Apeks have announced that they have completed the signing of Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad from 100 Thieves for an undisclosed fee. The 26-year-old has signed a three-year deal with the Norwegian organisation, reuniting with his former G2 teammate Dennis “dennis” Edman.
jkaem returns to Norway after almost three years in North America, where he competed for Renegades and 100 Thieves. He played his final match for the Australian team on Sunday — a 3-1 defeat to FURIA in the grand final of IEM New York — before the organisation officially withdrew from Counter-Strike.
jkaem completes Apeks’ roster
“I had plans to return to Norway sooner or later. I didn’t know when it would happen, but with the situation in 100 Thieves, my thoughts of coming home became clearer,” jkaem said in a statement. “Apeks came with an offer that I was happy with, and after giving it some thought, it was the right decision. The idea of contributing to help to build the Norwegian esports scene became the deciding factor.”
In the Norwegian team, jkaem will once again link up with dennis after the pair briefly played together in 2015 in the G2 team that reached the semi-finals at the DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca Major. dennis went on to join fnatic, while jkaem stayed with the team, which was bought by FaZe at the start of 2016.
Anders Kjær, Apeks’ director of sports, expressed his delight at the signing of one of Norway’s most experienced players and stated that this move will mark the start of a new cycle for the team.
“One of our biggest ambitions has been to bring back Norwegian stars while they still have a lot to give in their careers,” he said. “Joakim is a gigantic resource in many ways and will impact the team in a tremendously positive degree. We will contribute with a very specific ‘know-how’ around how to become the best, both as a team and as individual players. He has played with many different teams and players, which has given him a lot of experience throughout his career. All that experience is extremely difficult and time-consuming to acquire, and it’s something we’re hoping he will pass on to the others. I really believe this step will do gigantic things for us, but it will definitely take some time.”
Apeks will compete in Elisa Invitational 2, a Nordic-based tournament that will offer one spot in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown. The Norwegian team have been placed in Group B alongside ENCE, MAD Lions and AGF.
With jkaem‘s signing, Apeks now have:
Ole “Marcelious” Kristian Langan
Dennis “dennis” Edman
