Vitality defeated MOUZ 3–2 in the BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 grand final, claimed their third consecutive trophy, and extended their LAN winning streak to 16 matches. After the final, kyotostxr spoke with team captain Dan apEX Madesclaire about Vitality’s historic run, the difficulties of the MOUZ final, his promise to shave his head, and the team’s main goals before the Austin Major.
Congratulations on the win! After a streak of 16 consecutive match victories, would you say that a Vitality era is approaching?
I do not know whether an era is close. I have no idea about that.
— apEX
For us, it is about focusing game by game.
Of course, we are on a long streak. This was the toughest match we have played during it.
But I think it shows how good we can be, even when we are not playing our A-game.
How would you rate today’s match? Has much changed in the way Vitality or MOUZ play because you have been facing each other so frequently?
Of course, they changed a few things and tried some new ideas. We tried to change things as well.
— apEX
But we did not have any real time to practice.
We have spent most of the past few months at tournaments, so we practiced a little here and there whenever we could.
We tried to be as prepared as possible, but nothing major changed.
You promised to shave your head after winning a Major, but you did not do it. You made a similar promise again in Shanghai.
If I win another Major, I promise I will be bald.
— apEX
If I remember correctly, you started learning Russian in 2020. Have you made any progress?
No. I wanted to continue, but I did not have that much time.
— apEX
I would love to be able to scream at people in Russian, but I cannot do it yet.
Do you know any Russian words?
Only some really bad words that I am not going to say here.
— apEX
People are now arguing that shooting an opponent’s body or giving someone the middle finger is offensive. How do you feel about it?
I do not give a fuck.
— apEX
B1ad3 said something about it—I think his comments were related to 3DMAX.
I think whatever we do in the game is fine.
jL did not shake XANTARES’s hand because he did not like XANTARES shooting his body.
For me, it is not a big thing. People can shoot my body, but I will shoot their bodies while they are still alive.
How quickly does professional Counter-Strike change, and how do you work to make your team the best? There is a lot of responsibility on an in-game leader.
If you want to be the best all the time, you need to work a lot.
— apEX
You need to change things, focus on small details, and create new strategies.
That is what I am trying to do as much as I can.
My teammates also help me a lot in that regard. They are insane players.
When you combine both things, I think you can achieve something big.
Would you say that this version of Vitality is one of the greatest teams in Counter-Strike history?
Maybe, but we need to wait a little longer to be sure.
— apEX
If we keep going in this direction, then yes.
But not yet.
What is Vitality’s next big goal?
Probably winning the Grand Slam before the Major.
— apEX
That would be awesome.
And then the Austin Major.
