After Vitality’s triumph in the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Grand Final, team captain Dan "apEX" Madesclaire gave an emotional post-match interview. He spoke about the journey, the struggles, and what this victory means to him — not just as a player, but as a leader who has overcome years of criticism.

This was the third Major title for apEX, and winning it in Austin — after once being the villain in the eyes of the crowd — made the moment even more special.

That was an amazing journey to play here. I love being the villain. I love that you wanted to fuck me, actually. But yeah, we worked so hard altogether, and I'm so happy that we managed to come back after this terrible first map. That’s what we said to each other — this year, it already happened that in the grand final we lost the first map, and we knew we could come back. In the last two months, there were no games — we were just the better team. I'm just proud of my boys, how much they worked and everything. And thank you, Austin. F*cking thank you.

Reflecting on his growth, apEX spoke about the emotional maturity he developed as a leader, and how that impacted the team’s performance throughout the tournament.

I think I managed my emotions better. That had to be important because I'm a really emotional person. At big tournaments, I'm trying to be the best captain I can — not only IGL. I think this tournament, I was never tilted on my guys, even though we played bad. And also, a lot of hard work. I'm happy it worked out today — on the team side, but also individually, because on Inferno I fucked them.

 

When asked about his teammates — especially ropz, who finally lifted his first Major trophy — apEX praised their impact and had a clear message for those who doubted their roster moves.

Well, I'm sorry, images, but ropz is the best move of all time. Seven trophies in seven tournaments. Like, what else can you do? What else? Guys, you can see — already the best team of 2025. There is no doubt. It’s that. Him. All of the Messi doubters as well. Yes, last year: “Remove Mezzi, remove Mezzi.” But look, we still win seven trophies with him. And: “Remove apEX.” Yeah, f*ck you guys.

 

Finally, apEX gave a heartfelt thanks to the people behind the scenes — from loyal French fans to Vitality’s staff and leadership — for believing in him and the team through every setback.

Just support — the French fans, first of all. The golden ones that are really always, always behind us. They are the best fans. Unfortunately, they couldn’t come because it costs a lot of money for all of them. But then — everyone believing in us, believing in me and in Vitality when things went wrong. And at least, once again, for the 13th time in my career, I proved the haters wrong. That’s what I’m the most happy about. And yeah. Thank you. Thank you to the owners as well — Neo. He’s been important for us, always trying to solve problems. After Shanghai, we had a long call. He believed in me. And of course, we had Robin who helps as well. Yeah, I'm just proud of everyone and really happy. And shout out to my girlfriend at home as well.

 

On June 22, Vitality were crowned champions of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. In the grand final, they defeated The MongolZ 2-0 to secure their Major title. More details about the team's victory can be found in our material.