Of all the CS2 players in attendance at IEM Sydney this week, it’s Apeks’ Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad who might be one of the happiest to be back in his home away from home. Despite his team’s day two exit to GamerLegion, a return to Australia to compete had been on the cards since his days with “The Boys” at Renegades, 100 Thieves, and Extremum.
He doesn’t miss the jetlag, however. “I’m definitely feeling it today, thankfully we have the late game tomorrow,” he said to Dot Esports following Apeks’ win over Vertex, eliminating the Aussie squad from their home event.
Jkaem explained how it was a nervous start for the squad at IEM, with a loss to a s1mple-less NAVI dropping Apeks straight into the lower bracket off the bat. NAVI led 11-5 and had all but wrapped up the best-of-one, but Apeks stuck it out and pushed the ESL Pro League runners-up to the brink.
“We had spoken about coming in swinging and not giving any respect to them given they were playing with B1ad3 and not s1mple,” jkaem said. He highlighted how s1mple’s absence played a part in the map veto, with the team originally planning to catch NAVI on Inferno—the most reworked map in CS2.
“They hadn’t grinded CS2 as much so we wanted to lean into Inferno since it’s the map that has changed the most, and then because s1mple wasn’t playing we decided to go Mirage to swing and take duels,” jkaem said, outlying the power that peeking brings in CS2.
But the plan backfired mostly due to CS2’s first 30-bomb from jL. Jkaem believes Apeks had the first half in their hands at times, noting the close round losses mounted up. He added the mood also wasn’t great, partly due to the team’s struggles with jetlag.
One player who didn’t struggle was Ådne “sense” Fredriksen who departed Sydney with an impressive 1.21 HLTV rating over the five maps in his first international LAN. “Sense is on trial but he has been great in practice and officials, and he doesn’t seem to be afraid of LAN,” jkaem said.
Sense joined the squad in October for a trial and has steadily grown into the main squad after two years with academy team Apeks Rebels. To finally get LAN experience under his belt is a massive boon for jkaem and the squad who continue to rebuild after their historic top-four run at the BLAST Paris Major.
“I think when we reached our peak at the Major we had been grinding so much online—so many boot camps,” jkaem said to Dot. This practice was crucial as it “set in stone” the Apeks playstyle and strategy that saw the squad shine in Paris, finishing in the top four.
But the fairytale didn’t last forever. As is the case with smaller orgs that make miracle runs at a Major, the big dogs come knocking at the end of the season. Jkaem revealed multiple offers were tabled to players on the roster and not just jL, who departed for NAVI in June.
Once the dust settled, Apeks was left to pick up the pieces. “We are in a little bit of a rebuilding phase I would say, we’re not 100 percent sure just yet,” jkaem said. Alongside sense, storied coach mithR joined the project in September. Since then, the team had been grinding as much CS2 as they could get their hands on.
Jkaem believes the early start on CS2 benefitted the smaller teams who didn’t attend the likes of ESL Pro League and last fortnight’s BLAST Showdown, which took place on CS:GO.
“I would say that the tier two and three teams played much more CS2,” he said. “Teams who didn’t play [EPL and BLAST] were already practicing CS2—it equated a month head start which is a lot. Everything is new, you know—new tricks, new smokes, etc.—if you have a lot more practice you definitely have a huge advantage.”
Jkaem also believes CS2 offers a fresh start to those who never got the chance to truly succeed in CS:GO, primarily because it’s a different game entirely. “I wouldn’t say teams began from scratch but it’s a new game—there are a lot of changes to get used to.”
Apeks had been hard at work ironing out their CS:GO game, frantically ushering in a refreshed playstyle that suited CS2 better. Still, with this being the first CS2 tournament, those habits crept back into their gameplay in Sydney.
Of particular note: the “peeker’s advantage,” which has been a major talking point among teams and players competing at the event. “The peeker’s advantage is crazy: holding angles in CT is close to impossible,” jkaem said to Dot.
“You’re lucky to get one kill—if you land a multi-kill then it’s awful from the Ts. We had a situation where we swung with Glocks and won a full eco because it’s so hard to hold.
“I think we’re still making the mistake of going one by one by one and walking around and into angles because there is no peeker advantage then. It’s a new game and we need to change [our] playstyle.”
On an individual level, as exciting and challenging as a major refresh to Counter-Strike has been, jkaem can’t help but feel sad. His consistency over the past few years has been remarkable, and he credits himself for ensuring he shows up on the server day-to-day.
But he’s finding it difficult to transition to CS2 so far. “Personally, as I’m so long into my career, my CS:GO skills were continuing to rise but now they’re gone,” he said. “I have to change, and I’m a little sad. I wish I was three or four years younger.”
With Apeks now out of IEM Sydney, they’ll be returning home to prepare for the season ahead—but a lot wiser and happier for being among the first to usher in a new era of Counter-Strike.
IEM Sydney’s group stage concludes tomorrow, with the top six progressing to the Aware Super Arena in Darling Harbor on Friday.
