The Apex Legends Global Series had big plans for 2020, but the global pandemic forced a complete redesign to keep the competition fair in all regions. Through several online tournaments, Alliance has shown that it is the most consistent team in Europe, sitting firmly in one of the top spots. Simon “Vaifs” Bellini, John “Hakis” Håkansson, Kha “iPN” Nguyen and team manager Pontus Bengtsson talk about how their year went, how much work it is to become a professional player, and what they hope for in 2021.

How has 2020 gone for you guys?

Vaifs: 2020 was challenging for our mental health. A lot of things happened that changed my life, but it made me mentally stronger for both my personal and professional life. Neither I nor my family got Covid-19, so at least here, everything was under control.

How do you think the tournament scene is going right now?

Vaifs: The ALGS (Apex Legends Global Series) has been going really well and all the tournaments have been great. I’m also very happy that we were able to participate in the tournaments that came up during that time despite Covid-19. It’s also great that the community wants to help out with the tournament scene to make it better.

How is the competition right now?

Vaifs: The competition that has been with us in the last two finals has been very balanced and even. All the players and teams were very good, which is why it was sometimes difficult to get to the top. Our toughest opponent right now is North with Taisheen, rpr and Mande. They have shown great results in the last tournaments and are very skilled.

Pontus: Europe is by far the most competitive region, there is a new challenger in every tournament and that keeps you focused. You can’t let up or another team will take our place. I really want to compete against the Apac North region and experience the crazy playing styles of the Japanese and Korean teams, I love their style of play!

Recently you won the PGL showdown, how did that feel?

Pontus: It felt amazing to win the PGL showdown, we had to use Badoli as a substitute and with limited time we created amazing synergy. We had a solid game plan and stuck to it throughout the seven games.

Apex Legends is still a fairly young game, how does it feel to play now?

iPN: Right now, I’m really enjoying the game. It has its pros and cons, but the positives outweigh the cons. The update shakes things up a bit and keeps the game fresh, but it can go either way. The recent changes have been really good.

How did you guys get started playing Apex?

iPN: I played a handful of games and was very good at all of them, but never turned pro because I couldn’t imagine spending endless hours trying to become the best in those games. Me becoming a pro happened naturally. I was playing Overwatch at pro level when Apex came out, I took a – Season off to deal with life issues, and Apex came out of nowhere, and like Overwatch I played it for fun first, got approached by organizations and got the opportunity to go pro, and the rest is history.

Apex is unique because it’s a fast-paced battle royale with endless possibilities to develop your own play style. Gunplay, movement, tactics, teamwork, team composition, etc. make it impossible to run out of ways to approach the game. At the end of the day, the biggest reason is that it’s just a lot of fun.

What is the most important aspect of playing Apex Legends competitively?

Hakis: To be a top player, you have to be good at everything: customization, tactics, mentality, mechanics, and aiming. Being good at one thing only gets you so far, but you need everything to be at the top.

As a team, we practice about 20 hours a week, and that’s often four hours of scrimmages five days a week. Individually, I play the same amount of hours myself again, if not more. Overall, I play about 40-60 hours a week.

Do you have any tips for someone who wants to get better at Apex but doesn’t know where to start?

Hakis: Move up the leaderboard! When you see someone in a leaderboard who is in the top 10 and you keep running into them there, you realize pretty quickly if they are good or not. In my opinion, that’s the best way to get picked up by a team.

You’ve all been with Alliance for a while, how important is it to have an organization?

Hakis: It helps a lot with everything around it, so you can just focus on being the best in the game – you don’t have to deal with the stress around everything else around it.

iPN: Alliance has given me the support and resources to be the best I can be. They have helped me develop into a better player and person. I can focus on the game with less stress. They are like a second family to me.

Vaifs: Having an organization behind you makes everything much easier. It helps us with all the equipment we need to play and gives us the opportunity to become better players. Alliance has helped me a lot. In the beginning, when I just signed, I was a pretty insecure person with some mental problems. They helped me out of the difficult stages and made me someone I want to be. They are like a second family to me.

