this one, we have about two or three tournaments left this season with the full lineup. So we want to use these opportunities to show our best, that's it.
Q: As I said before, you've been at the top, and it's a bit hard to maintain that hunger. Now you're not at your best, could this instead reignite your fighting spirit?
flameZ: Of course, definitely. If you're not playing that well, titles... I wouldn't say titles used to be taken for granted, but it feels much harder now than before. So winning a title now, even the smallest one, would mean a lot. But I do feel like our playstyle hasn't changed, we try to put energy into the game, try to make plans, and play the CS we know.
So in that sense, it's no different; it's more about pre-match preparation, coming into the event with a certain mindset, not wanting to lose even the smallest round. In the past we might have thrown around sometimes, lost a round, then somehow won the match and never looked at that round again. But now we're putting in work on a lot of things, staying in sync, playing together as much as possible, that's it.