William "mezzi" Merriman first UK player to lift IEM trophy

20 August 2024

From August 7th to August 18th 2024, all Counter-Strike eyes in the world were looking at Germany as it was time for the annual Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne event. As usual, the prestigious Counter-Strike 2 tournament took place at the Lanxess Arena, also known as ‘the Cathedral of Counter-Strike’, and the 2024 edition turned out to be a historic one for UK esports. As part of French esports organisation Team Vitality, who went on to win IEM Cologne 2024, British player William “mezzi” Merriman became the first British player to lift a prestigious IEM trophy in the history of IEM events.

Almost-perfect path to Grand Final

Team Vitality was entered into Group B of the Group Stage, where they faced FURIA Esports from Brazil in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. A relatively easy 0-2 victory (3-13 and 2-13) saw the French side move on to the Semifinals, in which American powerhouse FaZe Clan was the opponent. This clash turned out to be a lot more closely matched than the previous battle, as the Americans clinched the first game (Inferno, 13-8). Vitality wasn’t shaken though, as they took home the second map (Dust II, 12-16) and then also the decisive third map (Anubis, 9-13).

The lost game against FURIA would turn out to be the only defeat for the French organisation on their way to the Grand Final. First, in the Upper Bracket Final, German team MOUZ could not get a game in against Team Vitality (6-13 and 13-16), and Portuguese team SAW suffered the same fate in their Playoff Semifinal against the French. The only thing standing between Team Vitality and IEM glory at that point was Ukrainian esports organisation Natus Vincere (NAVI), one of the favourites for the final victory since the start of IEM Cologne 2024.

IEM 2024 Grand Final

Up to that point, apart from the battle with FaZe Clan earlier in the tournament, Team Vitality had not really been tested yet. That was about to change in the IEM 2024 Grand Final, where they faced one of the other favourites for the title in NAVI. Game one was for the French side after a 16-14 victory in overtime, but the Ukrainians equalised in game two (Dust II, 13-10). The decisive game turned out to be map three (Mirage) as it ended going deep into triple overtime before Vitality booked a 22-20 victory. This broke NAVI’s spirit a bit, which showed on map four (Inferno), where a 9-13 victory for Team Vitality gave them the title. As a result, Vitality player William “mezzi” Merriman became the first UK player ever to lift an IEM trophy.

“Haha, yeah! Woah, I’m speechless”, was Merriman’s first reaction after his team’s victory in Cologne, “It’s one of our goals and we finally did it. “Thank you [to the fans] for all the support. Thanks to the golden hornets, they were amazing. It’s been good. I f*cked up the second round [at the end] so I had to try and get one back for the boys. I’m just happy I could contribute. Everyone had their moments today, it was a great game.”