Will anyone be able to stand in Vitality's way this weekend?

apEX: "It's so easy to play with ropz that I can focus more on myself"

Vitality has their eyes set on Major glory.

Dust2.us' Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore had the opportunity to chat with Dan "apEX" Madesclaire ahead of their semi-final clash with Falcons at IEM Dallas 2025.

apEX shared his thoughts on Vitality's focus on the Major, his individual form, and the team's indifference towards their 28-match win streak.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube, with key snippets underneath. All questions and answers below have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

That MongolZ game from the group stage ended up being one of the closer games you've had in a long time. You smashed them in Melbourne last time you played so why do you think this match was much closer?

Coming up to the tournament we did very little preparation because the most important thing for us is the Major and we wanted to get some rest before. I think we practiced maybe four days in the last month, which is not that much and not that many hours of CS.

Yeah, it was a close game, we didn't play that well, but we won, and that's what we will remember. We know we are not playing perfect CS, and the goal of the team is to play better and better after each game, so, yeah, there you go.

HLTV talked to ropz during the group stage and asked about the narratives around the team's win streak. ropz said he doesn't care, he said it's neat to him, but it's not something he's losing sleep over. Are you in the same boat where it's cool but you guys don't really care?

Well, yeah. It's not only ropz that thinks that way, it's the team. We never talk about the win streak, we never talk about that kind of stuff. The only thing we know is winning every trophy we can; that's the mindset of the team. It's not about the win streak.

The win streak is a plus; we're already in the top two all-time. It's already crazy, but right now, we don't care about it.

Looking at your own performance this year, you're currently on course for your best performance since 2021. Is there something in particular that you can point to that leads you to perform better than last year? Or is it that success begets success, and if you're always winning, you're always playing well?

I don't think it's really about winning; it's more about myself. I think that last year being pretty rough for the team, I really wanted to take revenge this year. It's been a long time since I have been that motivated with a team.

I'm putting in the hours, and also the addition of ropz helps us in a way that I don't have to take care of him as much. He does his job, he knows his job pretty damn well. It's so easy to play with him that I can focus more on myself.

Right now, the general discussion is that there are four truly elite teams in the CS2 scene: Vitality, Falcons, Spirit, and MOUZ. I wanted to ask you, do you currently have any peers in the space?

For us and for everyone, I think those three teams are the hardest to beat. But it's always us against ourselves, it's not about focusing on the opponent. It's never been a problem for me. It's how we're thinking about how we can play good and play our A-game.

As we all know, if we play our A-game lately, it's impossible for anyone to beat us. It's bringing the A-game for us. If we can do that, it's a lot easier.

Vitality plays v. Falcons today in the semi-finals of IEM Dallas 2025 at 09:15PM.

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