apEX x Stake Interview - Exclusive Team Vitality CS2 Insights

We recently caught up with Team Vitality in-game leader Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, ahead of the the closing stretch of the 2026 season, to discuss life away from the server, managing the world's best roster, and his remaining goals before retirement.

Check out our exclusive interview below, and get the latest CS2 betting odds when you join Stake Sportsbook.

You've been a CS professional for 17 years, starting way back in Source, and you've played three different versions of the game. With CS taking so much of your life, how important is life outside the game for you, and what's your approach to work-life balance, especially now that you're going to be a father?

Well, I don't know yet because I'm not a father yet, but the truth is balance in my life has always been one of the most important things. So right now I will have to find a new balance overall to see how it will affect me in my game and how much I can do on both sides.

It's really an unknown for me, and I'm just looking forward to living it because, yeah, it's really new stuff for me.

Have you taken any advice from other players who are fathers, or from friends who have gone through it?

Well, no, no. I think I need to live my own experience, to be honest. I need to live it by myself. I'm not asking for any advice yet. I just want to be sure that I'm gonna be the best version of myself for that kid and for my wife, and just give my best on a daily basis.

You've played with some of the greats of French CS, and you yourself are one of them. Do you have a favorite French roster you've been part of, and do you miss having a full French roster?

I don't miss anything from the French rosters because I have the most success now with the international team. I think I won more in the last two years than I won with any French teams.

So for me, it's key that I don't miss France. But if I have to choose one lineup, I will say I will go with the EnVyUs lineup with KennyS, NBK, Happy, kioShiMa and me, because that's the lineup I won my first Major with.

Do you still have contact with them?

I do with Kenny. Kio not so much, Happy not so much either, and NBK a little bit as well. So, yeah, a bit left and right, but not too often, to be honest.

Coming to Vitality, we've seen the team struggle in the second half of 2026, although things are much better after StarSeries. With you and mezii taking breaks, and you as the IGL taking a lot of the pressure from the team's performance, what do you tell your team and yourself to ensure you perform to the best of your ability?

The thing is that it's not an easy task, because we knew from the beginning of the season that mezii and I would be away for one event. So we had to find a solution.

I also think it was not easy for the other players that we were going to be away, because it's not easy at all for them to be sure that we're gonna perform.

So what my stance is, we have to try to get the most out of it. We had a successful first part of the season. And our goal is to be the best team of 2026 and to win the Major. So for that, we have to stay aligned and keep united to be sure that we're gonna play as well as possible.

And yeah, it's not easy for everyone. That's a sure thing. But we're working on it and we're trying to solve it as much as we can.

On HLTV, you recently talked about how you and flameZ are extroverted, expressive players, while ZywOo, ropz, and mezii to an extent are more reserved and quiet. What's your approach to managing these different personalities and ensuring that you have good synergy?

The truth is, with flameZ, you don't need to ask him what's going wrong in a way, because he will tell you straight. While the others take more time. So you need to go to them and ask them how they feel, if we can change something for them, or if they're not playing that well lately, why they're not playing well lately. Do they lack confidence or do they lack something in the game?

And then, yeah, I just try to have this approach overall to make sure that all my players feel comfortable and they feel better. And that's my main thing to do right now. You need to manage people differently, and that's what I'm trying to do.

What are your thoughts on the state of Counter-Strike 2 as a game? Do you like where the game is, and do you have to deal with problems that regular players face, or are your concerns different?

No, I think the game is in good state. I don't really care. I'm not like the others. I'm just focusing on myself and just giving my best on that, and that's it.

I was looking at some past interviews, and you defended Vitality's coach after he won Coach of the Year in 2025 when some people online thought it wasn't deserved. How has he been preparing to make sure Vitality plays its best CS without mezii and soon without you? What have you two talked about regarding this upcoming period?

I will be honest, I don't think you can play your best when you play with stand-ins. That's not possible. So we haven't thought about that. The thing we try to think about is more around being sure that we play at the best level possible with the lineup.

