apEX: “The loss at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 hurt the most for us.”
Team Vitality captain Dan “apEX” Madeskler and rifler William “mezii” Merriman spoke in an interview during ESL Pro League Season 24 about their matchup against Team Falcons and recalled their loss to the team at the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
About Team Falcons
apEX: They hadn’t beaten us in major tournaments, with the exception of the IEM Cologne Major 2026. Yes, at IEM Rio 2026 they proved to be stronger in one of the matches, but in the end we won that event. <...> The loss at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 hurt the most for us, but it’s nice to be back on top again.
mezii: Our matches against Team Falcons are always close.
On Team Vitality’s form
apEX: Right now, we’re finally showing better individual form. After all, this is CS2, and it’s always important to shoot well here. After IEM Rio 2026 and the Grand Slam, we lost a bit of motivation, and that’s normal. In less than a year, we’ve won two Grand Slams, two Majors, and 15 trophies. Of course, after that, it’s hard to get back into the grind and keep pushing forward.
Read also: donk posted his worst-ever Dust2 rating
Earlier, Team Vitality defeated Team Falcons 2–1 at ESL Pro League Season 24. apEX’s team lost on Anubis (9–13), then won on Dust2 (13–4) and Mirage (13–8). Thanks to this, the “Bees” improved their record to 3–0 and advanced to the tournament’s playoffs.
Photo by João Ferreira, PGL.
