ropz says Vitality are not done as Pro League playoff run looms

Robin “ropz” Kool said Vitality will do “anything” to get back to their previous level as the team heads into the ESL Pro League Season 24 playoffs on a five-match winning streak. The Estonian rifler has also been in strong form individually, earning an EVP at StarSeries Fall and averaging a 1.39 rating in Pro League’s group stage.

Vitality’s numbers in the event have made them a dangerous playoff opponent. After three group-stage matches, four of the five players were at or above a 1.29 rating, and the team’s results have come while Dan “apEX” Madesclaire is away to head home for the birth of his child. That leaves Vitality trying to keep their level high while managing a temporary lineup change and a packed event schedule.

ropz says Vitality still feel there is more to come

Speaking about the team’s current position, ropz pushed back against any idea that Vitality are finished as a top side. He said the situation can be compared in some ways to Astralis’ era ending, which was shaped by missed events and burnout, but added that Vitality still believe they can give more.

“We still feel like, as individuals at least, we have a lot more to give and we’re not done with anything.”

He added that the team has repeated to each other how lucky they are to have this five-man lineup, and that they will do whatever they can to be good again. The comments came during a stretch in which Vitality have been trying to keep momentum despite the practical complications of stand-ins and the emotional strain of players being away from home for family reasons.

That internal message appears to have been reinforced by the results. ropz said the team’s semi-final with JL was already “pretty good,” and that things have gone better over the last month. In his view, Vitality looked strong in Pro League and were showing signs that the group had settled after an uneven stretch.

The timing matters because this is the stage of the season where every event carries more weight for a team trying to preserve its standard. Vitality have spent long stretches as one of the best teams in Counter-Strike, and ropz’s answers suggest the roster sees the current period as a test of consistency rather than a sign that the peak has passed.

Motivation has been harder to keep with stand-ins in the mix

One of the clearest parts of the interview was ropz’s explanation of how stand-ins affect preparation and motivation. He said it is difficult to reach the same level of drive when the team has known since the start of the year that two tournaments would come with no real expectation attached.

“It’s hard as a player, and it’s a bit demotivating,” he said.

That uncertainty has come alongside a personal sacrifice for the active players. ropz said the team has had to give up time with loved ones while covering for apEX and mezii around childbirth, and he described that as something the players accept even if it is difficult. In his view, the situation is understandable because the family moment is important, but it still affects the group’s routine.

He said the players know they are making a sacrifice so apEX and mezii can take part in a major life event, and that the roster has tried to keep the bigger picture in mind. As long as the team does not go too badly in the meantime, ropz said, it is just one tournament for the players and a major moment in life for those stepping away.

His comments suggest Vitality are trying to balance the emotional side of the situation with the competitive demands of a playoff run. The team has not hidden the strain, but ropz said the atmosphere has improved as results have come in, and that the current stretch feels more stable than it did earlier in the year.

The numbers back that up. A 1.39 rating from ropz across the group stage, combined with four players above 1.29 after three matches, shows a side that is still producing at a high level even while dealing with roster uncertainty. That kind of output gives Vitality more room to absorb short-term disruption, and it helps explain why they head into the playoffs as one of the favourites.

Falcons and karrigan present different kinds of problems

ropz also spoke about the challenge of playing Falcons, saying that opponents tend to elevate their level against Vitality. In his words, when other teams face one of the best teams ever, they know exactly what is in front of them and raise their game accordingly.

He said Falcons also tend to find their best level in those meetings, which makes the games especially hard. The individuals on the other side often pop off, he said, so the matchup becomes difficult even when Vitality are playing well themselves.

Asked about facing karrigan, ropz said it does not feel especially personal in the match itself. He and the veteran in-game leader know each other’s game well, but ropz said the best approach is not to get lost in the mind game.

“It feels like another game, just another one.”

He said that early in the matchup against Falcons he did try to give some heads-ups about how karrigan likes to call and react in mid-round situations. Over time, though, he came to the view that too much prediction is difficult and can interfere with a team’s own play, so the focus has to stay on execution rather than overthinking the other side.

That attitude fits the rest of the interview. ropz did not describe the situation as tense or dramatic, only as another hard series against a familiar opponent. For Vitality, the concern is less about history with karrigan and more about handling the level of pressure that comes with being the team everyone wants to beat.

CS2 demos have made practice harder to protect

The final topic was practice secrecy in Counter-Strike 2, and ropz was blunt about how much information can leak now. He said teams need to be careful because opponents can share information with each other, including through friendships and shared material from practice.

He explained that brand-new strategies and unusual grenades do not stay hidden for long once they are shown in a scrim. If a team uses something once in practice, the other side has the demo, studies it and spreads it, and that process can continue from one set of practices to the next.

ropz also drew a direct comparison with CS:GO. In his view, POV demos in CS2 reveal information that teams could not see in the same way before, which changes how much they can hide during practice. Because of that, teams have to be more careful about what they show and more deliberate about what they keep in reserve.

He said “nothing is hidden nowadays,” and argued that teams need to raise the level of their strategy as a result. The point is not just that counters arrive faster, but that the usual layer of surprise is thinner than it was in CS:GO, where the same kind of information was not visible from a POV demo.

For Vitality, that adds another complication to a period that already includes stand-ins, a playoff run and the pressure of protecting a strong start. Their form suggests they can still compete at the top, but ropz’s comments make clear that keeping an edge in 2026 means dealing with both the emotional and tactical sides of the job at once.