EWC Preview: Pool B & Predictions

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
What's up everyone, Welcome back to another edition of the
Apex the Podcast. Lady and gentlemen, we are getting ready
for Esports World Cup and we have Pool number B.
We're gonna go through all the teams and Pool B
as we gear up for this Esports World Cup. We've
got Enoch, he's busy going for the ranks grind right now.

(00:35):
I think he also got hit with a raid from
how which is wild. And then we also got Joba
who's finishing up a video right now. So it's just
me and Don. We're gonna go through, get into Pool
B and then round it out with some predictions and
give our thoughts on who we think is gonna win.
And I will probably be axe murdering a team with
my prediction coming up here pretty soon. Actually, me and

(00:56):
Don both don't have a great track record, but it
is what it is. Know, we're just gonna We're gonna
we have to make a prediction something.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
You got to do it, You gotta do it.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Uh, this one's this one's going to be interesting and
and kind of like what Jumbas said last week, you
could really make the argument here that this is the
stronger pool. Uh, it really just comes down to personal
interpretation and and obviously it doesn't even really matter at
the end of the day, right, because a lot of
times these these pools just based off go based off
of like which team is feeling it that day or

(01:29):
which group is feeling it that day. There's a lot
of high end talent in this one, a lot of
also questionable talent in this one. Where is it going
to go? There are some teams that looked like shit
for lack of a better word, for most of us
split and then all of a sudden come out and
do great. And I'm looking a little bit at like
crazy raccoons. Right, It's like, who are we going to get?

(01:49):
Who's going to show up that day? So we're gonna
go through every single team here. Last week we kind
of went with some of the heavy hitters that we
were really looking at and really excited about. And I
kind of want to do the same thing here down
from you, from your humble opinion inside this group, who
do you view as like the top dog? Because if

(02:10):
you come to mind here, but let's get the top
dog out of the way first, in your opinion, who
would it be?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, I mean, well, we obviously I think you have
to start with the obvious answer, and it's Alliance. I mean,
just what they've done over the past year plus now
has just proven that. Really on paper, it's tough to
say that they're not the best roster right now. Obviously,
you know, Falcons is Falcons and like they're going to
have their say, But I just think with how consistent

(02:37):
Alliance has been, you know, really the only question is,
you know, how do they perform on match point in
terms of closing it out, because I think that's something
that we've seen that they struggled with at times, is
really closing out those matchpoint finals and kind of you know,
dialing it back maybe that ten percent they need to
in terms of their aggressiveness when it comes to just

(02:59):
playing for you know, a position versus a fight or
whatever the case is. Ob So they got a little
unlucky at NOLA, I think just with you know, the
character selection and not having the ring console at the
right time and and all that. But regardless, again just
with Hokus with Unlucky with effect, I mean, it's just
a complete team. It's a complete package. Everything you'd want

(03:19):
from a top tier I GL to two absolute nukes
on on the sticks. So I think you gotta start
with Alliance when we talk about this group.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, not only that, but they're continuing their good form
from last season. And also they are the winner, or
really the the only Apex winners so far in Esports
World Cup history. So for them, they're gonna be one of,
you know, kind of defending that crown, and we can
see if they they're gonna do that here. Honestly, the
only thing that pisses me off about Alliance. I have
no problem with them winning, ever, I just hate how

(03:51):
quickly it looks like they're about to do it sometimes.
And so in in in uh In Nola, I was
really rooting against them because it looked like they were
gonna win it with like four games or like with
only four games played, and we're just gonna have to
play the final two as a formality. But yeah, if
Alliance can make this one go a little bit longer
than normal, I have no problem hopping behind behind the

(04:12):
Alliance train and seeing if they can win another one here.
I do think they are the best team in the
world right now. You know, obviously you can make the
point of like Falcons and what they've been doing recently,
but it's just so hard to look at what Alliance
has accumulated over the last few months, and it's just
a lot of just great performance after great performance after

(04:34):
great performance, and some of them have just been unlucky
at the end of it, right like you look at Germany,
just unlucky, like the Pathfinder zip line that I thought
they were gonna win it. I thought it was over.
I thought they had won it, and then you know,
obviously they get it into a great start there in Nola,
doing everything they can for that and just come up
short at the end of the day. But yeah, I

(04:54):
agree with you one hundred percent. I think Alliance is
going to be that heavy hitter, the only other one
that I too.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Real quick, have you seen the Have you seen the jerseys?

