Apeks Releases Entire Counter-Strike Roster

Norwegian esports organization Apeks has disbanded its Counter-Strike division. All players have been allowed to seek other opportunities.

Apeks’ Run Comes To An End, For Now…

The Apeks roster has slowly declined since the beginning of 2024 but achieved satisfactory results throughout its lifetime. This “Tier 2” squad qualified for two Valve Majors and made deep runs in two LAN Grand Finals. Unfortunately, the organization bid farewell to the entire crew.

What a journey it has been, we went from being an online team to be a team that played all the top events.

2x majors, 2x grand finals on LAN, multiple online finals and qualifiers won to join tournaments.

Apeks has always felt like home to me, and I will still love the club… https://t.co/fOEovVewz0

— Apeks x jkaem (@jkaem) May 1, 2024

The team’s most significant achievement thus far is a 3-4th place finish at the BLAST.tv Paris Major in 2023. This iteration of the team still featured Justinas “jL” Lekavičius, who was poached by Natus Vincere and won the following Major in Copenhagen.

The most recent iteration of the lineup felt rather “dead” now that their star player, jL, was no longer playing for them. They achieved minimal results since the Lithuanian departed and decided to disband entirely.

The benched Apeks roster includes:

• Tim’ nawwk’ Jonasson
• Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad 
• Martin “STYKO” Styk 
• Aleksandar ‘CacaNito’ Kjulukoski
• Ådne ‘sense’ Fredriksen 

STYKO Shares Insights On The Team’s Situation

Veteran player STYKO now runs a YouTube channel where he posts educational videos and shares relevant information about his career as a professional Counter-Strike player. He posted a video talking about the situation within the Apeks roster. The 28-year-old highlighted that the roster was having a lot of internal problems.

sorry to the fans and people that actually supports us.

we are in big crisis and we are not being a team in any shape or form. shameful performances over and over again from us.

idk what is next exactly, but we are trying but nothing is working right now – hope we can turn it

— Apeks x jkaem (@jkaem) April 3, 2024

He mentioned that the team had been applying temporary fixes, like putting “band-aids” on serious underlying issues in the environment, rather than resolving them immediately and effectively. Despite their best efforts to address issues, there have been recurring patterns of falling back into unproductive habits. The team has actively tried speaking out about their problems, but STYKO mentioned it wouldn’t lead to lasting change. 

STYKO continues to reveal that there were struggles within the team regarding each player’s roles and playstyles. He felt that his and his teammates’ identities as players were suppressed, which led to frustration and a sense of being unable to have proper impact. Such circumstances made the players feel unhappy, resulting in difficulties in keeping each other accountable and communicating important things effectively. 

There have been discussions attempting to implement certain changes to the team’s playstyle, but these ideas or suggestions are often met with resistance or spark arguments. 

Sad, Ashamed and disappointed. That’s it from us this major, gotta do better. Sad to get knocked out this early. But hopefully a wake up call for future tournaments. GG’s all teams we played, dont wanna take anything away from them. But we can and have to play better. ☹️

— Apeks x nawwk (@nawwkcs) March 19, 2024

Unfortunately, the in-game leader seemed to lack adequate support and development, which affected the team’s overall strategy and decision-making. It was already odd that the team’s captain was sense, a young player who was promoted from the Apeks academy roster, despite being surrounded with veterans such as jkaem, STYKO, and nawwk.

Finally, STYKO hinted that he was feeling drained and burnt out, not only because of losing matches in the game but from interacting with his teammates, suggesting a toxic or negative atmosphere in the team. 

Players Stuck In Contract Jail?

With the insight STYKO has provided, we can all agree that a team that feels like that is better off splitting up. Though all players have been placed on the transfer list to look for new teams, fans are concerned about their potential buyouts.

Not too long ago, most of the Apeks players extended their contracts for the long term. But now, all of them have been benched from the team. Sure, these players may not cost millions, but teams looking to recruit them may have to pay premium prices given that they had re-signed contracts that may last a few years. 

There have been numerous cases of professionals being placed in similar situations. Some had to pay a portion of their own buyouts.

What’s Next For Apeks?

The now-dropped Apeks roster is still in the ESL Challenger League, slated to play System5 on May 14. They were also invited to the MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2024 event, a $100,000 tournament. However, it remains unclear whether they will be able to participate in the tournament when all the players in the team have been dropped. 

For STYKO, he remains motivated to compete and improve. He wants to find a team that shares his values, vision, and goals. He also wants to increase his activity on his YouTube channel and begin live-streaming. 

The rest of the Apeks players have not talked much about the situation, but STYKO still wishes them the best of luck, as a bunch of great memories have been produced during his time on the team. 

Header: Apeks