As Vitality chase the Grand Slam, where is apEX in the pantheon of great IGLs?

With 13 titles since he took over as Vitality's captain, apEX is one of the most accomplished IGLs. So why doesn't he get the recognition he deserves?

When Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire was offered Vitality's in-game leader role in March 2020 after Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin's sudden departure, he went into a deep hibernation of introspection for a few days. He wanted to be sure that he was up to the challenge and that he would be comfortable with the increased responsibilities that came with being the front figure for the team.

He had thought about taking up the role before, but he had felt that his issues dealing with emotions could escalate with the added pressure.

But this time, he told coach Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam, he felt ready to take the job.

Five years on, apEX has added 13 titles to his résumé, including Counter-Strike's holy trifecta of a Major, IEM Cologne and IEM Katowice, and his team is only one tournament win away from joining the exclusive club of Grand Slam winners.

After he led Vitality to victory at BLAST Open Lisbon to take his tally of big trophies to 28 — which puts him just four behind record holder Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen —, it is fair to question whether he gets the praise and recognition he truly deserves.

As apEX hops on a video call with HLTV to talk about his past and future as an in-game leader, it has been three days since Vitality's players returned to work after a whole week off. "I didn't play CS at all," he says. "Not a single hour."

It might seem like a luxury these days — apEX doesn't think every top team has been able to rest since the season started —, but Vitality have certainly earned the right to enjoy a break. With three big titles in a row, from IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League 21 and BLAST Lisbon, they have been the No.1 team in the world in 2025, and the question on everyone's lips is whether anyone will be able to stop them from winning the Austin Major.

Vitality's current wave of success is in stark contrast to what they experienced in 2024, when the title run at IEM Cologne was the only bright spot in a disappointing season. apEX has gotten used to it by now. He has achieved much in the last five years, sure, but there have also been times of drought and gut-wrenching disappointments in that span.

apEX is refreshingly candid about his IGL stint so far, the highs and lows of it, including the rough start to the international lineup in 2022 following the high-profile arrivals of multi-Major winners dupreeh, Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen.

"When I look back, I think that, if it weren't for Vitality, I would have probably gotten removed," he reveals.

By then, apEX was two years into the role, but he was failing to deliver on his initial promise, having led Vitality to two titles and four other finals in his maiden year on the job while breaking ground by effectively using a six-man setup, with Nabil "⁠Nivera⁠" Benrlitom coming on for certain maps.

In January 2021, Valve decided to introduce Major rules that effectively prevent teams from substituting players mid-event, bringing the six-man setup to a close. At the same time, veteran Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy had grown disenchanted with the game during the online era, his steep decline in form impossible to ignore. Unable to splash out money to buy a player, Vitality turned to rookie Jayson "⁠Kyojin⁠" Nguyen Van, a decision apEX acknowledges was a mistake.

"He wasn't ready for tier-one," he says. "Even though he is a really good guy and I really liked to play with him, he just wasn't ready for it.

"Maybe the staff at the time made a bad decision to pick him up. I think someone from DBL PONEY back then, like bodyy or Djoko, would have made more of a difference."

Just like in 2020, Vitality improved as the season wore on. They finished second at ESL Pro League Season 14 and at the BLAST Fall Final, third at the BLAST World Final and top-eight at the Stockholm Major, with Natus Vincere proving a thorn in their side time and time again. They also lifted the IEM Winter trophy in Stockholm — apEX's first LAN title as an IGL.

"I think it was decent," apEX says. "With the lineup we had, I think we did the maximum we could."

Vitality were the third-best team of 2021, but the winds of change were already blowing. After months of scouring the market for good deals, the French organization jumped at the chance to sign dupreeh, Magisk and zonic for free at the end of the year, when their Astralis contracts ran out.

It is hard to overstate how disastrous the first six months of this new Vitality's chapter were. Everyone on the team had stuck to their roots their entire careers except Magisk, who had had a brief spell with OpTic. "But I don't think it counts," apEX quickly says.

All of a sudden, they were now forced to communicate in a new language and try to find common ground with players from a different culture and with a different playing philosophy.

"It was really tough to get aligned," apEX admits. "And I remember a problem I had was that misutaaa and dupreeh had the same roles. So we had no lurker. Magisk is not a lurker. He's aggressive. We didn't have a lurker, so the only way we could play was explosive. It worked a bit but not too much.