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Have you no? I was gonna bring up jerseys here
in a second too. I have this.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, they they rebranded to a new jersey. Gotta say
they might have their jersey buff I don't know if
that's the last thing they needed. And my personal opinion,
it's definitely an upgrade. I'm honestly planning on trying to
buy one tomorrow if I'm be honest. But yeah, I
mean I think they look pretty good. So I mean,
we can definitely get into that maybe a little bit later,
but I just want to make sure you know you're

(05:28):
you're looking that up here, because it is Oh yeah,
it's definitely a solid one. I think I think it's
okay upgrade.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
But yeah, so Alliance they're gonna be some heavy hitters
they obviously, and I think they deserve it. They they
deserve to be like the big name at the top
of the list here, but there are some other teams
that you know, could challenge that and on a good day,
could beat them. I mean, this is Apex Legends. Anything
can happen, and uh, I would not be surprised if
we saw another Liance second place finished. And that's no disrespect,

(05:56):
that's that's continue them continuing to be as as great
as they've been. Let's move through the rest of the
teams here, Donnie. We've got a lot to get to.
Nineteen other ones to be exact, and we'll kick it
off with one hundred thieves coming from the America's region.
We have Phony Verrholst and Jen Burton and all of
these players, they have all won a championship together or
not together. They've all won a championship at their own

(06:17):
respective times. But what's been weird about one hundred Thieves
is they obviously qualified, They did good enough. It just
didn't feel like we got that performance that you said, Wow,
this is what I expected when these three superstars teamed
up together. And I don't know what it is exactly,

(06:38):
but I couldn't pinpoint one stat that I just did
not believe Phony leading the team with sixty eight kills
with Evan and Jen both sitting at fifty one. Pretty
significant difference in kills right there. What have you been
seeing from a hundred Thieves and what do you think
has been kind of making it seem like they're just
kind of I don't even know how to they're just

(06:58):
kind of moving along a little slowly here.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, it was interesting because obviously we saw how well
they didn't know, you know, they finished fourth place. Overall,
you're thinking, okay, like if this is kind of like
their first initial step, right like it surely would have
to improve over time. And I'm not going to say
they got any worse, but like you said, like we
kind of were just waiting for like, okay, there's this team,
like this is the version we expect this is who

(07:24):
we can count on to show up at Lance, but yeah,
we really just haven't gotten that. And like you mentioned,
like Phony ends up leading and kills, which to his
credit and kind of to the meadow right now, a
lot of igls have kind of been playing the characters
like an ash or like an Altar that kind of
let you get in and out of fight. It's a
little bit easier, so it's not maybe out of the

(07:45):
realm for Phony maybe lead. I think it's just that
little bit of a gap, like you mentioned, like I
didn't really expect both Evan and Jen Burton to not
be a little bit closer and kills just because what
we can expect of the firepower just from all three
bring to a team. I think it really just has
been like they haven't really has found that consistent cohesion

(08:07):
in team fights. I think you've got when you have
three very smart players that know a lot about the game.
Sometimes you get almost too mini comms and you're not
allowing Phony to bring what he brings best, which is
his mind. And I think that at times you'll get
almost too many ideas thrown out from Evan and Jen.

(08:27):
I think Evan probably more than Jen, just because Evan,
I think is just more naturally a talker after being
on the TSM roster that he was recently on. So
sometimes I think trying to dial that back a little
bit to allow the IGL to express their ideas a
little bit more can be tough when you know you
came from a role like that to this now. So
I think ultimately, like what they're going to need to

(08:48):
figure out is like that balance. It's going to be,
you know, allowing Phony to do what he does and
put them in spots to win, but also then promote
Evan and Jen to do what they do and absolutely
new teams in five. I think if they're able to
figure out their comms and their chemistry when it comes
to just how that communication is going to flow amongst themselves,
I think we'll definitely see the version we expect to see.

