Vitality mezii explains why CS2 teammate apEX is such a good IGL

Mezii is the latest addition to Team Vitality’s Counter-Strike 2 roster, yet he’s already won multiple tier one trophies. The team is led by a true CS legend, apEX, and the British player believes there’s one aspect in which the French in-game leader stands out above the rest.

ApEX is a veteran of the scene at 31 years of age, having won numerous trophies along the way, including two CS:GO Majors. In CS2, he already claimed two BLAST titles alongside his Vitality teammates. Mezii is fairly new to apEX’s style of calling since he’s only been a part of the squad for half a year. While he praises the French IGL in many ways, he finds him exceptional in reading the opponents.

“I think apEX is a superintelligent player inside the game, and he reads opponents really well. He focuses on that to be able to make pretty simple calls. I wouldn’t say we’re coming into these games, all these maps with all these extravagant like ideas and have loads of different executions and strategies,” mezii said on April 22 in an interview with Dot Esports ahead of ESL Pro League Season 19.

“He realizes you don’t need to do mostly well-executed plan to win the round if you know what the opponents are going to do,” mezii added.

With CS’s pro scene being over 20 years old as of now, it’s tough to excel without complex tactics. Mezii agreed that Vitality have these under their belt, but learning how to play simply, as a team, without overthinking stuff was what apEX taught him the most when he became a part of the squad.

So far, it seems to be working fairly well for Vitality. The European roster reached the semifinals at the PGL Copenhagen CS2 Major, where they fell to FaZe Clan. Prior to that, they underperformed at IEM Katowice but won BLAST Premier Fall and World Finals in 2023.

Mezii, apEX and the rest of the crew have much competition to look forward to. They’re currently competing in Malta at EPL Season 19. After they’re done, they will compete at IEM Dallas, the BLAST Premier Spring Final, and the Esports World Cup, all in a span of two months.