Pontus: As a squad we have been through a lot of things together, both good and bad. It has made us stronger, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to manage.

What are your goals for 2021, now that the new year is approaching?

Hakis: To keep winning. We’re really consistently in the top 5 in tournaments, and I want to take it a step further and win everything instead.

iPN: To become the clear number 1 together with Alliance!

Vaifs: To become the very best European Apex player.

And finally, let’s say it’s June 2021, what’s your dream scenario?

Hakis: The dream would be to have a sick winning streak in all the big tournaments, to scare people a bit for a LAN that will hopefully come next year.

iPN: I consider us the most adaptable team in the world, so no matter what changes come our way, good or bad, we will come out on top. Every defeat and every victory is a lesson. I can’t imagine personal changes for now, as I’m taking it one day at a time.

Pontus: In June 2021, we further proved our dominance in the EU scene with 1-2 big tournament wins. Hopefully we have defeated our biggest opponent, Covid-19, and are in preparation for the ALGS Championship LAN.

What is actually… “Apex Legends?

Within 24 hours, “Apex Legends” became the most-watched game on Twitch – after one week, over 25 million people were already playing it. What is the battle royale shooter about?

What is “Apex Legends” about?

Scenario: In a distant future, bandits, adventurers, and outlaws settle their disputes in a sporting contest to the death. The setting is a fertile, industrially developed valley on the edge of the galaxy.

• Genre: Battle Royale shooter
• Game modes: survival battle between a maximum of 20 teams of three.

At its core, “Apex Legends” is a classic battle-royale shooter: up to 60 players land simultaneously in teams of three on the game map called “Kings Canyon” – a densely built-up, fertile valley with many accessible houses, bunkers and towers. Once on the ground, unarmed players must search their surroundings for equipment and ammunition. The goal of the game is to stay alive until the end.

To prevent players from hiding all over the map and waiting to automatically be the last one left, the game area shrinks every few minutes. The longer a round lasts, the smaller the area where survivors can move and hide.

Apex Legends refreshes this now classic game formula with some ideas that are unique to the genre: For example, before starting a round, players select one of eight heroes, each of which has two special abilities and facilitates certain play styles.

Bangalore, for example, is the classic soldier who can conceal her position with smoke grenades and call in an artillery strike in an emergency. The heroine Lifeline, on the other hand, can summon a drone to heal teammates – or directly order the delivery of high-value weapons and equipment via aerial drone. This way, all players can find the right hero for their preferred course of action.

How can I play Apex Legends?

Platform: “Apex Legends” is available for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4.

Price: The battle royale shooter is a “Free to Play” title and can basically be played for free on all platforms.

In-game purchases: “Apex Legends” allows the purchase of cosmetic items and new heroes either by means of in-game currency, which can be earned for free in every round, or with real money. The real-money currency “Apex Coins” can be purchased in five different amounts: The smallest possible amount is 1000 Apex Points for around 9.99 euros, while the largest pack with 10,000 Apex Points content costs 99.99 euros.

The developer emphasizes that it is not possible to buy game advantages with the help of real money: You can only use it to customize the appearance of the heroes, it says, or purchase new heroes.

Age rating: “Apex Legends” does not have a youth rating (USK 18).

Which technical terms should you know?

Respawn Beacon: If a player is shot down, the team members who are still alive have the opportunity to bring the fallen comrade back into the game: Each eliminated player leaves behind a so-called Respawn Banner, which can be collected by the players of the own team and handed in at one of 28 Respawn Beacons, certain locations on the map. If this succeeds, the fallen player returns to the game.

Jumpmaster: At the beginning of the game, one of the maximum three players of a team always takes on the role of the jumpmaster. He decides when and where his team enters the game area.

Ping: Using the middle mouse button, players can alert their teammates to interesting locations in the game world or enemies. These pings are a valuable tool for communicating quickly and efficiently within the team.

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