"dupreeh was an entry-fragger, but he was a bit NiKo-ish, an entry fragger map control type of player. But if we did an execute, he was not going to be the one always running first, you know? Like, for example, flameZ does.

"So we struggled to find a way to play. I also think 2022 was a rough year for the two Danes. I actually think that year they didn't give their best. That's something that changed in 2023, when they became much better."

Vitality began to show glimpses of potential after replacing Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier with Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi. They went undefeated at ESL Pro League Season 16, only their second tournament with the Israeli star, but failed to build on that hot start and finished 12th-14th at the Rio Major and 5th-6th at the BLAST World Final.

When 2022 came to an end, Vitality barely made the list of the top 10 teams of that year, despite Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut extending his streak of top-two finishes in HLTV's Top 20 Player of the Year ranking.

When he looks back at the VODs of the matches his team played that year, apEX feels almost embarrassed. "We played really bad. Like, really bad. I don't know how I was calling like that shit.  I don't how we played that shit together. It didn't look good at all."

apEX went into a reflective mode at the end of the season. He concluded that, oftentimes, he had been second-guessing himself during games and "calling more scared."

"Sometimes I would feel that I wanted to do a rush or something, but I didn't call it because I didn't feel like the others would like those kinds of plays," he explains. "Mostly the Danes. And it didn't work too much.

"It was really weird in my brain that, at some point, we were just a team playing full default, full map control. But it didn't work at all."

The Paris Major was six months down the line, and apEX knew it was make-or-break, not just for the team but also for himself. But if that were to be his exit, he would at least go out on his terms, playing the way he felt was right.

"No regrets" was his motto heading into the new season.

The turning point, he feels, came in March, at ESL Pro League 17, where Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug stood in for dupreeh in the group stage. The team changed to a faster style of play, which worked out well in the matches against Grayhound, OG and FaZe.

When dupreeh returned from parental leave for the playoffs, Vitality lost the quarter-final series to ENCE. But more importantly, the JACKZ experiment was the blueprint for dupreeh to follow. After that event, he and apEX began to work more closely to find ways to make the partnership work.

"That was the moment we started to really understand each other and get better," apEX says.

Vitality hit new heights after that and won IEM Rio and the Paris Major in quick succession. And though they were at the top of the world, they refused to rest on their laurels and replaced dupreeh with Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan as they thought the opportunity to land the Israeli for free was too good to pass up.

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That signing bore immediate fruit as Vitality lifted four more titles to secure the Team of the Year award at the HLTV Award Show, where apEX was crowned IGL of the Year and ZywOo Player of the Year.

Vitality then fell short of expectations in a disappointing 2024 season in which they failed to recapture the heights of the previous year. apEX and the team crossed off a big bucket list item by winning IEM Cologne, but the rest of the season was a tale of near misses as they often struggled to close out tight games.

Part of the issues stemmed from a disconnect between Spinx and the rest of the team. After asking to explore his options in the summer, the Israeli ended up staying through the end of the year, but the situation was beyond repair.

"We've actually seen him change roles in MOUZ," apEX says. "He's not the main lurker, he's the second lurker. He's going more with the group, fighting more. And that's what he wanted in Vitality. But we couldn't do it.

"I just told him he couldn't. He was the main lurker. We didn't have another one, and I didn't want mezii to be the main lurker. So the problem we had was mostly that he felt he didn't have enough fight and was a bit useless on his side.

"That's something I understand because being a lurker is not easy. You will be on your side and you will do nothing if your team is getting fucked.  But that's something you need to accept. But I understand also that he wasn't happy with that anymore. He just wanted to change."

With Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool on the roster — another example of a shrewd business deal made with surgical precision by the French organization —, apEX believes his team has "way more balance" as the Estonian is at home playing the lurker role.

"Sometimes I tell him that it's a bit too much and he should come with us," apEX says, pointing out how ropz is doing more entrying now than he used to on FaZe and that he is a more selfless player than Spinx when it comes to setting teammates up with utility. "Spinx didn't like throwing nades much in a way. And now I have someone who says, 'I can throw five smokes per round, no problem.'