(09:11):
But you also never know that when we get to
these land tournaments, right, like, you know, you get that
extra a little bit of adrenaline, you get that extra
you know, motivation to you know, want to win everything,
it could also make it worse. So I think that's
I think what's going to be so interesting is what
do we get from this team when it comes from that.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, it's gonna be I think they're one of the
more interesting teams, and you would put them in the
category of who are we going to get? I think,
And it seems like their floor is much higher than
a lot of teams because it's not like they had
an absolutely diabolical day, but they just never had that
day where you're like, oh, okay, yeah, this is what
we expected. This is what we thought was going to

(09:50):
take place when this team formed in the first place.
So it just hasn't been to that level. But their
floor has not been that bad either, So I mean,
the skill is there, the championship has degree is there.
They've all won before they could show up on land,
but there's also been times where each of them have
had like a land performance that you know they wouldn't
be very proud of. So we'll see what happens with
one hundred Thieves. Gonna be a very interesting squad move

(10:13):
before we're gonna move into Crazy Raccoons. Now we got
saying June Obli and Kurong Pu. They were a team
that won back in LA They won under reject winnity.
They come back together. They actually had a little bit
of time apart, they come back together under the Crazy
Raccoons mantra, and then things did not get off to

(10:35):
a great start down every single time we talked about
him in our regional roundup, we kind of go through
and it was almost kind of like a chore. It's
like we got to talk about them a little bit
because they have won a land before, so it's like
they have earned that right, but they never really played
to that level until the regional final. They sneak in
at the very last second they get in there. Don

(10:57):
what do we expect from Crazy Raccoons? What apron would
you put them in on this because I don't I
don't know if you can put them in like the
they're definitely not close to the alliance to here right now.
But I also don't know if they're even in that
hundred thieves. Heire of like who are we gonna get
because it's like, who are they? We don't really know
who they are in the first place.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
They might be in their own category if like I
have no freaking clue except for the other word. I mean,
it's just like it's just so strange to see a
team obviously that they come out they obviously do what
they do in LA. It's awesome to see because again
it really started this spark of the non dynasties, you know,
winning tournaments, and it really set Apex I think, into

(11:38):
a really fun time in year four. But then, like
we mentioned, you know, they go to then missing Germany.
You know they've split up during that split, they decided
to come back together because they're the best options is
I believe from my understanding, at least in South Korea,
just the talent pool isn't as deep, so a lot
of the players end up kind of like you know,
intermingling amongst themselves and then sometimes we'll come back together

(11:59):
to play. But yeah, just to kind of see again
where they were again we mentioned, I mean they were
outside the top twenty, outside of the top twenty five. It
was just like there's just no shot. And then they
just pull out what we usually expect of them, get
a second place in regional finals, had a shot to

(12:19):
win it if it wasn't for a crazy one B
one v one the SBI E Sports ends up winning
there at the end, and we really did see just
the version that I think we've expected all split, which
you know, they picked a hell of a time to
do it when the points were maximized maximized in the
regional finals, so that was definitely great timing on their part.
But I think the biggest thing that they can try

(12:41):
to hang their hat on is that they are peaking
at the right time, hopefully for them. And obviously, as
we know, like with any other sports, momentum is such
a huge thing that when you're playing well and you're
kind of in that flow state, you basically can do
anything you set your mind to, especially at this level.
So I'll be really interested to see. My biggest things,

(13:01):
you know, I'm just really looking for is, you know,
kind of what is their play style that they're going
to rock up with. You know, they're going to be
playing out of Pylon in Stacks on Stormpoint, World's Edge,
which are definitely two solid pois given where they were
picking at in the draft, So it'll be very interesting
to see how they decide to play out of those pois.
Usually stacks is a lot more of a potential edge POI,

(13:23):
you know, depending on who might be a dome or
big mod, and then Pylon can lead to be kind
of a little bit more of a flex style depending
on how you decide to play it. So it'll be
very interesting to see again just kind of what team
shows up in RIOD And again, I think this is
kind of sit in that I don't fucking know category.

(13:44):
So we'll see what happens.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
I think for the sake of just ALGs and like there,
whatever you want to call what they've carved out in
their history, I would like to see a really good
performance here. I like, you know, at least making a
name for themselves here at this tournament, just because I
want to see them get back to that form from
LA that was dominant. You had been calling them to

(14:07):
be dangerous before that final day had even begun. You
were like, watch this team. What was different about their
play style then? Versus now? Like do you think it's
a confidence thing or do you think it's a just
completely different play style thing.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
I think it's definitely a mix of things. Is like, obviously,
you know when you're playing so well and you're confident,
like that obviously is gonna speak volumes, right, Like you're
going to make better decisions. You're to act on these
decisions a lot quicker, So like that definitely can be
a part of it. But I think the biggest thing
that I think we really look at is like when
they were at their peak, they were doing a really

(14:41):
good job of getting to biddle zone and doing a
really good job of fighting three B three's as a
team and not getting isolated. I think at times they'd
get disjointed in fights and one of them will get
out a little bit further in front than the other.
Saint June is there one that usually gets into fights
a lot of the time first, and if he's being
too over aggressive and he gets peaked by another team

(15:03):
and he ends up going down, that kind of spiles
everything else, right, and you're kind of just always on
the back foot. And I feel like if they really
can get to where they're secrenized in their three B threes,
because that was a big thing if you remember in
the Joff video that Obi talked about, was just how
good of a three B three team they were. Because
they're all I believe we're all triple It's triple MK.

