After His Fourth Major Triumph, apEX Outlines New Milestones for Vitality

 

After His Fourth Major Triumph, apEX Outlines New Milestones for Vitality

Dan “apEX” Madesclaire has reached a career pinnacle after winning his fourth Major title, and with it comes a fresh set of ambitions for both himself and Team Vitality. 

The 32-year-old French captain achieved this milestone at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, closing out the event with a victory over FaZe Clan in the final. This success capped an extraordinary year for Vitality, which also included nine tournament wins and a Grand Slam, underlining the team’s competitive peak. 

apEX’s journey to this point has been long and marked by evolution. After joining Vitality in January 2020 and taking on the IGL role, it took him over three years to secure his first Major as a leader. Since then, he added two more — including a Major win in Austin earlier in 2025 — before lifting the trophy in Budapest. 

Joining an elite fraternity of players with four Major titles, apEX now stands alongside legends from prior dynasties. His first Major win came in 2015 with Envy at Cluj-Napoca, predating his accomplishments as Vitality’s captain. 

Reflecting on the Budapest title, apEX emphasized the unique importance of each championship. While Paris will forever remain special because of its unexpected nature, Austin represented the culmination of a near-perfect season — and Budapest demonstrated Vitality’s resilience under pressure even when they weren’t the pre-tournament favorites. 

Vitality’s 2025 campaign has been one of the strongest in recent memory. The team’s trophy haul not only included multiple titles but also saw standout performances from stars such as ZywOo, who broke multiple MVP records over the year — further reinforcing Vitality’s dominance across LAN events globally. 

Despite these achievements, apEX believes there are still greater heights to reach. His primary goal for the coming year is a back-to-back Grand Slam, beginning at the upcoming event in Kraków, followed by another Major run in Cologne, where Vitality have historically performed well. 

Looking beyond individual events, apEX’s broader vision includes solidifying Vitality’s place among the all-time great teams. While comparisons to legendary lineups like Astralis naturally arise, he stresses that defining the “greatest of all time” will require sustained success over multiple seasons. 

Having already secured four Majors as a player and three as an in-game leader, apEX still sees room for further legacy-building — both personally and for Vitality — as the competitive Counter-Strike landscape continues to evolve.