apEX: "My dream is to win at least one Katowice or Cologne and one more Major before I retire"

apEX feels his team are "on a good path" as they gear up for their IEM Cologne playoff campaign.

Vitality have struggled so far this year to recapture the heights of 2023, making finals and consistently performing to a high level, but failing to win a trophy. Their performance in IEM Cologne's group stage suggests Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's men might be getting back to their best.

The Franco-Israeli side battered FURIA in promising fashion to kick off their campaign, showed real fortitude to battle past FaZe, and confidently dispatched MOUZ to seal a playoff spot.

With a place in the semi-finals on the horizon, apEX spoke to HLTV to give his thoughts on Vitality's performance thus far in Germany, discuss some of his team's potential future opponents, and talk about just how much a win in Cologne would mean for his career.

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apEX, you are through to the semi-finals. You had some good performances in the group stage, three victories with only one map dropped, are you happy with the way the team has been playing here?

Yeah, I think that we improved from the last tournament and that's what matters. I think we had really good preparation before Saudi Arabia, unfortunately in the week I knew that EWC would be a bit random for us, because you never know how much you prepared at the beginning of the season. Now it starts to pay off, that preparation. and I'm pretty proud.

I think that overall we played some good CS but we can improve a lot, it wasn't as easy as G2 did. We still had an easy game first against FURIA, a bit of a tougher one against FaZe, and I felt yesterday against MOUZ, even though the second map was close, we always had control. So yeah, I think we played some good CS, but now the most important part is coming.

You wrote that you "used to never win those types of no important games," the upper bracket finals. That's how you lost, for example, to 9z in Dallas. What changed for you?

We lost to 9z, I lost to HEROIC in Katowice 2023, I lost to G2 in Cologne in 2023. We just always had, in some way, the wrong mentality, because we felt it was okay if we lose because we were still in the tournament.

These non-elimination games have always been our nightmare, so we all put the finger on it just to say, 'Guys, it would be awesome to be able to go straight to the semis this time and to give our best.' Of course winning would be the best, but just at least to feel on the server we gave our best, and that's what happened yesterday. We really wanted it so much, and at the end we won. I'm really happy about that because it's always good for the mentality and for your expectations.

mezii and flameZ have said that the team came into the tournament with a lot of energy. Has that been the secret for you?

Yeah. We know that Vitality is a team that needs energy to perform, because the problem is we have four players who are a bit down, I would say, and me that is pumping up the team. So I'm a bit alone in that regard. Everyone knows that now they have to give a bit more in terms of energy than what their personality is in some ways, so yeah I think we have some energy.

We all know that after this tournament we have a week off because it's been draining since the beginning of July, we already had a month and a half and we haven't been home that much in the past couple of months. So for us it's just a few days more to give our best and try to get that trophy, then I think some time off.

How do you look back at last season? Do you think it was a little bit of a disappointment not to lift a trophy, even though you made a couple of finals?

Well of course it's disappointing, because when you are Vitality and you did such a 2023, when you have the best player in the world of 2023 and so many other years, you can't not win a trophy. The only thing is that I don't think the first part of the season was bad either.

We had five tournaments, a group stage exit in Katowice that of course was really bad, but then two semis and two finals, that wasn't bad either. So I was a bit in-between when we had the summer break, but we need trophies, that's for sure. I think if we get two, three trophies by the end of the year, we will all be happy.

If FaZe beats SAW in the quarter-finals, they are going to face you again. The group stage match was very close between you, what are your expectations if you happen to come across them once again? They tend to kick into a higher gear once they get into the playoffs.

I think it's going to be fun to be honest, playing against FaZe in big arenas is always fun, I always enjoy it. I know they are not in the best form right now in general, but I know they can also pop off at any moment and the confidence can come back at any moment.

I know it's going to be a tough one no matter what, but I know what we are capable of and I know we can beat them as well, so for us it's just focusing on that. I'm pretty sure we can beat them again and get to the final.

Many are looking at NAVI as the main favorites for the title. You haven't faced them all year. What is your opinion about their playstyle, and do you see them as the biggest threat?

NAVI have been playing really well since the beginning of the year, they improved so much in so many aspects. We used to play them last year and beat them most of the time, but now they are the best team in the world and playing the best CS. I think the B1ad3 system is finally there, I always know that it takes some time for him to make it happen.

What I really like about their team is I feel like they have no superstars, but they play really well for each other, that's what I see from them. So yeah, I think they are the favorites and they most likely are playing the best CS as well.

You've been to this tournament many times before, making a couple of finals, but you have not yet lifted this trophy. What would it mean to you to finally get this trophy under your belt?

It would mean a lot, I really want at least to get a Katowice or Cologne. I had way more chances in Cologne than Katowice, but yeah it would mean a lot for me, to my career, to everything. My dream is to win at least one Katowice or Cologne and one more Major before I retire, so we're on a good path and we know that if everyone pops off it can be really dangerous. So hopefully we get this one and I will be the happiest man in the world.