CacaNito: "kyxsan was a big part of me joining Apeks"

After a resounding 16-10 victory over BIG earlier on Wednesday, Apeks are one step closer to the main stage of IEM Cologne. After the match concluded, Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore talked with their new addition Aleksandar "CacaNito" Kjulukoski to talk about his experience playing in Europe and the new team he has become a part of.

How does it feel to win your debut with Apeks?

It feels great, it was our first match, and first matches are always hard. But we were confident in ourselves, we stuck to our plan, and it felt great.

You have an unlikely North American connection, standing in with ATK for some time. What was it like playing with the ATK guys for Pro League?

It was kind of okay. They had a different approach to the game. I was trying to get to know how they were playing and their style, but basically, it was fun, we had a lot of fun. Even though we were underdogs, we pressured the big teams, and it was pretty okay.

So why did you decide not to end up going with ATK?

I think the biggest concern was that I'd have to move to NA. That was the biggest problem, that I didn't want to move to NA. I wanted to stay in EU and that made the decision.

You were a long-time member of BLUEJAYS for a while, which was very important for your North Macedonian region. Why do you think the North Macedonian scene had such rapid growth in a short period of time?

We played a long time with the core of five in BLUEJAYS. Some of the guys even played together for three years, and I joined later. So we knew each other well, we were good individually, and we were working hard. We had a lot of matches and I think we did pretty good damage in the tier-two scene. We beat a lot of good teams even though unknown to the scene at first. I'm proud of what we did with the Macedonians, with the boys, so I'm happy that I was playing for BLUEJAYS.

Following your decision to not re-sign, you spent a decent period in free agency. During that time, you trialed or stood in for both Endpoint and Monte. Was there any interest from either you or the organization signing on a full-time basis?

Yes, from both, but I wanted to stay and wait a bit for the Major to end so I could have all my offers on the table. I didn't want to hurry and lock myself into a team. I used the free time to improve as a player, and thought when I find the right team and decision I'd go for it.

So why did you choose Apeks?

kyxsan was a big part of me joining Apeks. We know each other well and we know how each other played in BLUEJAYS. It's good that I'm reuniting with him after some time.

Watch the full interview on our YouTube below.