apEX Completes Counter-Strike With IEM Katowice 2025 Win

After a flawless 3:0 win over Team Spirit at IEM Katowice 2025, apEX has finally completed Counter-Strike. All of the biggest trophies the game has to offer, apEX has won them at some point in his career. BLAST World Final? Sure. IEM Cologne? Yeah. A Major? Try twice. And now, after over a decade of trying, apEX has added IEM Katowice, finally claiming the one trophy that has eluded him for so long.

What does this mean for apEX’s Counter-Strike future?

I have to imagine that apEX sees “completing Counter-Strike” slightly differently than I do. He’s an elite competitor with an eye on extending his personal legacy. He may have ticked the boxes required to say he won all of the best trophies in the game, but personally, I don’t see his hunt for glory ending any time soon.

At 31 years old, apEX doesn’t look to be slowing down in his fragging output. At the highest level, he can still have an individual impact on games, and his calling is still at the top of the meta. Having great players around you helps, of course, but that’s what any team needs in order to win. My point is that apEX is still capable of doing his part to help his team win the most prestigious CS2 tournaments. With IGLs like karrigan playing into his mid-30s, why would apEX walk away when there’s plenty left in the tank?

Being a two-time Major winner, as well as a one-time Katowice and Cologne champ is great, but with a player like ZywOo by his side, there’s no reason he can’t win multiple more of each over the next few years. Now that would be a legacy. He’s here to stay for a bit longer – sorry, haters.

apEX joins an exclusive club

In lifting the IEM Katowice 2025 trophy, apEX has joined a very exclusive club of players who have picked up the “big trio.” A Major, Katowice, and Cologne. “Completing Counter-Strike,” as I’ve called it. Previously, the following 13 players had achieved this feat:

• KRIMZ
• JW
• flusha
• olofmeister
• s1mple
• electroNic
• Boombl4
• Perfecto
• ropz
• karrigan
• broky
• rain
• Twistzz

Now, both apEX and ZywOo have become entries 14 and 15 on this list. Plenty have won variations of two of the three, but getting over that hurdle proves an impossible task for many. You only have to take a look at that list of legendary players to know what they’ve achieved here is magnificent. Vitality could never win another trophy (and I’m sure they’ll win plenty), but they’d still have cemented an iconic place in Counter-Strike history.

Following this dominant performance at IEM Katowice 2025, apEX and his team now have a considerable break before ESL Pro League Season 21. After the way they got the job done here, they can’t afford to rest on their laurels. Things are clearly clicking with ropz much faster than expected, but with that comes opportunity. The CS2 scene at the moment lacks a true dominant force, and with some momentum on the back of their Spodek win, they’re well-placed to become just that.