We had the opportunity to chat with Team Vitality’s in-game leader, apEX, about the weight of being the top-ranked team globally, the recent addition of ropz to their lineup, and their developing rivalries with both MOUZ and Team Falcons.

As we touched upon in our previous article featuring Spinx, he was a member of Vitality for two years before being benched this past January in favor of ropz, who joined after his departure from FaZe Clan. We were curious to hear apEX’s perspective on how the team has been integrating over the past three months.

“It’s been great so far, I’m not gonna lie. If we look at the last three months until now, I think we’ve been undefeated, 19 wins in a row. What can I say? My team is just crazy good. I know we’re gonna lose at some point, but it’s been a great journey so far. I hope we’re gonna keep working hard to reach our dreams.”

IEM Melbourne 2025 has been exceptionally successful for Team Vitality thus far, as they haven’t dropped a single map in their victories against FlyQuest, Team Liquid, and Falcons. We asked apEX about his experience at the tournament so far and how the team has been utilizing their extra day.

“I don’t know if it has been easy, because the last game wasn’t easy, the others were a bit easier for sure – it’s been good so far. We arrived a bit earlier, we played on Monday and we arrived on Friday just to deal with the jet lag. It’s a long way to travel, so tiredness has been there the first few days, but I think we manage it pretty well. We’re feeling good and ready for the Semifinal tomorrow.”

“As for today, well I’m here for press (laughs) and for a signing session as well. We’ve been practicing a bit before, and yesterday we practiced as well. We’re trying to use our time to play CS as much as we can and be ready as much as we can for the semifinal.”

Vitality’s recent significant victories at BLAST Open Spring 2025 and ESL Pro League Season 21 both came against MOUZ. We inquired about this emerging rivalry between the two squads and what it’s like for apEX to compete against his former teammate, Spinx.

“I think we have a bit of a mental edge [against MOUZ] for sure, but they’ve been playing really well. They also have a semifinal spot and they beat everyone in easy fashion. I think with FalconS coming up as well, they are two of our biggest rivals, maybe Spirit as well, but they’re not here. Let’s see who wins and maybe we’re gonna face one of them in the final, if we reach the final, because we can’t underestimate anyone.”

“It’s funny [playing against former teammates] because you might think they know you too much or whatever, but I’m not scared about that because I try to change a lot of things in my game in general. With Spinx we won around six or seven events together in two years, we had wonderful times together. I don’t put anything in the trash, I just remember all those good moments and I hope it’s a great game.”

Vitality stands a chance to complete the prestigious ESL Grand Slam this weekend, and the circumstances appear favorable, considering their consistent number one ranking across various platforms. Preparing for a tournament carries a different kind of pressure when you’re the team to beat, and maintaining focus while avoiding overconfidence becomes crucial.

“When you’re the best, people steal things from you. They’re watching you a lot, they want to beat you more than the the others, but that’s the way it is. We know that we have a target on our back and are very ready for it. We’ve been working on the mental side of that and for everything. We really want to achieve something big this year.”

“For the grand Slam, we knew that we had one tournament out of five to win. Now we are in the semifinal, so we have a good spot, two more games and we have it. The Pressure is getting higher for sure, but the main thing when it happens is to focus on something we can control. What we can control is the way we play Counter-Strike, the way we play together, the way we work towards the games and nothing else. We can’t think about a thing that hasn’t happened yet, we can’t think about getting the golden bars yet.”

This event marks apEX’s debut playing in front of the renowned Australian crowd, a setting he’s known to thrive in with his energetic presence. He also shared his thoughts on Vitality’s potential opponents in the semifinals and expressed his anticipation for the arena’s atmosphere.

“I have the same answer all the time. I’m here to win, so whoever we face, we have to beat them anyway. We’ve beat Team Liquid here and in ESL Pro League (EPL) and we’ve beat MongolZ in EPL. With Liquid, I think siuhy has been a good addition, they went through the group stage beating NaVi, which is a really great team. With MongolZ, they are stepping up in good moments as well, they can just pop off and play really good. Let’s see how it goes, I’m just excited to play.”

“This is the third time I have come to Australia, but I’ve never been in playoffs yet, so I will experience [the crowd] for the first time. I’m playing Counter-Strike to play on stage and to enjoy those crazy moments as we did, in Katowice and Lisbon this year – this is going to be a third stage this year. I just hope they’re gonna bring the noise, bring some hype, and I will do it as well, because it’s my thing as well. The combination can be one of the best in my life.”

Check out more of our IEM Melbourne 2025 content or one of our previous interviews with Team Vitality:

• Vitality Spinx: “We can still be better than we are right now”
• Vitality dupreeh at IEM Katowice: “There is still a ton of work in front of us”
• Vitality: “Of course s1mple is better than me this year”
• Vitality: “I don’t really care what team we’re facing”
• Vitality: “It’s always tough to be that low when you were that high”