This map against MongolZ now we threw some rounds, 4v3 and 4v2 and we’re going for duels, but it’s better for the players to go for the duels than not do anything and be scared. Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in Counter-Strike 2 with our dedicated news and coverage hub. Get in-depth analysis, exclusive insights, and breaking updates on this highly anticipated game. Whether you’re a pro player or a passionate fan, our platform is your one-stop destination for all things Counter-Strike 2. Explore gameplay insights, event highlights, and expert commentary as we dive deep into the world of CS2. Vitality’s newest arrival was ecstatic at the prospect of playing with one of the best payers in the world.
Vitality have been on a great run of late with wins at IEM Rio 2023, the BLAST.tv Paris Major and a grand final appearance at BLAST Premier Spring Final 2023. Success did little to quench their thirst for improvement however, and as rostermania roared into action they made the surprising move to replace legendary Danish entry fragger Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen with Israeli star Shahar “flameZ” Shushan. Everybody’s gonna be up to meta, they just need to check their textbook from two years ago and they’re fine. If CS wants to change and make game-changing moves, they need to make a new Overpass, a different Overpass, or bring a map that hasn’t been played in a lot of years.
Teammates
- FlameZ missed out on an EVP again in Dallas, where Vitality came up short in the title decider to a G2 who completed a fairytale run to the trophy with Jake “Stewie2K” Yip as a stand-in.
- A flat 0.94 rating and three maps rated 0.78 or below left flameZ without a VP or EVP for the third and final time in 2024.
- “Around this time I felt like I met a lot of people that were key to keeping me intact with the game,” flameZ says.
- Aleksib was traded for Nemanja “nexa” Isaković at the start of 2022, but a last-place exit at IEM Katowice and failing to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp brought about more changes with Maciej “F1KU” Miklas, Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar, and Abdul “degster” Gasanov joining mid-way through the year.
- He was the only one to go positive on Vitality (1.22 rating) in an 8-13 defeat on Mirage, but dropped off on the decider (0.68) as FaZe stole away the victory and brought Vitality’s season to a dismal end.
- Whether you’re a pro player or a passionate fan, our platform is your one-stop destination for all things Counter-Strike 2.
Vitality played BLAST World Final with Audric “JACKZ” Jug as a stand-in for mezii, who took time away after becoming a father, and the event in Singapore started in predictably poor fashion. FlameZ recorded a 0.78 rating in a 0-2 loss to Spirit, but even with a stand-in Vitality recovered by defeating Liquid and MOUZ to reach the semi-final before toppling to G2. “During my time with apEX, he has always told me that it is never guaranteed you will be on the winning side and even reaching playoffs and being able to compete on big stages is something we should be thankful for,” flameZ says when asked how he reflects on Vitality’s only title victory of the year.
Game Settings
“Then when the new roster came around with F1KU, NEOFRAG, and so on, it became a grind together and I was very committed.” “Around this time I felt like I met a lot of people that were key to keeping me intact with the game,” flameZ says. “I lost motivation not only because of the age restriction; I had a terrible PC, monitor, and mindset. Focus in Israel soon turned to international competition and on making a name for yourself in FPL, but flameZ was still under 16 and ineligible to compete in qualifiers for most big events.
Flamez: voor smokers door smokers!
A rejuvenated Vitality arrived at BLAST Fall Groups, a 1.19 average rating by flameZ and overall elevation by the team seeing them bounce past GamerLegion and Astralis (twice) to provide some much-needed confidence ahead of the next Super-Elite event of the year, IEM Cologne. “The Major was a big struggle with the ZywOo situation, but it showed me a lot of character in him,” flameZ says. “He was really sick and playing badly, but he kept giving energy, hyping us, and doing everything he could. For a player who expects and everybody expects him to do well, it was really nice to see him this way, and it made me believe more in the team.” “To be honest I’m not so sure what went wrong, it feels like so long ago,” flameZ says of the result.
Flamez filtertips rasta
That supremacy continued in the LANXESS Arena, where Vitality Flamez shut down SAW’s Cinderella run with a decisive 2-0 to reach the best-of-five grand final. Vitality then reached back-to-back grand finals at ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas, but were stopped short of lifting the silverware by MOUZ and G2. ZywOo was back to his best in Malta and helped his team romp through the group stage undefeated with a 1.71 rating over six maps, with flameZ’s own efforts good for a 1.19 rating ahead of the playoffs.