(15:23):
So they know they can't take these one v ones
against these rollers on the better teams around the world,
so they have to fight together. They always have to
be peaking the same things or holding angles well together
as a group, and in Apex, you know, it only
takes a split second for a roller just to beat
me with an R nine or P twenties or whatever
the meta choices at the time. So it really is

(15:45):
just them being tightened it together, making sure they're fighting
as a group. And if they do that, I think
they there's way too much talent there for them not
to make some sort of run. I don't know if
it's land winning obviously, because it's going to take a
lot really to de throne I think Alliance or Falcons
right now, but there's no reason they couldn't make a
match point given the experience that they have, if they

(16:08):
play the way that we've seen them play in the past.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, so Crazy Raccoon kind of in a weird little
category of their own, and we'll see what happens with
the Raccoons over there. Let's move on into another America's
Region team, and this is Team Fusion. This is our
boy Berg's team with Kim Chi January and Dan Maddock. Now,
when the season started in the Americas, I don't think
anybody would have had Fusion in there at all. I

(16:32):
just don't think people would have had it there and
I don't think that's disrespectful to say. I think when
you looked at the America's region, there's a lot of
talent up top. You did not really picture a team
like Fusion making it in, but they proved what they
can do. And I think that bringing in Kimshi has
been a big addition for the squad after obviously the
open Kimshi coming in here kind of stabilized things a

(16:56):
little bit. Now. From what I've seen from Fusion, they
get into zone and when they get like, when they
get into their spot that they're looking to hold down,
for the most part, they can do it. The only
thing that I've seen them not be able to do
is finish off some of these games that maybe they
should be able to finish off, get those first places
and get themselves some extra points. So from Fusion side

(17:17):
of things, don where do you see Team Fusion being.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, like I think you mentioned, you know, kim t
is definitely a very solid pickup. I think that he
just he provides a lot more flexibility and character selection
then I think what Trestacks at the time was able
to bring. And I just think that especially when we're
going to get into these ten game sets, Like that's
going to make a huge difference. When you've got a
guy that played a complexity, that coached complexity there for

(17:43):
a bit that just has a little bit more versatility,
it's always going to go a long way. And I
just think that with this team so much of I
think the burden on this team was just on January
to do any sort of fragging potential when they had Trev,
Whereas I think now kim Chi at least provides a
little bit more. Again, I can't say it's, you know,

(18:04):
a huge difference because obviously, like kim Chi's usually played
like an anchor backline role, but Kim G definitely definitely
has a lot more confidence, I think to step up
in these pockets and fights and like really take these
three B threes, whereas Trev I think to struggle the times.
So I think that's gonna be a big thing for
Fusion is. I know they want to shift away from
just being a very very hard zone team and provide

(18:26):
a little bit more flexibility when it uh flexibility when
it comes to their to their fighting play style in general.
So I'll be interested to see if they're able to
pull that off. January is going to be a huge,
you know, factor for this team one way or the other.
If he's doing a good job getting picks on other
teams or opening up fights, Uh, they have a really

(18:48):
big chance to, I think, make somewhat of a run. Again,
I don't know how big their ceiling is going to be,
but you know, we'll we'll definitely see. I know they've
found a lot of on Broken Moon, and they did
end up getting a really good map choice on Broken
Moon with Core, so that's definitely gonna be a big
thing for them if they can maximize the points there.

