ZapR about going to Lund: “Everything that happens, either good or bad, will benefit this team and us as players.”

Yesterday it was made official that Metizport X are going to Level Up LUND!, a 60,000 SEK LAN event in Southern Sweden. We sat down for a brief chat with the team’s captain, Emil “ZapR” Marcussen, and asked him a few questions regarding the trip.

Metizport X took a leap of faith and left the national scene of Norway as 2025 came around. It was only natural after having won the LAN finals in November of 2024 and becoming the best team in Norway, and the next step was obviously to tread out into deeper waters and attend more international online events.

Thanks to the great result in GoodGame-Ligaen, the national league, and also riding the wave of the increased hype around the main team with the signing of hampus and isak, Metizport X started receiving more prestigious invites only days into the new year. However, results remained mediocre, but there were repeatedly signs that ZapR’s Swedish-Norwegian squad had potential, and that they would hold up in similar tournaments going forward.

As Hungarian Patrik “pakesZ” Rozsos joined our ranks as Head Coach for the Academy team, we were convinced the team simply needed time to strengthen their foundation and continue attending tournaments of similar caliber in order to reach the next step in their development. And now, almost four months into 2025, we have decided to give the squad a chance to play their hearts out at an offline event, where the level of competition will be higher and with that, the stakes as well. ZapR comments:

“I’m very excited for this tournament, very excited to meet this team in person again, and for the first time with some of them as well.”

In ZapR’s eyes, the team is in a position where the event can only benefit them, no matter what result they get in the tournament. Furthermore, the 20-year-old Norwegian is convinced his men are capable of showing a good level of play even in an offline environment.

“This event can only be positive. Everything that happens, either good or bad, will benefit this team and us as players. I don’t have an expectation in terms of results, but I do have an expectation of us playing the good Counter-Strike I know we are capable of.”

As mentioned in a previous article, Level Up LUND! has despite its limited size and initial goals of simply being a local LAN event, gained a surprising amount of attention all over Europe, with teams from all different parts of the continent attending, as well as many different skill levels. With a packed spring, summer and fall ahead of us, many teams seek out any opportunity to climb the VRS-ranking in order to reach the surface and take part in much bigger events. This is likely why we see teams such as Ninjas in Pyjamas, EYEBALLERS, Tricked Esport, Alliance, Johnny Speeds and so on attending the event. It’s also likely that the rapid addition of higher-ranked teams signing up created a “snowball-effect”, with other line-ups joining in simply for prestige and good experience. For Emil, however, the teams attending make no difference and he will approach the LAN the same way as any other tournament.

“We shouldn’t really think about who we are playing. We will have the same preparation against every team and focus on doing our stuff well and not overthink it.”

This will be the second offline event for this Metizport X line-up, after a break of six months since the finals in GoodGame-Ligaen. It’s easy to say the two events are very different – not only the environment but also the undeniable increase in competition with so many good teams attending. Going into the LAN finals of the national league last year, Metizport X were clear favorites. In Lund, the Academy team will be one of the biggest underdogs.

“The biggest difference in these two LANs is that when we played the GGL Finals we were the favourites, but here we will be a bit of an underdog.”

You’ll see Emil and his men in action on April 12th. The schedule for the event is yet to be released, but keep an eye open on all our platforms so you won’t miss when it’s released.