The phrase "vies for" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when there is competition for something, e.g. "The two teams vied for the championship title."
Jennifer Joyce, jenniferjoyce.co.uk A crowd-pleaser that vies for attention.
A Domino's Pizza vies for customers with Peruvian-Chinese restaurants called chifas.
The operation vies for the top position with local rival LG Display.
Put it in anything and it vies for attention, shouting "I'm here, I'm here.
It thinks Afghanistan vies for the affections of ethnic Pashtuns living in Pakistan.
Each of those then vies for the overall £30,000 book of the year prize.
For every country that vies for a seat, rivals seek to block it.
Moreover, fighting between the factions has increased as each vies for territorial dominance of the region.
FROM state to state, each prison tour vies for its share of attention.
Water itself sunders the provinces as each one vies for the precious flow of the Indus.
The sound in Stickrod's touching video portraits of his parents vies for attention with Kelley's brassy stop-motion animations.
