On January 15, the European esports organization Apeks officially announced the signing of the final player for their VALORANT roster: Mehmet "batujnax" Özaslan. The newcomer joins the team just in time for the start of VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff, which will be the first major seasonal tournament of his career.

Mehmet "batujnax" Özaslan, a 19-year-old Turkish player, began his career in 2022 as part of various mixed teams. In 2024, he joined S2G Esports , where he competed in the VALORANT Challengers 2024 Turkey : Birlik Split 2, finishing in 7th place with his team. Despite the team’s modest results, the young talent made a strong impression on the Tier-2 scene, catching the attention of a prominent organization like Apeks .

Initially, Apeks planned to announce the addition of their fifth player on January 12, but Riot accidentally spoiled the updated roster in their VCT roster announcement. Today, however, Apeks ’ official X (formerly Twitter) account confirmed the news, officially welcoming batujnax to the team.

Despite the addition of a fifth member, the team announced that they would compete in the Kick-off event with a substitute in the form of coach Oderus . The former player joined Apeks at the end of 2024 as a strategic coach but will start the season as a player, filling out the roster.

The team’s first match in the regional tournament, VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff, is set for tomorrow. Apeks will face off against Gentle Mates , with the winner advancing to meet Team Heretics in the quarterfinals, while the losing team will drop to the lower bracket. Can the Turkish talent hold his own against Tier-1 players? Stay tuned for tournament updates on our platform.