Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut has broken yet another Counter-Strike record following his incredible run at the CS2 StarLadder Budapest Major 2025.
With another major MVP medal secured, the French phenom has become the first player in Counter-Strike history to be awarded that honor thrice. And considering that illustrious list includes names like four-time major champion Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, ZywOo’s achievement really sets him apart.
But viewers of the Budapest Major playoffs might have assumed another Vitality member would receive the prestigious medal instead. Robin “ropz” Kool had been the driving force behind his team’s triumph over Spirit on Mirage in the semis, and posted his career-best map to close out the grand finals.
Related—ZywOo leads Vitality past The MongolZ with eye watering 2.18 rating
So what were the metrics that allowed ZywOo to beat his rifling teammate to the MVP award? And could ropz have swung the vote in his favor?
The numbers that mattered
On paper, this was one of the closest MVP races in Major history. The overall ratings told a story of near-parity: ZywOo finished the event with a 1.38 rating while ropz was right on his heels with a 1.37. In the playoffs stage specifically, both players posted identical 1.40 ratings. When filtering for map wins only, ropz actually edged ahead with a 1.47 rating compared to ZywOo’s 1.46.
These razor-thin margins meant that HLTV’s decision came down to an advanced metric: kills per round win (KPRW). And here ZywOo’s case became iron-clad.
Across the entire tournament, the French AWPer averaged 1.17 KPRW compared to ropz’s 1.02. That means that in the 154 rounds that the team won across the major, ZywOo found 180 kills to ropz’s 157. In the playoffs alone, that gap widened further to 1.19 versus 0.96. Even when focusing exclusively at the semifinal and grand final—where ropz had his most dominant performances—ZywOo maintained an advantage at 1.08 KPRW against ropz’s 0.95.
William “mezii” Merriman, despite being the standout performer in the grand final itself, finished with just 0.92 KPRW across the event, effectively ruling him out of MVP contention despite his heroics on championship Sunday.
Why ZywOo stayed ahead
Ropz’s case reached its peak on Overpass in the grand finals, where his career-best 2.89 rating looked like a potential MVP-clinching performance. But the reality is that one explosive map couldn’t overcome the deficit he’d already accumulated. Across the series, ropz posted solid numbers, but he didn’t gap ZywOo in the way he needed to overtake him.
Related—Back to back Major champions! Vitality annihilate FaZe in StarLadder Budapest Grand Finals
What ultimately separated the two wasn’t peak performance, but sustained impact. The KPRW metric measures impact when it matters most—in rounds your team wins. ZywOo consistently delivered crucial eliminations round after round, while ropz needed to significantly outperform him across the entire final, not just on one map.
Unlike what some forum users may lead you to believe, this wasn’t a robbery. In most tournaments, ropz’s 1.37 rating would easily secure the medal. But against a player of ZywOo’s calibre, you need sustained dominance, not just moments of brilliance. While ropz pushed him to the wire, the MVP decision was the right one. For the third time at a Major, the medal belonged to ZywOo.
And at the end of the day, ropz himself won’t think about the MVP medal for a second. He joined Vitality with just one task in his mind, win everything in sight. And in 2025, he achieved just that, walking away with nine trophies including two majors.
