Apeks complete roster with kyxsan

The North Macedonian player joins the European combine to fill the in-game leader role.

Apeks have announced the addition of Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski to their active roster. The 22-year-old is set to be the captain of the international lineup and will take the reins from Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk.

kyxsan's signing also marks the end of a period of roster instability for Apeks. The squad recently trialled several names to fill the void left by Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon's benching in October, including Hansel "⁠BnTeT⁠" Ferdinand, before ultimately settling on kyxsan to round out the team.

kyxsan joins the international roster on a transfer from BLUEJAYS, who he represented for a little over a year. In that time, the Macedonian established himself as one of the best-performing players on the roster, averaging a 1.07 rating over 378 maps — the team's second-highest showing.

kyxsan was able to translate this solid in-game display into tangible results during his yearlong tenure with the North Macedonian outfit. BLUEJAYS picked up back-to-back IESF World Championship titles in 2021 and 2022, triumphed in ESEA Advanced Season 41, and recently finished kyxsan's last event with the lineup, ESL Challenger League Season 43, in 5-6th place.

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Apeks, meanwhile, will be looking to use their new recruit as a platform from which they can build on their recent upwards trajectory. The side has performed solidly since their return to competition in late November, reverse sweeping Monte 3-2 to win ESEA Advanced Season 43 with Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller as a stand-in, before placing 3-4th in a run through CCT Central Europe Series 4, where they were eliminated at the hands of Astralis in the semi-finals.

"I am very happy to be joining a team such as Apeks. I can’t wait to meet my teammates and to start preparing for the challenges ahead of us in 2023," kyxsan said. "It was not an easy decision to leave my friends and ex-teammates in BLUEJAYS, but when I heard Apeks’ plans and ambitions the decision was much easier. I feel like we have a super good line-up with excellent coaches, and we have everything that we need to achieve our goals."

"This has most certainly been the most in-depth recruitment process we have ever concluded. We did a great scouting job, followed by an intense month of trials. We have done what we can to make sure that the player we brought in would fit our needs," added Anders Kjær, Apeks' Head of Esports.

"After thorough evaluations of the trials, we concluded that kyxsan was the right fit for us. In the end, it was an easy choice. The coaches wanted him, the players wanted him, and the club wanted him. That is the best-case scenario. Now it’s just one thing left – to perform."

Apeks head into the new year with the following roster:

Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson
Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad
Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk
Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius
Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski

Jakub "⁠kuben⁠" Gurczyński (coach)

Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon (inactive)