"For me, that has also been a bit easier individually because I can put myself in better situations than before to ensure that I can be the guy that likes to fight, etc. With Spinx, I was always the support, always throwing nades. Doing it too much is not the best way to be happy and performing."

apEX says he instantly recognised the team's potential with ropz. After sitting down with the Estonian to figure out his moves and how to incorporate them into their playbook, the team began to "smash" opponents in practice. According to apEX, they didn't lose a single scrim during the first week.

"I don't take practice that much into consideration, but when you see that you play good CS, that it's not just full dumb, running through smokes or whatever, you know you're going to play well," he says.

"When I got to BLAST Bounty and we lost to Eternal Fire 0-2, we talked in the practice room and I told the guys, 'I'm really disappointed because I thought we would be better than that. But we are training well and you're all doing your best to train well.'

"Unfortunately, we did not show up individually at that event. That's fine, but I promised that if we kept going like that, we would win trophies. I knew it. And I actually told [Vitality owner] Neo that we were going to win Katowice. And that's something that I never do."

Since that loss to Eternal Fire it's 16 wins in a row, the fourth-longest LAN win streak in Counter-Strike history.

Vitality are looking like a formidable and well-drilled unit, one where everyone shows tremendous desire to win titles after a disappointing year. This also includes ropz, who endured a tough season with FaZe that only returned one trophy.

In 2023, part of Vitality's secret to winning the Paris Major was peaking at the right stage of the season. When asked about the impact that this early peak might have on their title chances in Austin, apEX makes it clear that IEM Katowice was an event he was keen to add to his collection.

"We wasted our time last year," he explains. "We all know that we wasted our time. It wasn't great, it wasn't cool to play together, we didn't have much fun together. We didn't win enough. We all had this blood taste in our mouths [coming into 2025] and we all wanted to play our best.

"Maybe we won't win the Major. Maybe we will be tired. We don't know. Maybe it won't be because of us but because of other teams stepping up at the right time. I'm fine with it. I know I'm going to give my best and my team will give their best. Maybe we will ride our wave of confidence until the Major and even beyond. I have no idea."

According to apEX, 2024 served as a good reminder that Vitality cannot take their foot off the gas, lest other teams will catch up. At BLAST Lisbon, MOUZ gave Vitality a run for their money twice and even managed to take the grand final to five maps.

Much of the work now is mental and involves constant team talks to make sure complacency doesn't set in. apEX is not surprised that his team lost two maps to MOUZ in the Lisbon final after keeping a clean sheet in the previous three matches between the two sides. That streak of defeats, he explains, forced MOUZ to dig deep and change strategy.

"We knew we can't have a 100% winrate on all maps," he notes. "It's just not possible. You need to accept that you'll lose some maps. Bouncing back from those games is the most important thing."

Next up is IEM Melbourne, where Vitality will have the first chance to win the ESL Grand Slam. Given their current form, the fact they will have four more chances to complete the run if they stumble in Australia, and their lead over the rest of the field in the Grand Slam standings, it feels like an inevitability at this point.

In case they leave Melbourne empty-handed, Vitality will be able to redeem themselves next month at IEM Dallas, but with that event being so close to the Major, apEX wants to wrap up the Grand Slam right now to avoid distractions in the lead-up to Austin.

"I told the guys that I want to close it as soon as possible," he says. "You never know. That's why we're doing a big prep right now, to be ready for Melbourne.

"I think it would be really nice to win it in Melbourne to remove a bit of stress in our heads and to be fully focused for the Major."

Entering the exclusive club of Grand Slam winners, currently comprised only of four teams and 19 players, would be one of the greatest achievements in apEX's career. If — or when — that happens, the debate over his standing in the pantheon of all-time IGLs will intensify.

Four months into 2025, apEX is on track to have his best year as an IGL. But the question is whether he will someday be mentioned in the same breath as players like Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander.

ZywOo's superstar status remains to this day something that is held against apEX. This stems in part from the old meme that Vitality's only win condition was 'ZywOo, go kill.'

When asked if this puts him at a disadvantage compared to other IGLs whose tactical acumen is often praised when they win titles, apEX notes: "When karrigan won in 2018, what team did he have? Of course he did really well, but he wasn't playing with newbies.

"I have ropz now on my team, and I understand FaZe's success. karrigan is insanely good in tough moments and in his role, and he had great players. The difference I have is ZywOo. And when you have a big superstar, it's even better but different.

"They will mostly not give you credit. If you win, 'You have ZywOo, mate. It's normal to win.' If you lose, 'You call like shit. Because you have ZywOo, you have to win.' That's how I see it on my socials most of the time.