(19:09):
But yeah, I think for a young roster, adding in
Cam that has a little bit more experience, I definitely
think there is a few things that they can hopefully
figure out, like you mentioned, if they can kind of
get some more kills and finish off these games when
they find themselves in top fives and sixes.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah, there was just some disappointing games where I'm like, oh,
they got this. The one that comes to mind is
notably the Falcons game on Broken Moon, where I think
it was a two v three and they lost. It's
just like, those are the types of games where it
separates you from being like a true contender to like
a team that's like, okay, maybe they're a little bit
lower on that totem pole because a lot of other

(19:44):
teams probably finish that one off, right, So it's like
we just got to see a little bit more of
that and we get enough about Fusion coming in from
our boy Burke just breaking it down every single week,
but super excited to see Burke over there and hopefully
that they can make a splash over there in Riod.
Let's move on into the next team from EMA. This
is Gaming Gladiators, and it's weird because this was a

(20:04):
team that for a long time was kind of in
that same area, that same arena as like a team alliance,
and then from that situation they kind of fell off
a little bit. They move on from Lufka, they bring
in Funk from the US. Funk comes in there, uh,
and then now they kind of like squeak in at
the bottom of the NBA. I'll cut them some slack there.

(20:26):
There's a lot less spots available, so a lot less
room for error. But for Gaming Gladiators down this was
a team we talked about a bunch once again in
our regional roundup because it's just a name you expect
to see do well, and there were some times where
they did, but there was also a lot of times
where they kind of faltered a little bit. So what
was holding Gaming Gladiators back in your opinion? And where

(20:49):
do you like where? What area do do you see
them fitting in? Moving into read? Do you see them
as like a contender kind of a toss up like
where are they sitting currently?

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, I mean I definitely think that with the ever
changing landscape when it comes to the character selection and
just you know, metapicks and things like that, it definitely
felt like they're for a bit like they definitely were
on top of the meta. They felt very good about it.
I think once we got into a little bit more
of an aggressive meta with you know, we've seen like
Ballistic come to light with the ashes and just you

(21:24):
know things being a little bit more aggressive at times,
I think we've just seen that they've just been a
little bit slower to that adjustment and they just haven't
had that same firepower as some of these other teams have.
And I think that you know, they make the switch
from Luka, they add in Funk, who you know, when
Funk is playing very well, you know we've seen that.
I mean, he was literally the reason that you know,
Falcons say that they didn't win AWC. I mean, anytime

(21:47):
you bring up Funk to privacy, he says, fuck that guy.
So like it's you know, it's definitely a thing that
you know, Funk can definitely be an X factor one
way or the other. You know, he can be the
reason why you win, he can be the reason why
you struggle at times, just because of how aggressive he
can be. And you know, it's a good thing to
have an aggressive fragrant, but obviously, like you need to
have that restraint at times, so no, when not to

(22:08):
go for something. So it'll be very interested to see
kind of how their chemistry continues to develop. It seemed
like they started to figure out some things towards the end.
I know they had at least a decent performance during
the regional final, but they definitely were flip flopping. I mean,
just watching that in me a regional there was four
different teams in game seven that were qualifying, and then

(22:29):
four new teams would jump in in game eight, so
it was definitely all over the place, and I know
they were definitely sweating out there towards the end. But yeah,
I think for this team, like I think right now,
they definitely still have the ability to make finals. I
don't really know where they're ceiling then goes from there.
I think if they even get a top ten, I
feel like they'll feel really good about that, and they

(22:53):
definitely have the ability to I don't make sure that's
like understood. I just think that right now with the
landscape of some of these other teams are coming into
the little bit more, you know, some of these teams
have things a little bit more figured out. Some of
these teams feel little bit more comfortable in the band
meta and just having these different characters that they're always
switching to. It'll be very interesting to see kind of

(23:13):
how Funk can maybe affect things at the SLAN, to
see if they maybe can pick up a few more
kills here or there that they haven't been getting in
and ultimately see if I can maybe bring back a
spark to what's been missing for them.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, and I think he can. I mean, if you
look at the five match days that he was there
with the squad, he did rack up forty four kills
and Blast is leading the team with fifty six, and
he was there for all of them, right, so he
has brought in that firepower. He can do that. Something
else you put down here inside the guide that you
made was the fact that their stormpoint is not very good.

