ESL Pro League Season 16 gives ZywOo the thirteenth individual award during his career.
The 16th season of ESL Pro League concluded with Team Vitality’s triumph over Team Liquid on October 2. Mathieu ” ZywOo ” Herbaut, the AWPer of Team Vitality, was crowned the MVP by the event organizers for his all-round brilliant performance and record-breaking 143 kills in the Grand Final. If you missed the Grand Final stage, check out our recap of the event.
— Team Vitality (@TeamVitality) October 2, 2022
The 21-year-old Frenchman led the kill count of the tournament, and was by far the most outstanding performer during Team Vitality’s journey to their first EPL trophy in Malta. The MVP was his first award after almost a year since winning Best Player at IEM Winter 2021. This makes it his only MVP Award this year after a 10-month streak with only middling-to-decent performances.
This award brings his total career accolades to thirteen. With his magnificent gameplay, ZywOo has managed to effortlessly snatch the award from other contenders, such as Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski , Keith “NAF” Markovic, Emil “Magisk” Reif, and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis.
ZywOo Being ZywOo
The MVP winner ended this season of Pro League with a remarkable +207 KD, averaging a 1.42 HLTV rating. This made the competition his best tournament since EPICENTER 2019, where he cranked out performances averaging a rating of 1.53.
ZywOo was unbeatable from the beginning to the end of the tournament, dominating the scoreboard throughout the Group Stage matches to take Team Vitality to the top of Group A. His highest-rated performances were in the series against Spirit and Endpoint, which got ratings of 1.69 and 1.61. His overall tally included 536 glorious kills, 15 clutches, and 0.91 KPR.
Once in the playoffs, ZywOo led Team Vitality to victories in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals against Outsiders and G2, respectively. In the Grand Final against Team Liquid, ZywOo showed his sheer prowess with an unparalleled 143 frags and a rating average of 1.39 across the five map series, pushing Vitality towards their victory and breaking records in the process. This included a ridiculous 51-kill game on the third map Mirage, which saw the teams play three Overtime periods until a winner emerged.
Copyright: ESL
Among the total of 21 maps played by the European team, the AWPer got a below 1.00 rating on only one map.
Success for Vitality
Vitality beat Liquid 3-2 in the Bo5 Grand Final, which earned the French clan $200,000 and secured their place in BLAST World Final 2022 and IEM Katowice 2023. On the other hand, Team Liquid got $85,000 in prize money.
The win comes as a welcome bit of success for the French team. The team had been struggling to close out essential matches — especially in the playoff stages of tournaments. This achievement will give them some much-needed confidence, and will also undoubtedly cement newcomer Lotan “Spinx” Giladi’s place in the team for the foreseeable future. The addition of the Israeli as a replacement for former young star Kévin “misutaaa” Rabier was questioned by many, but the team have clearly proven their point.
After the win, Vitality posted about the star player on their Twitter with the caption, “This GOAT made 143 kills tonight 🏆”
This GOAT made 143 kills tonight 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Aay946oRgO
— Team Vitality (@TeamVitality) October 2, 2022
There won’t be much time for Vitality to indulge in a victory celebration, however, as the Europe Regional Major Rankings for the IEM Rio Major is starting on October 4. This contest will last until the 9th and will involve a fierce battle for the 16 slots of the IEM Rio Major 2022, which is scheduled to start on 31st October.