So we try to practice with the new guy and we try to make him comfortable. And that's also one of the goals of the coach. And yeah, when the team isn’t performing well, we try to talk as much as we can with our coach. Just to be sure we move forward together and we move with the team in the right direction.

mezii is acting as the second in-game leader while you're away, right? What's one thing you've noticed about his communication style that surprised you, or have you played together for so long that you're already used to everything?

No, I mean, mezii has been IGLing before he was in Vitality, when he was in Fnatic. So I have no doubt he will be able to do good. Maybe not as good as me, but he will still do good. I have no doubt about that.

He's also been playing under my belt for three years, so he really knows how the team's gonna play and what the expectations are. So I think, yeah, he'll do good. I think for the tournament he's gonna be the right IGL for the team and is gonna do well. I'm pretty sure.

flameZ is already a great player, but he's also seen as a promising player for the future of Vitality. What's something you've watched him do that makes you think he can carry a team, even if sometimes it's not that obvious?

I think when he used to play with OG, he was the best player and he was doing a lot of hard work, and he was doing it well.

I think the strength of flameZ is to be, like, crazy, and that's sometimes needed in a team. So I think that's the guy that does the best . And yeah, he showed it at the beginning of the season, with the first part of the season being almost as good as donk, while we know donk is pretty insane. So yeah, I think it's crazy to see him playing that well. And I hope he's gonna keep playing as long as possible like that because it helps the team.

What is something you see him doing that makes you think he's crazy? Is he a bit chaotic?

Just the way he plays, just the way he enters bombsites. It’s just fearless.

He reminds me of myself when I was a bit younger, just being a crazy entry fragger and just giving everything including space for the team. That's what he's the best at and sometimes he can just win this game by himself. So I think, yeah, that's key for me.

Vitality's dominance became consistent after ropz joined in early 2025. What has changed about his importance to the team compared to when he had just joined?

Well, to be honest, it clicked really fast with ropz, so I don't know what the difference is now.

But yeah, he's such a great player and one of the best riflers, and probably the best at his role. So the guy knows exactly what's gonna happen on his bombsite.You just let him take care of stuff and he's gonna do it really well.

So I think his strength is being a big-game player, and he helps you to win games just by himself. I remember Katowice 2025 or Rotterdam, or so many big moments where he just steps up and plays insanely well.

So yeah, he's that player. Sometimes he's not shining in the group stage, but whenever we arrive in big games, he has one of the best pressure gamers in the world.

Beyond the obvious statistics, is there a specific moment or quality from ZywOo, from your time together, that people often overlook when they talk about his skill level?

We often say that ZywOo is not like a flashy player, that he's not like s1mple or m0NESY. That's true. He's less flashy than them, but he's really efficient. That's his best quality, I think.He's doing the kills he has to do, and sometimes he does some other crazy stuff as well.

What's true with ZywOo is he needs to enjoy, and he's one of the guys that I think, if he was working harder—and I mean a lot harder—he would be less good, because he plays with a lot of his feelings. So I think that's the player where you need to let him play the way he does, to let him work the way he does, because that's the way he is and you need to accept that.

I have known him for a long time and I'm working with him all the time especially if someone has to do more with me, and I'm trying to do stuff for him. He's such a big asset that we can win just because of him.

After your StarSeries win, ZywOo said in an interview with HLTV that you all had a chat after PGL about the team's performance and that it released something in the team. Do you remember having a specific conversation with ZywOo that helped him perform even better at StarSeries?

Hmm, I don't know if I'm gonna say. No, I mean, I think for him it's just always finding a way for him to enjoy and finding a way for him to play his game, because sometimes he doesn’t play his way and he doesn’t play the same because he tends to forget who he is.

So whenever you do stuff with him and you put him on the, I would say, on the right path again, he's just demolishing.

Do you prefer to adjust the team to give him that freedom, rather than having him adjust his freedom to the team?

