Hi apEX, you are actually undoubtedly one of the best French rifle. You played for Team VeryGames and Team-LDLC, these adventures started in January 2012 and ended in August 2013. You are now playing for Clan Mystik and are also a member of the A French squad (for the European Championship). What can you say about your career ? How do you analyse the “failures” with VG and LDLC ?



Hi Aks. With hindsight on my career, I think I have made some mistakes, but also good choices to get here. My first teams like gamed!de or redface were good experiences. But, leaving Sypher to 3DMAX was my best decision and allowed me to be under the spotlights. It was a tough but very important choice. Concerning VG, I think I am 80% at fault because I was so stubborn and I did not want to put myself in question. I could not correct some of my faults such as my tough personality or my CT side play, that did not suit to Ex6TenZ. But this kick made me question myself and level up. I could almost thank ex6 and Niak for this kick ^^. Concerning LDLC, it is different. We were together with Maniac and Vincent (Happy) for a year and have played with eight different players : Iorek, sf, skall, mshz, gmx, mat, atlantis and kennyS. We have given so much to this team, but it became tiresome to constantly start a new line up. Nevertheless, we stayed together until proper results. But in September, new troubles appeared : Sf wanted to quit playing and KennyS had no motivation anymore. It may well prove to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back. We did not want to start again with Maniac and Vincent and thought it was better to quit instead of wasting more time. After everything I have given to this line up, it was a huge disappointment.



Despite these prestigious tags and results, you still miss a victory at the Masters. You actually finished 3rd in 2010 and 2nd in 2011 and 2013. Do you think you can make it with Clan-Mystik ? Of course we can make it. We saw during the last Masters with only a week of training together that we were able to show a good game against VeryGames. To confirm this performance we just need more time and more training. I would love to win the ESWC, it is the most prestigious title in my opinion. KennyS, apEX and Maniac at Cap Arena 2013

Since you left VeryGames you seem changed : your skill is higher and you changed your behaviour, which was a recurring criticism at the time. Is it simply your age and experience that made you change ? Or, did you actually work on yourself and your game ?



As I said above, maturity came with the kick from VeryGames. It made me think a lot about my situation. What did I miss to be better ? It is really difficult to change sometimes, to step back and question yourself after this kind of failure. But I think I managed to do it, even if it is not for me to judge. The age is probably also for something, I'm on my 21th year. I get older, I find it easier to take a step back and work. I realized that having a correct behaviour when you are in a team is the most important thing. For example, I had a hard time accepting criticism and I always had something to add or reply. Today, even if it is still in my temperament, I am critical to successfully evolve without saying anything.



I also worked on my game a little. Being an aggressive player, you are taken to make many mistakes. So I watched a lot of records of Angel or f0rest to see what they did in order to make less mistakes. It was helpful to me.



You have played with Ex6TenZ and Happy. Now you are under the lead of the greatest French leader of 1.6 : HaRtS. With your second place at the Masters, you almost won VeryGames. It seems that you made a good choice to join this team.

Was it easy for you ? Are you fully satisfied with the result and your integration ?



With LDLC’s split, I questioned myself about my career. I had several opportunities, like playing at an international level or keep playing in France. I thought for a long time and my heart has chosen France and especially Clan-Mystik. I am now well integrated especially because HaRtS wanted to let me hold positions I like. It was pretty messed up for the rest of the team, but we adapted quickly. All members of the team were friendly. HaRtS really trusts me, and showed me it by giving me the co-leader role. So yes, clearly, my integration is great. I would be lying if I told you that I went into the team fully confident about our potential, but each player has impressed me and now I am really happy to be part of this team. apEX near ioRek with Clan-Mystik, during Masters 2013 After this magical weekend at the Masters, given the results and optimism that adorns your statements, what do you think about your current line-up? How is the team building after this event ?



It is clearly this weekend that showed me the level of the team and the huge potential we have. But it is relative, it was just a minor event, we will show a higher level for the next big competitions.

The hardest part of playing counter-strike in a high level, is not to make a performance, but it is to renew this performance at each event. We will work hard in order to achieve this and, I repeat, we are able of it. It has been a while since I had not been surrounded by four great players as motivated as there, it’s awesome !



HaRtS and iorek are two world champions (WCG, 2007 with emulate!) and you also have a good international experience. How far can you go with this team ? As you play with Harts and he is known for its stability and its construction in time. I would like to ask you what are your shot, medium and long term goals ?



Harts and Iorek have a huge experience and a sense of reflection that I love, they want perfection. As soon as you lose a round they really think about solutions to improve and correct errors. Although we have not yet spoken about objectives together, but we are 5 competitors, we want to be number one.

In the short term we want to win ESWC.Fr and represent France in ESWC tournament. In my mind, the victory is always my goal.



apEX vs Copenhagen Wolves (EMS One Summer 2013... par RedacVaKarM If I say 16-10, 14-16, 16-19, it should ring a bell. This is the score in the final of MFJV. The match was a real pleasure to watch at and it was a real surprise to see you take a map to VeryGames and it was even more surprising to see the following two maps ending on scores as tight. Thought you hang this team so quickly ? How did you experience this game with your new teammates ?



To be honest my speech with my mates was: "If we play VeryGames: no pressure, it is the team of the moment, they are much more ready than we are, it is a bonus to play them, let's see what happens."

After that, in my mind I will not say that it was doomed to failure, but I know this team as if it was mine, I knew their level and with so little preparation I could not imagine to win a map. This match was really intense, we showed them directly that we were not afraid of them and we had to give everything. When we saw that on inferno, in terrorist, we scored so many rounds in a row, we really believed that we could defeat them. Because we were a new team, we made error that led to us losing the match. It’s too bad, because a success like this for such a young team, gives confidence for further competitions. But no regrets, the next event we will show them that their victory was only based on luck :)



You never played with Kioshima, ioRek or HaRts. After 10 days and a lan, can you introduce your teammates to us ? What are their ingame qualities and what identifies them.



KQLY is as good with an AWP as with a rifle and he is eager to learn. Believe me he will get popular in Europe in a short amount of time. His negative point would be that he does not speak French very good. Kio is a kind of ScreaM/Sf with an uncommon aim. He is very self-confident which is good, but he should not underestimate his opponents. HaRts is a good exemple for each ingame leader : really calm and a good sense of the game. Huge negative point : he snores... ioRek is the more peaceful player in the world and has a lot of self-control, a perfect teammate.



Before you leave we have a little tradition : the technical and bonus questions.

For technique, how to effectively spend an evening with your new team? Pracc a lot ? Strat-time on a server or simply do not need a single pracc to beat VG?



I recently moved in, so I still do not have internet, our training is actually slowdown. But of course you need to train and practice to have a good preparation ! We are not the kind of players who do not train, we have to be serious. Frankly, for our week of training before the Masters we played from 4 pm to 12 pm ! Intensive evenings are inevitable if you want to win.



In Bonus I suggest you a travel through time. In two months you will be playing for ESWC.fr, which also serves as a qualifying tournament for the World Cup. In view of the results to master you should have a card to play to participate in the World Finals. We are Monday, November 4, 2013, you come to be crowned World Champion Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with Clan-Mystik at ESWC. What are your first words and to who are they addressed to ?



"Thanks mom for always being there for me !" (LOL). Not if it happens I think the emotion would be huge and I could not find my words. But this is a big thank to my mates and Harts for trusting me.



Thank you Dan.

I really want to thank you and VaKarM for this interesting interview that changes routine. A big thank to Clan Mystik & Zowie to support us throughout the year and all the people following me !