apEX becomes Vitality captain

Vitality member Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire has confirmed that he has taken on the in-game leader mantle following Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin's departure.

In a Twitlonger post titled 'The past and the future', the French player revealed that he had been thinking about becoming an IGL for some time and that he hadn't taken on the challenge due to his "issue with emotions" - something he has been working on with the organisation's mental coach.

The 27-year-old hopes the transition will allow him to find his place again after a "terrible" six months in which he felt he was underperforming (0.96 LAN rating). He will take over the role from ALEX, who officially stepped down from Vitality on Wednesday after concluding that his efforts to lighten the team's traveling schedule would be fruitless.

apEX admitted that "everything was falling apart" towards the end of ALEX's tenure with the team after the British tactician had "lost some motivation to continue playing at the highest level". He thanked his former teammate for his contribution - which includes guiding Vitality to two Big Event titles - and expressed his happiness that the two players had the chance to cross paths.

"Now we have to rebuild everything in the team, it's going to be a long road for us to come back to the level we were at in 2019," apEX added.

"But I know all the players I'm playing with, and we are all motivated to give everything to come back to the very top."

apEX also commented on the signing of 17-year-old Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier, who will finally get his first taste of top-level Counter-Strike after rising through the ranks in France. The new Vitality in-game leader praised his new teammate and stressed that he will play to his preferred style.

"Having new blood is something great for the French scene, and I think misutaaa deserves his spot," apEX wrote.

"We are going to try to give him the best conditions to perform and we will not use him the wrong way as we did in the past with a few other players."

Vitality will return to action on March 16 in ESL Pro League Season 11. The French team have been placed in Group A, with their first match in the round-robin stage pitting them against GODSENT.