Global sensation Apex Legends will have its first official tournament on the FACEIT platform with a $25,000 prize pool.
FACEIT detailed that there will be 20 teams competing in the tournament, each of them led by popular streamers.
The game has already had two tournaments: an iteration of Twitch Rivals and Guy “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm’s Code Red tournaments have snagged great viewership numbers. Both tournaments were won by team “King’s Canyon,” comprised of budding battle royale superstar Coby “dizzy” Meadows, former Halo pro and famous streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, and NRG’s pro battle royale player Richard “KingRichard” Nelson.
Dizzy has already been announced as the tournament’s first captain, and more massive streamers like Michael “shroud” Grzesiek and Lucas “Mendokusaii” Hakansson could be soon to follow. Also in the mix for spots will be battle royale professional players like the Team Liquid squad comprised of Tanner “Rogue” Trebb, Gage “caliburn” Meyer, Thomas “Flanker” Cook, and Brenden “Casper” Marino, who are making the transition to Apex Legends from Call of Duty’s Blackout.
There are still some major disparities between the legend picks in the game. Apex Legend’s first season brought changes to many of the legends’ hitboxes, which could make legends with larger models such as Gibraltar and Caustic more viable. But with just one day officially clocked into the new season, no one yet knows how the changes will impact high level play.
One outstanding issue is the lack of custom games in Apex Legends.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ NPL and official Fortnite competitions are held over the course of numerous rounds, with every competitor in the same custom lobby. Apex Legends competitions are currently based around just two things: kills and wins in public matches. This can be a crapshoot, as Apex matches are largely dependent on the random skill and ratio of passive to aggressive play of the other public players who happen to be matched up with competitors. A lobby with more passive and less skilled players can potentially allow skilled competitors to rack up absurd amounts of kills.
The only way for Apex Legends to function as an esport in the long term is through the implementation of custom lobbies. The lack of this function hasn’t dissuaded competition in the short-term, but developer Respawn Entertainment will need to do more to keep players interested.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