(23:48):
They need to start really working on their stormpoint. That's
going to be a key factor for them moving forward
as well. So we can see what Gigi is going
to do in read. But that is the GG breakdown.
Moving over into another their EA team, and this is
a team I absolutely ax murdered. This was go next
to sports with.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
I would like that makes you feel better.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
We got we got kinda. I like to call them
kind for we got Henchman, and then we got ating
them and uh they were They started off the season
great and then I started talking about them and it
went south. It went south real quick. Things did not
go well. At the Open. I said watch out for
them to win the whole thing. They got one hundred
and thirty seventh. I mean, it's just things you can't

(24:30):
make up like, it's just that it was so bad
what I did. But this team is a very high
powered offense. They they can score they can score points,
and by score points, I mean they can kill people.
Henchman leading the team with seventy two kills. I mean,
we just talked about Gaming Gladiers. Their highest player as
fifty six, seventy one from them with hench sorry, seventy

(24:54):
two with Henchmen. So they have the power to shoot,
They have the power to kill. But when you get
into these bigger lobbies, don when you get into these
higher tier skilled lobbies, do that doesn't always go over
the way you want it to.

Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, it's gonna be. I'm gonna be very interesting to
see how they decided to play things because I think
what we've seen is that, you know, really what we've
had so far this year is that we've had obviously
in America's is still the region that we think it
is still the number one region. I think that Apax
South has made an argument to be the second best
region right now. And I really feel like Amya outside

(25:28):
of Alliance, has been a region that's been trying to
figure out, you know, how the rest of these teams
a fall in place. We've obvious seen a nave as
A started to play very well and as you know,
outside of everything that happened with the with the roster,
they are definitely a team that needs to be talked
about well out. Really outside of that, we really haven't
had like that consistent third, fourth, fifth team that we

(25:51):
really expected to And I really feel like Go Next
was maybe one of those teams that we were expecting.
Then they kind of obviously have the open or like, okay,
are they gonna split up? Like they stick together? They
end up sticking together. They have a pretty decent rest
to split. They do find a way to win regional finals,
which is definitely a big shout out for them. But
one thing I've definitely noticed is that while they started

(26:12):
off the split being super aggressive, I definitely think they've
dialed it back quite a bit and that definitely showed
in their regional final performance. They only had twenty eight
kills that entire set, which was I think what was
the thirteen games if I remember correctly, So that's definitely
not numbers I think we maybe expected from them to
start the year. But when they're able to accumulate as

(26:33):
many placement points as they did, you know, they were
able to find the best position to win on match point.
You know, that is all that really matters at the
end of the day, you know, And I mean we
saw the other version of go next. You know, a
lot of people said weren't necessarily the most potential fragging
team and the quote unquote best team, but you know,
they got to match point and they were able to
use their position and ended up winning the game. So

(26:56):
I'll be very interested to see how they decided to
play things. They've drafted a ton of zone pois going
with Ques Quarantine Zone on Broken Moon. They've got Draft
Point on a district, and they've got Countdown on World's
Edge along with Cascade Falls on Stormpoint, so a lot

(27:17):
of zone pois. I think they're going to try to
move quickly to zone and put themselves in position to
get those top five sixes and feel good about themselves
and then the biggest thing they'll neeed to do is
execute in those final circles and you know, get the
deals they need to win.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
So yeah, something to note to also, kind of Henchman
have never been in a finals lobby. I don't think
that's correct, right down, They've never been in one.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
Yeah, yeah, and.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
There's you know, you can cut them some slack on
some of it, but at the end of the day,
I mean these there's a lot of really high, high
tier talent so when you get that and then you
have the opposite and downs that they had just in
their own pro league, and then the one thirty seventh
at the at the Open, that's where we kind of
find ourselves with going. So if I could use NFL terms,

(28:03):
I would say on the bubble or maybe in the hunt,
like they're in the Hunt graphic where it's like they're
clearly not going to make playoffs, but you know there's
just that chance. Maybe that's where Go Next is at
right now. And now that I say that they're gonna
win the whole thing, so probably God's go Next to sports.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
I mean, I've I've gone from picking them to not
do that well, Go Next just the name in general,
I've gone from them, I don't think they're gonna do that. Well,
they go win Japan, then I say that they're going
to make finals at freakingly Open, and then they don't
even they don't even they get out the first day,
So like, surely whatever we say, the option's gonna happen.
So I mean, we we'll definitely see with them, but

(28:42):
they'll definitely go. As far as atting them takes him,
I think him as an igl he when he's locked
in and doing well. We saw what he did with
Knock Him Esports, right, so I definitely do think that
if he's on top of this game, I think Kinda
and Hinchman are definitely good enough as a duo to
make a run with that them leaving the charge.

