Mathieu Herbaut, born on November 9, 2000, is also known as ZywOo. He is a French professional Counter-Strike player who plays for Team Vitality. He is considered one of the best players in Counter-Strike history. HLTV ranked him as the No. 1 player in the world in 2019, 2020, 2023, and 2025. At the age of 19, he became the second youngest HLTV Player of the Year. He is one of only three players, along with coldzera and donk, to be named HLTV Player of the Year during their first full year as a professional player.

Early life

He began playing games at the age of seven with his brother, but his mother limited his playtime to less than one hour each day. As a teenager, he never played games during the middle of the night or participated in sessions lasting four to five hours, as his family closely monitored his activities. His mother supported his interest in video games and occasionally played with him. However, she required him to complete his secondary education and earn his baccalauréat before joining esports competitions, which he accomplished.

Career

After finishing high school, Mathieu joined Team Vitality as a professional esports player in October. In November, he and his team won the DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018 tournament. The following month, they qualified for the minor qualifier of the Katowice Major 2019. In the Minors, Vitality finished second, earning a spot in the Major in Katowice.

In the Katowice Major 2019, ZywOo and his team finished between 9th and 11th place. Later, in the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019, they placed between 5th and 8th. Despite these results, they won two major tournaments: the ECS Season 7 Finals and EPICENTER 2019. They also finished second in two other top tournaments: ESL One Cologne 2019 and DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019.

Mathieu’s individual performance in 2018 was strong. He was named MVP five times and had an overall rating of 1.30 in LAN events. In January 2020, Mathieu Herbaut was named World’s Best Player of the Year 2019 by HLTV.org. This made him the first French player and the youngest player to win the award since 2010. He also matched a record set by Marcelo "coldzera" David, who won the award in his first full year as a professional.

In 2020, many tournaments moved online or were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mathieu became the top-ranked player on HLTV.org for the second time in a row, with Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and Nicolai "device" Reedtz following him.

In 2021, Team Vitality qualified for the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. They lost to Natus Vincere in the quarterfinals and finished 5th in the Major. Mathieu was named the second-best player of 2021 by HLTV, with s1mple ranked first.

In 2022, Team Vitality dropped out of the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 on day 5 after losing to Heroic. Mathieu was again named the second-best player of 2022 by HLTV, with s1mple ranked first.

In 2023, Mathieu won the MVP award at the Blast Paris Major 2023, where Team Vitality defeated GamerLegion 2–0 in the final. He also received his sixteenth MVP award after Vitality’s victory over ENCE in the Gamers8 2023 grand finals. Mathieu was named Player of the Year by HLTV for the third time, tying s1mple’s record.

In 2024, Team Vitality was eliminated in the semifinals of the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 by FaZe Clan, who later lost the final to Natus Vincere. In the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, Team Vitality was eliminated in the quarterfinals by FaZe Clan again. Mathieu was ranked the third-best player of 2024, behind m0NESY (ranked second) and donk (ranked first).

In the first half of 2025, Team Vitality won 7 out of 8 tournaments they entered. During this time, Mathieu won his 21st to 27th HLTV MVP awards at events such as IEM Katowice 2025, ESL Pro League Season 21, and the BLAST Austin Major 2025. With his 22nd MVP win, Mathieu surpassed s1mple’s record for the most HLTV MVPs. By his 23rd MVP, he also surpassed s1mple’s record for the most LAN MVPs, achieving 17. At IEM Melbourne 2025, Vitality completed the ESL Grand Slam Season 5.

At the Austin Major 2025, Mathieu won his second Major title after Paris 2023 and received his second Major MVP award. This made him the third player to win multiple Major MVP awards, joining Marcelo "coldzera" David and Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz.

After a four-month period without tournament wins, Vitality won ESL Pro League Season 22. This was the first tournament Vitality won since Mathieu joined the team where he did not receive the HLTV MVP award. Instead, m0NESY from Team Falcons earned the MVP title.

On August 25, 2025, Mathieu was awarded the Esports Breakthrough Player of the Decade at the 2025 Esports Decade Awards. On November 19, 2025, he won the 2025 PC Player of the Year at the Esports Awards. He was also nominated for Best Esports Athlete at The Games Awards 2025 but did not win.

On December 14, 2025, Mathieu and Team Vitality won the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, his third Major title. He was also named the third Major MVP, the most of any player. This made him the first back-to-back Major MVP since coldzera in 2016. Mathieu matched s1mple’s 2021 record for the most medals in a single year, earning eight total MVPs, all at Big Events. This surpassed dev1ce’s record of seven Big Event MVPs from 2018.

In 2025, Mathieu was named Player of the Year for a record-breaking fourth time by HLTV, breaking a tie with s1mple.

In 2026, Team Vitality won IEM Kraków 2026, with Mathieu earning his 29th HLTV MVP. He achieved a rating of 1.59, his highest ever at a Big Event. At PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026, which Vitality won, Mathieu earned his 30th HLTV MVP.

Awards and recognition

• Recognized as the top player in 2019 by HLTV.
• Recognized as the top player in 2020 by HLTV.
• Ranked as the second-top player in 2021 by HLTV.
• Ranked as the second-top player in 2022 by HLTV.
• Recognized as the top player in 2023 by HLTV.
• Ranked as the third-top player in 2024 by HLTV.
• Recognized as the top player in 2025 by HLTV.
• Earned 31 HLTV MVP medals.
• Named Esports Breakthrough Player for the Decade at the 2025 Esports Decade Awards.
• Named PC Player of the Year at the 2025 Esports Awards.