"Of course people underestimate [me]. And it's even more like that now because I have a great lineup. I have really good players. But people don't think about it like, 'Yeah, they are great players. But why are they great players?' I try to put them in great conditions. Of course I don't press the mouse for them. And in clutches I don't clutch for them.

"But people don't see all the work you do behind it. And of course ZywOo would be able to perform under anyone. I have no doubt about that. I'm not a genius, I'd never say that. But people underestimate the work in general I'm doing. But it's never been about that for me. It's always been about having the trust of my teammates, my staff and my organization. If this guy says, 'Dan, you're doing a fantastic job, keep going,' then I'm fine with it.

"If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't be with Vitality anymore. People need to understand that. And they need to understand that, if I were not in Vitality right now, I'm pretty sure I could join a lot of teams. That's because people around give me credit. People that know CS, obviously."

Another strike against apEX is that he has better positions on the CT side than some of his peers, which gives him the chance to have more impact in the game. That, he acknowledges, also affects the way the community perceives him.

"They think I want to shine, but it's not about that," he explains. "It's only because, when you've played CS for 18 or 19 years, I've never been an anchor. We tried that in 2022, and I swear that it was a fucking mess.

"Also, I think there are not a lot of players who can call CT in general. There are not many players I would leave my spots to call. For example, NiKo is one of them. I know he understands it very well and has an overview. Besides IGLs, I don't think there are more than five players with a good overview of what's happening on the whole map. They have a good view of what's happening in their zone, but they don't have the overview.

"When you play in these positions, you need to have an overview. That's really important. It's not because I want to be a star, it's because I know how to play in those positions.

"I think people have criticised me also for that, even though lately I've been better on the CT side. But it will never be enough. I had the two best ratings of my IGL career so far in Katowice and EPL, but they will say it was because I had good positions. It was not because I played well."

The current iteration of Vitality could go a long way towards boosting apEX's credentials as a tactical IGL, not because of what they're winning but how they are doing it. With ropz in the mix, they are capable of mixing different styles, slowing down the tempo of the game if needed and playing more disciplined than they used to in the past.

"I think the key in CS is to not have one style but to have all the styles," he says. "To play explosive, to play contact, to play map control. To fake, to not fake.

"To be unpredictable, you need to do everything. Maybe people will see me more as a tactician. But you never know, you never know. I think I've proved enough to be considered a good IGL. But people will say, 'Yeah, but you have ZywOo…'

"It always comes back to the same thing."

Despite the many doubters and naysayers, apEX would put himself in the top five IGLs of all time. The GOAT status, he argues, belongs to karrigan, who has twice as many trophies while calling as apEX.

"karrigan has been doing this job forever and I won't play until I'm 50," apEX says. "I won't be able to match his longevity. Being considered one of the best is something I really want.

"Maybe being top two or three is possible, but I really consider karrigan the best. Maybe if I win a few more Majors we can talk about it, but for now I think it's pretty tough."

Last August, apEX told HLTV that his dream was to win "at least one Katowice or Cologne and one more Major" before he retired. Less than 12 months on, he has already won both IEM events, and his team is regarded as the favorite to win the Austin Major.

For apEX, setting goals is what keeps him motivated 15 years into his career. Playing CS might not be as fun as when he was 17, but he's fueled by his love of competition. Winning the Grand Slam and the Austin Major would allow him to scratch two more goals off his list, but there will be new targets to purse after that, like being named IGL of the Year again and setting a new record for most trophies. Maybe even matching or surpassing dupreeh's Major record.

He just turned 32 but sees no reason he can't stay on top.

"It's not because Djokovic or Nadal won all four Grand Slams and everything that they stopped," he says. "No, they won more. For me, it's about getting as much as I can.

"The most important thing is that, on my deathbed, I want to have no regrets. It's really important for me. I'm 32 years old and I don't have many regrets in life. If I retire too soon, I think I'll have regrets. And I can see it now I still have it. I think I'm playing the best CS since I've been an IGL. I want to see how far I can go.

"I really want to give my best until the end. I really want to enjoy this job as much as I can. It will be a really sad day for me when I retire. I want to be here as long as possible. I want to be recognized for my longevity. I want to enjoy what I do. Because it's fucking enjoyable."

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