After securing a spot in the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Grand Final, Vitality’s coach Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam discussed the team’s journey through the playoffs, their dominant performance on Mirage, and overcoming challenges on Inferno. Rémy also shared his thoughts on the crowd’s energy and Vitality’s ultimate goal—to win the Major.

You picked Mirage, but completely collapsed. What allowed you to dominate so comfortably?

Well, first of all, we expected Mirage. Before the Major, weeks before, a lot of teams actually picked Mirage against us. I don't know why, because we beat absolutely everyone. I think we also have a good plan on the CT side, and we're pretty good on the T side too.

What happened on Inferno? Why such a one-sided loss?

It was really bad. We were so disconnected. I don't know why. We tried to find a solution, but even when we wanted to finish Banana, we forgot to smoke—in 2025! So I guess it was the pressure. We need to talk tonight to make sure we're ready for Inferno tomorrow. So far, we've lost two games on Inferno. It was one of our best maps before the tournament.

I’ve never seen you that angry on camera. Your team looked furious because of the game.

Yeah, we’ve had this issue in the past. We win the first map and then collapse pretty fast. After three rounds, we looked disconnected, like we gave up. We weren’t ready for everything. That’s why we decided to get some rest and be mentally prepared for Train.

Were you expecting Train?

Of course. We expected Train because it’s time to remove tools that your opponent doesn’t know about. We had a good plan on how to play them on CT, especially playing aggressively on Pop and B. We knew how to play in force buys, and we just let it go. At the end of the day, we’re in the final.

In Dallas, you told us not to underestimate NAVI. How did you manage to beat them yesterday?

Of course. NAVI is a major team. They have experience. They know how to win a Major—or at least some players on that roster. This is something really new for FlameZ and mezii. They only qualified last year on their own. We couldn’t underestimate them. We knew it, and we prepared hard. We expected Mirage and also Nuke. I think they had a really good plan on the T side of Nuke. On our CT side, we tried to finish rounds too quickly—early pushes, long plays. It’s not really our DNA.

Who would you like to face in the final—paiN or The MongolZ?

I don’t care. There’s only one goal—we want to win. We’re satisfied to be in the final, but we’re not happy yet. We want to win this Major.

The crowd hasn’t been gentle to you here in North America. They booed a lot. Will it be extra pressure for you in the final?

No. We’re used to it. In Dallas, the crowd screamed "Tokyo Apex"—it was intense. But we’re used to it, so it doesn’t matter. If it’s The MongolZ, they’ll get 100% of the support, I guess. Maybe even paiN as well. I don’t know. We’re just focused in our bubble, thinking about the game, not the atmosphere—even though it’s wild. Playing in this arena is crazy.