Dan "apEX" Madeskler, captain of Vitality, explained the distribution of roles within the team's coaching staff in an interview with eScoreNews. The French esports player noted that the Vitality squad for Counter-Strike 2 is supported by a manager and three coaches, each with specific responsibilities.
"Primarily, I focus on strategy and how we play CS, while also aiming to maintain my performance. I assist players in certain positions when they encounter difficulties and come up with new rounds.
The coach oversees the overall team dynamics, assessing what works and where we excel or struggle. He prepares us for matches and predicts the macro aspects of our games, offering advice like, 'We should play more like this. We’re not doing enough of that. They’ll read us if we do this,' and tries to diversify our strategies. The assistant coach supports him in enhancing our gameplay by introducing small details, new grenades, and so on.
The results coach focuses on the mental aspect: preparing us for stress and attending to those elements. The manager handles everything related to team interactions and tournaments, as well as the team’s relationship with the organisation—that’s his overall role.
[Do they switch responsibilities? For instance, if your results coach is unavailable, can Matthieu take over?] No, for that role you need a qualification. You can't just replace someone else. A manager can be substituted because that’s a bit different, but being a results coach is truly challenging."
It’s worth mentioning that Madeskler's team lost to Eternal Fire with a score of 1:2, finishing in 5th-8th place at ESL Pro League Season 20 and earning $32,000 in prize money. Currently, Vitality is competing in the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 in Copenhagen.