apEX - biography, career and interesting facts
The French veteran
Biography
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Dan "apEX" Madesclaire was born on 22.02.1993 and has been an active Counter Strike professional since 2009. The currently 27-year-old has been signed by numerous top teams and recently took on the role of IGL. Dan additionally enjoys playing as an entry.
apEX is active on all social medias and has alongside his Twitch account a own Youtube channel on which he uploads highlight videos very actively. However, the Frenchman hardly ever uses the live streaming platform Twitch and the last broadcast was around a year ago.
Dan has dedicated practically his entire life to his passion CS:GO and created his Steam account at the age of 14.
His girlfriend named Marie Binet has been supporting apEX for several years now. The two share a love for dogs and own several pets. The Frenchwoman is also a passionate rider and has a horse of her own. Apparently, the couple lives in Andorra, which is located very close to the south of France.
In 2014 and 2015, apEX was in the top-30 ranking of HLTV. His total tournament winnings are estimated at around USD 870,000. apEX has already played for numerous, almost exclusively French organisations. More about that in a moment.
apEX - Career
The start of apEX's career was more than a decade ago. On 15.03.2009, the young Dan joined the organisation gamed!de. However, even under the German organisation, only Frenchmen played with apEX. His first tournament was the "Lan79 2009", where he and his team could achieve a 9-12 placement. The tournament was won by team VeryGames, which included shox and RpK, two of his current teammates.
From 2009 to 2012, apEK played in numerous Counter-Strike: Source teams. The best known of these were 3DMAX and Team LDLC.com. He started his CS:GO career in August 2012 by joining Anexis. The first stations at Epsilon, Team eXtensive!, LDLC, and Clan-Mystik were all short-lived. During his time at Clan-Mystik, apEX competed in his first major tournament, DreamHack Winter 2013.
The first two stations in which apEX played for at least ten months were Titan and Team EnVyUs. He was under contract with the last-named until the beginning of 2017. His two years with the French EnVyUs were marked by five major participations.
With G2, apEX was signed by the next well-known organisation in 2017 and played together with shox, NBK, kennyS and bodyy at that time. However, his only success during his time with G2
was a tournament win at DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017, and his time with the German organisation ended with the return of shox and SmithZz. NBK and apEX were eventually signed by Team Vitality around four months later.
On 08.10.2018, the next chapter in Dan's career started. Together with apEX, they signed NBK, RpK, ZywOo and Happy, who was IGL for the team and was replaced by ALEX a little later. NBK's departure for OG was compensated with shox, with whom apEX met an old friend again.
A big turning point in Dan's career was the departure of ALEX at the beginning of 2020. The team was faced with a radical change and a big challenge. Together, the team and apEX agreed that he should first take over the position of IGL on a trial basis and finally completely. Dan mastered this task brilliantly and brought Vitality
back to the world's top teams.
apEX - Achievements
Dan had a long and above all, successful career. With 13 major participations, apEX is one of the players with the most appearances. The highlight of this series is the success at the DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, where he won his first and so far only Major tournament together with EnVyUs.
Particularly admirable was apEX's assumption of the IGL role. He mastered his new job with excellence and led Vitality
back to the world's top teams in 2020. For a long time, the French dominated the international CS:GO scene, but had a finals curse. The team lost a total of four finals at big events in the middle of the year.
However, the victory against Astralis
at BLAST Premier: Fall 2020 was a crowning achievement for apEX and his team. The Frenchman's biggest accomplishment in terms of prize money was winning the World Electronic Sports Games alongside Team EnVyUs, where they won around $800,000 USD.
Dan is a consistent figure within the CS:GO scene and one of the most successful and legendary French players. The transformation of his role and taking over the IGL was simply remarkable.