Quick Scope is series of oftentimes short opinion pieces written by Steven Cropley.

There’s no question that Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut is one of if not the best player in the world. Given his ridiculous consistency at the top of the leaderboard nearly every time he steps into a server (by a large margin), nothing can take away from his raw ability.

It is, however, worth noting that this star player is not going it alone. While he may be the one shining throughout each match, the brightness is largely impacted by how his team gives him all the tools necessary. This is done in several ways including dropping weapons, sacrificing for the trade or information, utility usage, and more.



During an interview with us at VPEsports back in February, Dan “apEX” Madesclaire explained just how impactful ZywOo is. “He is young and probably the most talented player I’ve ever played with. And the most interesting thing that he has much more potential and things to improve. So let him shine,” he said. Let him shine is exactly what they’ve done.

While Alex “ALEX” McMeekin somewhat evened it out with a statement to RedBull back in June by stating “we are a team, not just a one man army,” and that’s the point I’m trying to make.

It’s easy to get lost in the numbers because they’re something that pops out, that get recorded after every match, something you can go back and look at and compare.

What’s harder to see is the steps and work being put in by the rest of the team that help ZywOo achieve such numbers. One point was brought to light by DonHaci on twitter during Vitality’s match against North earlier today for the StarSeries Season 8 finals. “ALEX casually full saving after winning the pistol so he can drop him (ZywOo) awp in the round after. Didn’t even buy kevlar or nades.”

ZywOo is the big man on Vitality but his teammates do put him in the best position almost at all times, ALEX casually full saving after winning the pistol so he can drop him awp in the round after. Didn't even buy kevlar or nades. — Haci (@DonHaci) October 21, 2019

Apart from dropping guns to ZywOo, Vitality’s other four players are also playing in a way that allows their teammate to make the big plays.

In an interview at IEM Chicago, I asked the former captain of Vitality Nathan “NBK” Schmitt about the meme that the team simply tells the young talent to “go kill.” In response, he explained that while ZywOo is the most consistent by far, “he’s also put into the best situations possible, he always goes last and all that stuff because he’s going to clutch the round, he’s going to kill everyone,” he said.

“It all makes sense, but as you said, we have dozens and dozens of strats and defenses and we need that in order to put everyone in the same situations,” he added to further answer my inquiry as to how they were working to take some of the weight off of ZywOo’s shoulders.

When watching Vitality play, you’ll notice a lot of freedom given to ZywOo that enables him to go for flashy and impactful players but what you may not notice is the backup provided or utility being used that allows him to hit that shot. Seldom will someone not be providing some sort of support to the star which allows him to shine brighter than his pure mechanical ability may let him.

You can’t take away what ZywOo does for Vitality, but it’s important to remember what the rest of his team does for him.

Related article: