apEX on the IEM Cologne Major: “We’re here to win our third Major in a row.”

Team Falcons sniper Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov and Team Vitality captain Dan “apEX” Madeskler spoke in an interview at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 ahead of their quarterfinal match.
m0NESY shared his thoughts on the previous match between Team Spirit and G2 Esports and also praised Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko:
It was a tense game; overall, G2 Esports could have won. <...> G2 Esports looks very strong, especially HeavyGod—Nikita is simply amazing.
For his part, Dan “apEX” Madeskler spoke about his team’s mindset heading into the match:
Considering that Team Falcons now has such an experienced player as karrigan, we need to pull ourselves together and focus on winning. <...> We’re here to win our third Major in a row.
Right now, Team Vitality and Team Falcons are playing a quarterfinal match at the IEM Cologne Major 2026. The match is currently taking place on the Anubis map, which was picked by the “Falcons.” The winner of this best-of-3 series will advance to the semifinals, where they’ll face Team Spirit.
Photo by João Ferreira, PGL.


