. If you're not familiar with the game, it's a battle royale title like Fortnite, but with a higher focus on gunplay and movement. 1 US team FaZe Clan is just one of the 40 squads that battled it out at London's Copper Box Arena last weekend Credit: Joe Brady / EA Anyone can jump in and slam a few hot slugs through someone's chest, but it takes hundreds of hours and more than a little natural talent to get anywhere near the level the pros play at. From recoil control to map knowledge, they're just on another level, and it's a thrill to watch teams with names like 'Moist' play their little mind games. But it's an entirely different game when the pros play it. Before they even enter the tournament, they have little friendly matches called scrims, where teams fight over territory. In the game proper, there's a gentleman's agreement in place so they all drop at the locations they won in the scrim. Occasionally a team goes off script, but it usually doesn't end well for them when they do. In a regular match of Apex Legends, there's often only a handful of teams left by the time the map has shrunk down to the final circle. In pro leagues, it's a party. It's not uncommon to see four or five teams gathered in a single building, each occupying a floor, a wall, or a rooftop – all waiting for another team to make a mistake. When there's big money on the line, no one wants to make the first move unless victory is assured and they're not going to get stomped by a third-party squad immediately after. All of the main action takes place in a frantic showdown in a tiny play space at the end of a game. In its latest season, developer Respawn changed how players are awarded points in Ranked matches. The new system){kind=link}
I spent my Saturday travelling down to London to watch a bunch of teams battle it out in Apex Legends, for a chance at winning a $1 million prize pool at the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS).
If you’re not familiar with the game, it’s a battle royale title like Fortnite, but with a higher focus on gunplay and movement.
Anyone can jump in and slam a few hot slugs through someone’s chest, but it takes hundreds of hours and more than a little natural talent to get anywhere near the level the pros play at.
From recoil control to map knowledge, they’re just on another level, and it’s a thrill to watch teams with names like “Moist” play their little mind games.
But it’s an entirely different game when the pros play it.