Speaker 1 (29:01):
So yeah, so we'll see what happens with go next
e Sports moving down into a Pax South, our first
Apax South team in this group, we got JD Gaming now,
y C, x D and j R. Those are the team.
Those are the names of the players, so simple man,
every player had two letters in their name. We love that.
It makes it so easy for me. Now, don JD Gaming,

(29:22):
this is the old X and Y roster. What do
you What do you see from j D? And where
do you We'll bring up the old NFL graphic once
again if you had to pick the uh super Bowl contender,
just contender, uh make a run in the hunt on
the bubble. Where do you see them at right now?

Speaker 2 (29:42):
I think they're just in their own tier, bro, It's
just card like. It's just like they are a team
that is not going to play traditional macro is not
going to play you know, a typical Land Apex. I
think that we'll see from a lot of other teams,
they're just gonna be highly aggressive. They're going to fight
as much as they can. They're going to at times

(30:03):
and people, which is not going to make some people happy.
At Land, they've unfortunately not had that play style translate
very well at Lands of the past, So we'll definitely
have to see if they are able to improve on
the thirty third they got and split two last year.
But I think it's a team that on the right day,

(30:24):
will do well in the group's format that we're going
to see at EWC. And the biggest thing for them
is that if they obviously just have a couple pop
off games, you know, you're looking at yourself just finishing
in the top seventy, you go straight to finals. So
I think if there is any time for our roster
like this to make a finals run, it would be

(30:44):
in a format like this where you just need to
show up on one day and just have you know, two, three,
four pop off games like they can. I mean, I've
seen them get twenty five twenty six kill games before
and win and win that game, So we'll definitely see.
It's gonna be a fun roster. Well for US, I
don't think for the teams they're playing against, just because

(31:05):
again they just don't play traditionally. But I mean again,
the firepower is definitely there. They got two of their
players in the top eight in their region and kills.
Their biggest thing is that they performed well on Stormpoint,
but they were not there for the first round of
the draft for the POI drafts, so they didn't actually

(31:25):
get the best pick that they probably would have wanted
at the time. But the ultimate question is going to
be is that can their fighting play style work in
the land. So far we haven't seen it. But again,
when you come to EWC and things are a little
bit different, you just never know what might happen on
that day.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
So yeah, and I will say as far as Apac
South Pro League went, they were kind of in that
upper tier. They separated themselves from the rest of the pack.
You had Vkjen and then JD Gaming all kind of
at the top with a ton of points, and then
it kind of dropped off considerably from after JD. But
you got to give them their props. They're the worst

(32:02):
placement they had throughout the entire pro league was tenth overall. Now,
obviously APAC South not gonna be the same caliber as
like a mid season playoff lobby. But once again, like
you said, like this format makes it a little bit
easier for you. I think if they just play their game,
they can easily slide in there, get themselves to a finals,

(32:22):
and then once you're in finals, really anything can happen.
And that's really all you're trying to do if you're
an Apac South team, just trying to make a name
for yourself. So we'll see what happens then.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah, and just in this format, when you know, all
you're looking for is to accumulate points, Like it doesn't
matter if you go out those first game or two
and get zero points because you lost the first fight.
All it takes is just that one pop off where
you get fifteen twenty kills maybe and you put yourself
right back into position to qualify for the next round.
So it's gonna be very interesting to see again they're
kind of one of these teams that can benefit from

(32:54):
this format, and it's gonna get again, it's gonna be
I'll be very surprised if they're not. At least, if
you're to use the term I think they could be
one of those bubble teams. Yeah, that it has a
potential to squeak through but also be one of the
first teams dropping down to the loser's bracket.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah. So that is j DG. That is JD Gaming.
And then we moved back into an America's team, America's
Region team, I should say it is NRG. We've got Guild,
We've got Timmy, and we've got Sykes. Energy was fourth
overall inside the Pro League for the America's Region, and

(33:31):
they've got a lot of firepower. They got a lot
of big names as well. They've also had kind of
like an up I don't want to say up and
down season because for the most part they have been
pretty consistent, not really dropping too far. They've even won
a day in their pro league. They did have like
the rough start the first the first match day, they

(33:52):
didn't really do as well as they would have liked.
And then after that they kind of just fired off
and they just did everything that they could. And it
is the America's region, so things are a lot tougher there.
I feel like Timmy really settled in on his igl
role a lot better than people expected him to and
when you have two players like this, it's going to
make things much much better. Also, I feel like it

(34:12):
is kind of like a like a talking point, Like
they did kind of make a switch after the open, right,
so they move away from Yann and they bring in Sykes,
and in Sykes I think is the perfect player to
help out Timmy, a newer IGL. I don't even want
to say newer because he's been in IGL for a while,
but like less experienced IGL to kind of help him out.
Having that anchor player on the back end right there,

(34:34):
really kind of solidify things. Where do you see NRG
inside that NFL playoff graphic?

