Apeks was one of just three teams worldwide that made it back to an Ascension finals in 2024 after losing in the finals the year prior. When they returned to try again, they earned a spot in VCT EMEA off the back of experienced talent and a star duelist, none of whom played for Apeks in that prior year's final.

Heading into the 2024 season, Apeks Apeks Europe Rank #2 florescent Ava Eugene hype Tautvydas Paldavicius MOLSI Michał Łącki AvovA Auni Chahade lost their core of Enzo , Keiko , and Mistic to Team Liquid, while ShadoW and MAGNUM joined other tier one rosters in EMEA. Even Itopata , their former coach, moved on to make big changes to their future VCT team. That left coaches DANNYTO and Desmo to head the rebuild of Apeks, aiming to continue competing for Ascension.

“To win Ascension, you essentially have to be a good VCT team and an Ascension-winning team,” Desmo said. “Some of the best Ascension teams are VCT-quality, but only one team from each region makes it. We built this roster with the intent to compete in VCT, and I was confident with what we built. I feel like Apeks as a team is stronger than its parts, which is why we can compete with anyone.”

Desmo was one of the two coaches who stuck around from 2023 to 2024, with roles ranging from analyst to assistant coach. He wasn't key to building the 2023 roster, as he was more of a pickup specifically for their Ascension tournament run in 2023. However, in 2024, he was crucial to their strategy and the building of Apeks. That included picking up former tier one players soulcas , hype , MOLSI , and AvovA . The team then rounded it out with their future tournament MVP kaajak , who joined Apeks after grinding through tier three in Poland.

“We always knew about his potential, but the core question was: could he perform when it mattered?” Desmo said about kajaak. “He developed consistency from his routine to his performance in-game, and it boosted his confidence. Everyone on the team knew he could be an amazing player.”

Apeks team photo Ascension 2024 A team photo of Apeks in 2024. (Image via Apeks)

Kaajak ended the Ascension EMEA 2024 tournament leading many stats, including a 274.2 ACS, 1.36 K/D, 175.1 ADR, and 0.25 FKPR. He led his team in match rating for every series aside from the grand finals against PCIFIC Espor PCIFIC Espor Inactive ComeBack Berkcan Şentürk Rosé Eren Erzan Loita Utku Kart Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber . Even in a five-map series where kaajak was more understated in his performance, he stood up on the final map of Ascent and finished with a 21/12/6 Yoru masterclass.

Moving from tier three to tier two looked to be easy for kaajak as he helped his team reach tier one in his first season, but it was tougher than it looked from a distance. A newfound focus on mental health, with assistance from the coaching staff, helped form kaajak from a potential star to the team's catalyst.

“I was feeling pressure until I started working with my mental coach, and he helped me take the focus off of myself and more on the collective team,” kaajak said. “My expectations for myself are high, so I had to learn that even though I have a bad day, it wasn't only me playing the game. The first tournament, Superdome, was stressful, but I got better as the year went on.”

Apeks finished in fourth place at Superdome 2023, but only improved as 2024 began. While Split 1 was strong, Split 2 was a step up for kaajak statistically, heading into Ascension in form. It was a big change to go from playing online to on stage, and it showed in their first group stage match against GoNext Esports GoNext Esports Inactive . While the team looked strong early on, they lost and learned some valuable lessons that helped them later down the line.

“The thing we learned as a team was that we needed to manage our energy, no matter how long the series,” MOLSI said. “When we won our first map against GoNext, we were shouting like crazy, but we couldn't keep that energy for map two. We cannot waste everything emotionally on one map and then fall off later in the series. If you need that hype for an insane round that's fine, but we needed to save that energy.”

MOLSI himself knew the importance of this moment, as a player who had played on tier one rosters like Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #8 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso and OG LDN UTD OG LDN UTD Inactive . He wasn't too familiar with best-of-fives, but he had to take the reins while relying on some of the other experienced members of his team.

“I don't think I played a ton of best-of-fives, but AvovA and soulcas have and it showed in those finals. AvovA especially was keeping the mood up and hyping us up. For me, it was a bit harder, because it was a fierce tournament where I had to put all of my focus into strong calling. Polaris was online, but on stage, that player experience led us to be calm.”

With that tight 3-2 win over the young PCIFIC Espor, Apeks secured their spot in VCT EMEA for 2025. There were plenty of explanations for how they managed to reach back-to-back grand finals with entirely different rosters, but Desmo and MOLSI both knew exactly why this team made it so far: the family-like care they developed for each other.

“Apeks is a team with good chemistry above all else, where everyone has a good sense of humor,” MOLSI said. “Personally, I wanted everyone to feel that we listened to them. At some point, as the IGL, I needed to use that IGL experience to make sure that everyone felt comfortable in their roles. We had everything we needed, from bootcamps to coaching, and we built to have that familial connection.”