apEX: "mezii is one of the few versatile talents out there."
Dan Madesclaire, also known as apEX, expressed his hopes for William Merriman, aka mezii, and Shahar Shushan, known as flameZ, to take on more responsibility.
In a recent interview with HLTV, apEX addressed several topics of concern to the community.
Q: Let's talk about Emil Reif, Magisk's departure. His exit after zonic’s departure wasn’t too surprising?
A: Frankly, not too surprising. When two Danes leave in succession, the third Dane is likely to follow. However, it was a tough decision because we've won a lot together this year. But the reality is that we need to move forward and find a new fifth player. It was a tough time for the whole team at the beginning.
Our performance at the Sydney event was a result of this state. We weren't sure if Magisk was leaving (only I knew). With this uncertainty, we lost some crucial rounds in matches, giving FaZe their first win in the new CS version offline. We had a chance against FaZe, but our mindset was just slightly off.
Q: How do you plan to find Magisk's replacement, considering his legendary career?
A: Finding someone as excellent as Magisk is unrealistic. Looking at the Vitality roster, he was the third-best performer after Spinx. However, he also occupies some space, which flameZ will take less of.
Overall, flameZ and mezii need to fill Magisk's shoes, which is challenging for them. But these newcomers must step up. ZywOo and Spinx have some experience and can help out in tough situations.
Q: Why did you ultimately choose mezii?
A: We considered other options, but in my opinion, mezii is quite a big name. I appreciate his versatility; he's one of the few versatile talents out there. Although it wasn't a proactive request from him, he played well in response to fnatic’s needs.
He can command, play entry, lurk, and more. Magisk had similar experiences in the past, though he didn't command the team for as long as mezii. But I believe that experience is crucial for a team. mezii can entry frag, play late-round situations, and he's good with grenades, which Magisk was good at too. This can ensure stable performances from the team's stars—Spinx and ZywOo—and even better performances. The team's performance can further improve.
Q: Magisk had a loud presence in Vitality, so will mezii become a secondary caller in the team?
A: Certainly, but everyone in the team does that. flameZ has also made progress in this aspect, but I know Spinx has been prominent in this area this year, as is ZywOo. Sometimes, Spinx gives more calls than Magisk, so honestly, I don't think we need mezii to command.
We need mezii to focus on his role, utilize his time and experience to help the team. I'm not expecting him to perform incredibly right away. I just want him to focus on getting kills and doing his role as well as he can. He'll surely be a help to the team in the near future.
Q: How does it feel with the return of Rémy Quoniam, XTQZZZ, as coach?
A: It feels a bit odd. When he left, I was genuinely sad. But my memory is stuck in the year working with zonic to find solutions. It's not easy to immediately adapt my mind to a new coach as he has his own experiences, and I have changed. So, we need to get to know each other again.
But I'm also excited; I genuinely hope we can win together. He missed out on the titles he deserved as a coach. During the full French roster time, even though we had ZywOo, our player strength was slightly lower than other teams, but we performed well overall. In the second half of 2021, we were the second-best team after Natus Vincere. Hopefully, we work hard and give XTQZZZ what he deserves.