It's more about using the freedom. I mean, ZywOo has, without a doubt, the most freedom in the team. But sometimes he doesn't use it wisely. So I'm just trying to see sometimes what he can do and help him to do stuff. Because when he's in the flow of the game, he helps us by killing people, but by the way he moves, in all the moves he does, he offers us a lot of kills on the other side of the map.

Not counting Vitality players, who do you think is the player of the year so far? Is there a specific moment or decision from another player that makes you think they're really doing something special this year?

If I have to talk about other players, I think we all know that the battle for top one is gonna be between ZywOo and donk. Donk is a phenomenal player, something that we’ve never seen. His individual level is insane. And I think that's a really tough player to play against.

And if I have to name another one, it will be m0NESY, because I think for a few months he has been playing his best Counter-Strike for a long time, and he's just one of the greatest already being 21 years old or something like that. So yeah, they're both really amazing, and they both deserve to be in the top three in the world.

According to Liquipedia's tracking of tournament wins and earnings, you're behind only f0rest and GeT_RiGhT in tournament wins. Have you ever talked with f0rest or GeT_RiGhT about the game or your performance? Did they ever give you advice earlier in your career?

No, I had a few chats mostly with GeT_RiGhT, but no, he didn't give me any advice. It's more like having a lot of respect for each other. We've been competing against each other since the beginning of CS:GO until, I don't know when GeT_RiGhT retired, but probably around 2021 or something.

So I have a huge respect for that guy. He's been in the first era of Counter-Strike: GO, he's been the best player in the world. It's true that if we talk about a lurker, he was without a doubt the best lurker in the world and probably still the best lurker of all time.

Even though that's still another game than now, the way it's played, he was actually insane, the spray he did between 1.6, Source and CS:GO. So yeah, I have a lot of respect for that guy. And same for f0rest. I mean, I've been looking at those guys when I was playing Source, and they have been phenomenal. I was really happy to beat those guys for the first time back then. No advice, but I have a lot of respect for both of them.

Was there someone who gave you advice early in your career or helped you a lot who you still think about today and look back on as someone who was important to getting you where you are?

Yeah, of course. If you are the way you are, you are the biggest reason. But of course the truth is some people can help you towards that.

And if I have to mention a few, I think I will go with—the first one is my agent now, used to be my manager. He used to be a G2 manager, Titan manager back then, etc.. He’s called Jerome Sudries.

He came from elite sports, like professional sport, and he had a lot of advice to give me. I didn't listen too much at the beginning, but then I understood that he was like the right tool for me to get better. So he's one of the guys without a doubt.

XTQZZZ as well. He's the coach I had when I became an IGL, and he helped me to be the IGL I am today.

And the third person is the assistant coach, Matt. He's always on my side. Since I’ve been the IGL, he's been on the team. We've been through everything together. He knows me so well, I know him so well, we work hard together, and I think it’s insane to have those people helping

you because now they have become friends rather than just colleagues. And yeah, it's a pleasure to be with them, and thanks to them I'm the person I am today and the player I am today.

In a recent interview, Vitality's performance manager Jack said he told you that if Tom Brady could play football until he was 40, you could play CS until you were 40. What's one thing that makes you think your situation might be different from what people assume?

I would say that CS is way more hectic and tougher to have a longer career. We can see that with players because of the way the tournaments are balanced, etc., it’s not good. We have too many tournaments, we don’t get much breaks, etc., and we don't have much time to rest.

So I think for me that's really tough to be able to have a really long career. I will not play until I'm 40 because I also need to enjoy a bit of life.

The difference with sports is that on the side they have a lot of home games where they can just do whatever, enjoy with the family, etc.. It's something I can't do myself because we are always away for tournaments and we are away from home more than half of the time, and it's tough to have a balanced life.

So the truth is I hope, I hope I will keep my contract until the end. I will stay in Vitality until the end of 2028, but I won't reach that Tom Brady timeline, I guess. Because I want to be sure that I'm gonna retire at a good level and not drop too much down and be put on the side, and that's something that I hope I'm gonna still do.

