Vitality signs former Fnatic star mezii to replace Magisk on its CS2 roster

Former Fnatic player, William “mezii” Merriman has officially joined the French organization Vitality to replace Emil “Magisk” Reif in the CS roster.

In recent months, Team Vitality has seen a series of changes beginning with the departure of their Head Coach, Danny “zonic” Sørensen, who joined Falcon Esports to form a super team. Following Zonic’s lead to the Falcons, Magisk departed the club earlier this month.

Super excited to announce that I’ll be joining @TeamVitality ! 🙌
I’m so pumped to begin this new journey with these guys and spend countless hours grinding CS2 together 💪 https://t.co/wYWrE8Lo6Z

— MEZII’ (@kingmezii) November 8, 2023

 

Now that the off-season dust is about to settle, the French organization has started filling the voids and completing its roster for the new season, starting with the arrival of Fnatic’s star player William “mezii” Merriman. The statement is only a confirmation of what CS2 fans already knew. After the lineups for the BLAST Premier Fall Final were made public earlier this month, it was clear that mezii was close to joining Vitality.

Vitality starts roster rebuild with the signing of mezii 

Since August 2021, mezii has been a vital component of the Fnatic team. The British player made the team’s playoff run in the IEM Rio Major possible. But except for a few solid outings, the club has typically had trouble producing good results. In nearly every international competition they participated in over the previous year, the organization placed outside the top eight. Their top-eight finish at the BLAST Premier: Spring European Showdown 2023 in March was one of their greatest finishes this year.

The 25-year-old British player will fill the void left open by the departure of Magisk, who is reportedly on his way to join the Saudi organization Falcons. The 25-year-old is expected to face an uphill battle filling in the shoes of Magisk, who was instrumental in the Vitality’s success. In addition to helping the squad win several international championships, such as the BLAST Paris Major trophy, Gamers8 2023, ESL Pro League Season 16, and BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2022, Magisk also contributed to the team’s 18-week run at the top of the world rankings.

Later this month at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, mezii will play in his debut event with Vitality against elite teams like FaZe Clan, Complexity, Cloud 9, Natus Vincere, Astralis, and Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Fall Finals begin on 22 November in Copenhagen’s Royal Arena and last for five days, concluding on 26 November. Since Vitality has already secured a seat at the BLAST Premier World Final, which is set for December 13–17 in Abu Dhabi, this will be a fantastic chance for the former Fnatic player to demonstrate his abilities without feeling any performance pressure.

Vitality Counter-Strike roster following mezii’s addition

• Dan “⁠apEX⁠” Madesclaire
• Mathieu “⁠ZywOo⁠” Herbaut
• Lotan “⁠Spinx⁠” Giladi
• Shahar “⁠flameZ⁠” Shushan
• William “⁠mezii⁠” Merriman
• Rémy “⁠XTQZZZ⁠” Quoniam (coach)

Header: PGL/Joao Ferreira