0.91 Rating and Swept 2-0 by MOUZ: How ZywOo Posted the First Sub-1.00 LAN Event of His Career in Hong Kong
Team Vitality's Asian campaign at BLAST Rivals Hong Kong 2026 came to an abrupt halt on Friday, November 13, in the playoff quarter-finals. Facing a surging MOUZ lineup, the European squad fell in straight maps on Mirage (8-13) before losing a tense overtime battle on Cache (14-16). Alongside the early team exit, the series cemented a historic statistical anomaly in competitive Counter-Strike: finishing the tournament with a 0.91 HLTV rating across seven maps in Hong Kong, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut recorded the first sub-1.00 LAN event rating of his entire professional career.
A 4-for-4 Pistol Sweep Hands MOUZ Full Control of the Series
Less than twenty-four hours after suffering their first-ever 0-13 map defeat in Counter-Strike 2 against FURIA in the Group A upper bracket final, Team Vitality entered the quarter-finals looking to bounce back on Mirage. Despite falling behind 0-3 early on, coach Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam's squad stabilized their CT defense behind a 1v2 clutch from Robin "ropz" Kool and multi-kills from ZywOo to carry a narrow 7-5 lead into halftime. Once the sides swapped, however, MOUZ took complete command: after winning their second pistol round of the map, MOUZ's proactive CT setups shut down every mid-round call Vitality attempted, rolling through an 8-1 second half sealed by a 1v2 clutch from Dorian "xertioN" Berman (13-8).
Opening rounds proved just as decisive on Cache. By sweeping both pistol rounds to complete a 4-for-4 pistol tally across the series, MOUZ built a 7-5 defensive halftime advantage and immediately seized control of the second-half economy. Pushed to the brink of elimination after a four-kill round from xertioN put MOUZ on series point, Vitality stayed alive thanks to an improbable P250 hero play from William "mezii" Merriman, backed by a four-kill defensive hold from ropz and steady output from Shahar "flameZ" Shushan to force overtime (12-12). In the extra rounds, MOUZ regained their composure as young rifler Adrian "xelex" Vincze delivered a decisive three-kill play to break Vitality's defense and seal the sweep (16-14).
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0.91 Across Seven Maps: ZywOo's Career-Long LAN Streak Ends in Hong Kong
Since his tier-one debut, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut had maintained an unmatched consistency record in Counter-Strike history: the French superstar had never finished a single LAN tournament below a 1.00 rating on HLTV. Prior to this week in Hong Kong, the lowest LAN event rating of his career stood at 1.05, recorded at IEM Sydney 2023 during the very first Big Event played on Counter-Strike 2.
In Hong Kong, after a strong opening victory against Team Falcons (2-0, winning 13-10 on Anubis and 13-10 on Dust2), ZywOo's numbers dipped during the three-map loss to FURIA (13-5 Inferno, 10-13 Dust2, 0-13 Mirage) before ending the quarter-final against MOUZ on a 0.86 series rating (33-38 K-D, 67.7 ADR). Across his seven maps at BLAST Rivals Hong Kong 2026, ZywOo concluded the tournament with a 0.91 rating, officially marking the lowest-rated LAN event of his career.
Full Match Player Statistics: MOUZ vs. Team Vitality
On the winning side, MOUZ reinforced their status as a primary title contender heading into the PGL Major Singapore. Fresh off MOUZ's map-perfect IEM Beijing 2026 title run led by Rifling IGL MVP xertioN, the duo of Adrian "xelex" Vincze (1.44 rating) and Dorian "xertioN" Berman (1.41) dictated the tempo across both maps, supported by Oldřich "PR" Nový (1.21) and former Vitality rifler Lotan "Spinx" Giladi (1.04). For Vitality, only Robin "ropz" Kool (1.21) and Shahar "flameZ" Shushan (1.13) posted positive series ratings, while returning captain Dan "apEX" Madesclaire struggled at 0.53.
| Team | Player | K-D | ADR | HLTV Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOUZ (1.20) | Adrian "xelex" Vincze | 41-31 | 81.9 | 1.44 |
| MOUZ | Dorian "xertioN" Berman | 45-32 | 88.1 | 1.41 |
| MOUZ | Oldřich "PR" Nový | 36-31 | 80.7 | 1.21 |
| MOUZ | Lotan "Spinx" Giladi | 34-31 | 67.3 | 1.04 |
| MOUZ | Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás | 32-30 | 65.0 | 0.91 |
| Team Vitality (0.95) | Robin "ropz" Kool | 38-34 | 79.4 | 1.21 |
| Team Vitality | Shahar "flameZ" Shushan | 39-41 | 82.4 | 1.13 |
| Team Vitality | William "mezii" Merriman | 28-36 | 63.2 | 1.00 |
| Team Vitality | Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut | 33-38 | 67.7 | 0.86 |
| Team Vitality | Dan "apEX" Madesclaire | 17-39 | 47.6 | 0.53 |
Speaking on X shortly after leaving the stage, Vitality in-game leader Dan "apEX" Madesclaire offered a candid assessment of the loss: "oof MOUZ were better today We take few steps back to hopefully come in strong for the Major." While MOUZ advances to face Team Spirit in the semi-finals on Saturday, November 14, with a chance to secure back-to-back trophies in Asia, Team Vitality now turns its focus toward a crucial practice window ahead of Stage 3 at the PGL Major Singapore.
The Strategist's Take
Seeing ZywOo finish a LAN tournament at 0.91 will understandably dominate headlines given his seven years of unmatched statistical consistency, yet treating this week in Hong Kong as an individual slump overlooks the core tactical issue. What MOUZ exposed across Mirage and Cache was a clear collective timing gap within Vitality. After playing PGL Masters Bucharest with mezii calling and jL standing in during apEX's paternity leave, slotting their veteran captain back into the server requires a recalibration in mid-round protocols and spacing. Losing all four pistol rounds against a unit as sharp as xertioN and xelex's MOUZ starved Vitality's economy and kept the AWP out of ZywOo's hands during pivotal gun rounds. Ironically, exiting in the quarter-finals gives XTQZZZ and his roster a full week away from broadcast pressure to fix their opening-round setups before Singapore, a reset that could prove decisive when the Major begins.
Born and based in Montreal's Mile End district, Maëlle "Kaelen" became close friends with Chaya during their university software engineering years, bonding over late-night coding labs, campus LANs, and World of Warcraft raids alongside Grimtag and Heimdall. A game systems balancing consultant and lifelong theorycrafter, she cut her teeth in the early 2010s writing boss walkthroughs, frame-data breakdowns, and competitive meta guides for specialized French-language MMORPG and esports portals, including Mondes Persistants, as well as North American strategy collections. On Pro-Gamer, she leads in-depth walkthroughs, build optimization, and tactical esports coverage.
