Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut emerged as a young prodigy and talent of the French CS scene since 2017, consistently topping the FPL in various months with his impressive skill and exceptional game sense. After a period playing for tier-3 teams in France, ZywOo’s career took a turning point when he joined Vitality in October 2018, a team composed of seasoned veterans of the French CS scene such as Happy, RpK, NBK, and apEX.
In his first professional stint at the highest level alongside the legends of French CS, ZywOo quickly integrated and became the team’s standout star. In just his first year of professional play, he was honored with the MVP title five times at various tournaments, including the MVP award at DreamHack Masters Malmo, despite his team losing in the grand finals to Fnatic. Concluding a highly successful 2019, ZywOo was voted the best player of the year by hltv, the most prestigious individual accolade a player can achieve.
However, as they entered 2020, Vitality struggled to achieve good results in the two LAN tournaments they participated in: the BLAST Premier Spring Series (finishing 3rd in Group B and needing to compete in the Showdown next June) and IEM Katowice 2020 (finishing 7th-9th). Moreover, early in March, they lost their captain and IGL, ALEX, when he unexpectedly left the team and took a break from professional play. During this time, ZywOo showed signs of declining form; although he remained the “carry” of Vitality, his impact was no longer as formidable as before, and there were matches where he was completely read by opponents and unable to showcase much.
Things became even clearer when last night, the mother of this 18-year-old prodigy unexpectedly took to Twitter to express her concerns about her son. This tweet tagged XTQZZZ, the coach of Vitality.
“Hello everyone, I just want to say that I feel Mathieu (ZywOo) is experiencing some mental health issues. It seems that he no longer has confidence in himself. I don’t know what you all think about this, but I feel the need to speak out to improve the situation within the team.”
This unexpected tweet supported what XTQZZZ had mentioned in a recent interview, where he revealed that at IEM Katowice 2020, ZywOo had fallen ill and was not at his best, alongside the immense pressure he faced from conducting numerous interviews and the “competition” with S1mple for the top spot in the world. According to him, ZywOo’s mentality had changed significantly; previously, he could play joyfully and comfortably, but now he always had to strive to prove he deserves his title.
Last night, despite losing to Astralis 1-2, Vitality maintained their second position in Group A with a 3-2 record and secured a spot in the play-in round of ESL Pro League Season 11. Hopefully, with the addition of young talent misutaaa and apEX taking on the IGL role, ZywOo can relieve some of the psychological pressures weighing on him and quickly regain his form and status as the best player in the world.