After so many wins and achievements, is there one thing that would make you feel like you've done enough in your career? Is there anything you still want to achieve before retiring?

Yeah, you're always chasing goals, and I think that it’s really important to have goals in your life, because it's fun to win, that's for sure. But it's fun to have goals and win the next ones.

If I have to talk about this, I think what will make me happy is to have more Majors than dupreeh. So I need two more Majors and I’ll have won, on both CS:GO and CS2 combined, 50 trophies. And I think if I get to that I will be happy and I will retire in peace.

But the truth is maybe if this happens before I retire, I will have new goals. You know, I remember back in Cologne 2024, before the tournament, I said that I’d love to win either a Katowice, a Major or a Cologne and a Major before I retire.

I won a Katowice, two Majors, a Cologne and a Krakow since that. So, you know, you always have to change the way you do stuff and the way you are chasing goals. So yeah, you need new ones for sure.

Losing to Spirit, for example, probably feels different from losing to 9z or Inner Circle. What is something about losing to smaller teams that fans might not understand? Most fans would expect Vitality to beat teams outside the top 30. What might they be missing when you lose to those teams?

Well, that upset always happens in any sport. And people you play against are not, like, painters. They know how to play the game, they know how to do stuff as well.

So the truth is, if you play a bit worse than the way you usually play, of course you're gonna lose, and that's exactly what happened there. And I think it's normal to lose against smaller teams sometimes. The truth is what's important is to be sure that it hasn't happened too many times. And that's the stuff we're trying to work on.

Does it usually depend on you underperforming, the other team playing an unusually good game, or is it a combination?

Usually, of course, the other team is playing better than usual and we also underperform. I mean, it's a combination of both, I would say.

What kind of Vitality do you want to come back to after your leave?

Well, the truth is whenever I will come back there will be no more leave. We will always give our actual best to be the best version of ourselves.

So we will have one tournament before the Major together, Hong Kong, because we should be qualified for this one. For me that's super important, that we just try to give our best and win this one and go to the Major and try to win the Major. That's my expectation from the team.

Is there something about your preparation for the Major, or about the tournament itself, that makes you nervous or that you think the team might have to fix?

No, no. I mean, the preparation will be as usual, focusing on Counter-Strike, and no, I'm not nervous about anything. I'm just excited to play tournaments overall.

I think, you know, you need to enjoy those moments. We also play such a nice game that's an enjoyable moment, we need to enjoy it. Yeah, that's it. So that's what we're gonna try to do.

Different fans use different metrics to talk about the best players in Counter-Strike, and by many accounts you're at the top or very close to it. Is there something that matters more to you personally that no metric can capture?

I actually think that for me what's super important is to be sure that my players enjoy and I do everything for them. But if they're happy about me, that's what makes me really happy.

I don't care that the analyst or whoever outside of the team says I'm good. I think for me that's super important, that the players believe in me and they just give the best overall.

How do you enjoy being the best team in the world and trying to win tournaments while dealing with the direct or indirect pressure to perform and be the best? How do you enjoy the game while having to do all of that?

I think the pressure is part of the game. So you just enjoy it because it makes you a better version of yourself. And I think that's what we all expect, is just to be the best version of yourself and to give your best on a daily basis. So I think that motivates me because it's just really fun to have this path.

When JL joined Vitality, did you tell him anything that you wish you'd known earlier in your career when you were switching teams, or are you letting him figure it out for himself while standing in?

I think that it's such a weird situation to be a stand-in that I didn’t give any advice to him. I think he has to be himself and try to play his best, trying to follow the team, also trying to follow his good feeling.

Because as I told you before, I don't think with a stand-in he can play his best Counter-Strike, but you can still play good and give the best out of everything. So for me that's super important, that the guy gives his best. He's just enjoying playing with the guys and yeah, I think that's what I will tell him.