- His consistent showings against the best teams, 1.25 playoff rating, 1.02 KPRW, and 99.5 ADRW sealed the case for his second EVP of the year, but Vitality still went into the tournament break without lifting a piece of silverware.
- “In Malta I was really demotivated sadly, I had a lot of excuses and wasn’t professional at all,” he explains of his up-and-down performances post-Cologne.
- He put in another strong shift against FaZe (1.20 rating) and started well against Astralis in the semi-final, but deflated showings on three maps — two coming against MOUZ in the final — stopped him short of another EVP as he ended the event with a 1.06 rating overall (0.98 in playoffs).
- Vitality have been on a great run of late with wins at IEM Rio 2023, the BLAST.tv Paris Major and a grand final appearance at BLAST Premier Spring Final 2023.
- Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2024 ranking and learn more about how the players were selected in our introduction article.
- FlameZ joined Vitality in mid-2023 on a free transfer from OG and quickly established himself as an X-factor player for Vitality.
FlameZ was Vitality’s third-best player with a 1.24 rating in the Elimination Stage, just 0.01 below Spinx, and he carried that through into the playoffs with a team-leading 1.54 rating on Nuke for a 1-0 start to the series. He was the only one to go positive on Vitality (1.22 rating) in an 8-13 defeat on Mirage, but dropped off on the decider (0.68) as FaZe stole away the victory and brought Vitality’s season to a dismal end. His worst event of the year followed at IEM Rio, where Vitality lost to HEROIC in the group stage upper bracket final and were eliminated in the quarter-finals by MOUZ. A flat 0.94 rating and three maps rated 0.78 or below left flameZ without a VP or EVP for the third and final time in 2024. With that lineup, flameZ qualified for his first Major, playing in the Challengers Stage of IEM Rio 2022 and falling just short of advancing to the top-16 after losing to Vitality in a three-map series. OG were far from title contenders, however, with flameZ and degster often relied upon for any upset wins, and one of their only notable playoff appearances came at BLAST World Final 2022 with a run to the semis over HEROIC and Vitality.
FlameZ continued to be exceptional under the bright lights of the Royal Arena against Cloud9, posting a 1.28 rating on Inferno and putting on another masterclass on Anubis (2.03 rating, 18-6 K-D) for a swift berth through to the semi-final, but there Vitality had their Major run halted by FaZe. A loss to Eternal Fire in the Elimination Stage’s opener — where ZywOo was the only one who finished positive for Vitality — could have spelled doom for the reigning Major champions, but flameZ and Spinx took the reins to help charge past The MongolZ, Imperial, and Complexity to reach the playoffs. “I got different positions and ruggah and kakafu wanted me to have more responsibility which was very valuable for me to explore myself, and the org was always seeking improvement and added people to try to help us in the mental aspect which was very beneficial to me.” OG barely missed out on qualifying for PGL Major Stockholm, the first after the pandemic, and exited in groups at IEM Winter to end the year on a sour note. Aleksib was traded for Nemanja “nexa” Isaković at the start of 2022, but a last-place exit at IEM Katowice and failing to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp brought about more changes with Maciej “F1KU” Miklas, Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar, and Abdul “degster” Gasanov joining mid-way through the year. The coronavirus pandemic then allowed flameZ to fully focus on Counter-Strike, and he continued to grind FPL-C while playing for Adaptation.
flameZ
Local LANs offered flameZ and other youngsters the opportunity to prove themselves, but the Israeli scene remained isolated, focused mostly on forming the best teams to win the few local LANs held each year. That changed when Uniquestars, Israel’s best team, lost to MVP PK at IeSF World Championship — to the surprise of players in Israel who did not know any of the other teams at the event – and after Noah “buue” Nethanel Türnpu became the first Israeli player to qualify for FPL in December 2017. I talked to apEX yesterday and he was pretty happy about how you guys handled coming back from the break and not looking rusty. “Then 2023 we started out with Katowice and BLAST. It was very close to getting playoffs at Katowice and with BLAST we were very close to qualifying for Washington,” he began. “With Katowice I was sick, so it was the tournament we just throw out the window, we don’t really care about it. It could have been better.
He had to step back any time the team wanted to compete in big qualifiers, which at one point caused him to quit playing CS for several months. “But to be honest, I loved sitting behind shushan and watching him play. And later on when I got a PC, it was my place to be social with people, to talk, share experiences, and have a common goal. Also to some extent, it was an escape route that made me feel really at peace.” I think magixx, from what I saw, was always bringing good mood and good vibes, and I think every player in the scene knows that magixx is literally a sweetheart.
