apEX

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Madesclaire began playing Counter-Strike at a high level in 2008 when he attended his first LAN tournament at age 15. He continued to attend a couple French LAN tournaments a year until 2011, when he began to see some success in France and abroad. In April 2011, Madesclaire and 3DMAX placed 5th-8th in the Counter-Strike: Source tournament of the Copenhagen Games. Later in the year, playing for LDLC OL, Madesclaire placed 5-6th in the Source tournament at ESWC 2011. Madesclaire joined VeryGames in November 2011, where the team saw great success, with numerous tournament wins towards the end of Counter-Strike: Source. Madesclaire left VeryGames in the middle of 2012 and remained with Team eXtensive until the end of the year. He joined LDLC in early 2013 and played with moderate success, leaving the team in August of that year to join Clan-Mystik. It was with Mystik that Madesclaire played at his first Major at DreamHack Winter 2013, with the team receiving a direct invite to the event. Mystik won their first match at the event, before losing the next two to exit the tournament in 9th-12th place. Madesclaire would remain with Mystik until February 2014. After leaving Mystik, Madesclaire joined LDLC again, early enough in the year to attend EMS One Katowice 2014, where he and the team finished in the top 8. The team would experience some success heading into the second major of 2014, ESL One Cologne 2014. They would beat the champions of the previous major, Virtus.Pro before losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the semifinals. After the Cologne major, the first of the 'French shuffles' would occur, with Madesclaire moving from LDLC to Titan. This move would prove unfortunate for Madesclaire as one of his teammates, Hovik 'KQLY' Tovmassian would receive a VAC ban, with the team being barred from the final major championship of the year as a result. Despite this, Madesclaire performed very well in 2014, being ranked the 15th best player in the world by HLTV, citing his skill as an entry fragger and high form throughout the year. Madesclaire remained with Titan going into 2015, where he and the team remained competitive and earning another shot at the major by passing through the LAN qualifier. The team would not see success after qualification, exiting ESL One Katowice 2015 in last place, losing to the previous champions in their opening match of the tournament.

In Their Own Story

At the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, apEX and Vitality entered the tournament in stage 2, having qualified directly. They lost both of their opening matches, putting them on the brink of elimination. But apEX, now serving as in-game leader, rallied the team. They rebounded, clawing their way to a 3-2 record in the group stage, securing a spot in the playoffs. It was apEX's first time in the playoffs since the Cluj-Napoca major in 2015. In the quarter-finals, they faced NAVI, the eventual champions, and lost 0-2, exiting the major in 5th-8th place. Despite the loss, the run showed the resilience of a team that had been rebuilt around a new leader.

Reader's Guide

Madesclaire is known for his aggressive entry fragging and later transitioned to in-game leader for Team Vitality. His career highlights include winning DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 with Team EnVyUs and multiple top-tier LAN victories with Vitality.

Did You Know?

• Madesclaire was ranked the 15th best player in the world by HLTV in 2014.
• He won his first major at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 with Team EnVyUs.
• Madesclaire took over as in-game leader for Vitality in March 2020 after ALEX left the team.