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, I definitely think if we see the version of
NRG that it's at its best. I definitely think they'll
be one of those teams that's in the hunt, kind
of in like that second tier behind the favorites. I
think that there's a lot of things to love about
this roster. I'm always a huge fan of Guild. I
think he's a player that a lot of people can
forget at times, just because we always, you know, we

(35:02):
talk about how you know, We've talked about Evan in
the past, we talked about Walt. I mean all these
other controller players, but I think Gil just always shows up.
He always does his job. You can always count on
for a certain number of kills or performance or whatever
it is from him. So I definitely think that, you know,
with him leaning the team and kills he was top
five in the region. I think that's just all good

(35:23):
signs that will show that I think they're going to
be ready to go again. It's ultimately going to come
down to how does Timmy perform in the IGL role.
I think we all know how this team can fight.
I think that when they're fighting together, they're definitely one
of the best fighting teams in the world. I think
that PSYCHS brings a lot of stability when it comes
to kind of like that third back line or anchor player,

(35:46):
because I think right now, especially we'll have unless Timmy's
on the Crypto, we'll see a lot of Guild and
Timmy kind of in that front line. But it'll be
very interesting to see. I think Timmy's definitely improved with
his igling, and I think that their coach, Winnie, has
also been a big addition for them. I think that
she has brought a lot of really good ideas and

(36:08):
has just been a lot more open. I think about
some of the things that they needed to improve, and
I think that anywhere that she's gone, the roster's only
gotten better. And I think that's definitely shown with NRG.
They maybe didn't finish exactly where they expected because I
know they were first for a decent amount of the
time in Pro League, but I mean to finish top
five when you know you've only been a roster for

(36:31):
a few weeks, you know, a couple months, whatever the
case is, it's definitely definitely a lot of good things
I think for Energy, and the biggest thing too, they've
performed extremely well in the district. Obviously, that is a
map that usually pertains to a lot more like zone
like he rushed his own, like you got to find
that right building to be in the game winning position.

(36:52):
But I think Energy has done a really good job
of getting a lot of kills on that map, which
can be very difficult to do, especially in the early game.
So it'll be very interesting to see what we get
from Energy. But I do think, if I had to
call it, I think that they're going to be kind
of in that second tier of teams that I think
will hit match point and on the right circumstance, can

(37:12):
definitely win.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Yeah, I think. I think I put them in the
contender category where they're going to make finals. It just
depends on what we get in the finals. I don't
think it's crazy to say that we've seen Timmy dominate
like group stages, and then when it gets to that
final stretch, there hasn't been able to put together that
you know, that championship caliber run at least without Design, right, Like,

(37:39):
there just hasn't been that. Like I think with Design
was the times that they got the closest to winning.
Timmy's always been able to do well in the group stages,
and I think it just comes down to how they
play in that finals lobby to try their best because

(37:59):
I think and he always goes for the little bit
more aggressive play, which if that's what you're good at,
I say, you go for it and maybe you can
find yourself in a spot there. But these finals lobbies, man,
they get real tight, and I think he's gotten enough
experience from it. I think he's learned from it, and
I think that now would be a really good time
to show off and showcase the skill that he's gained

(38:22):
and the time that he's put in in that igl role,
especially with the guy like Psychs back there and Guild
like we had mentioned earlier, like some of these teams,
they don't have a ton of kills Guild as seventy
six and that's only fifth in that region, but still
an insane amount of kills for Energy. So really excited
to see what comes from Energy. I think a lot
of people will be rooting for the Energy squad. I

(38:44):
think Timmy always brings about like a rooting interest. You
just want to see him do well. So I'm very
excited to see what Energy does. Let's move on into
rival Esports, another APAX South team, and don I'm not
gonna lie, there's not a whole lot of knowledge I
got for rival Esports, but what do you got? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Rivaly Sports has been definitely a surprise team I think
this year, not really a team I think a lot
of people would have picked to finish top five in
their pro league. A lot of their experience does come
from the Open. One of their players, that's the only
land that they have appeered at was the Open and

(39:23):
they made a run to the finals. They got nineteenth,
which you know, given that they're not necessarily the highest
profile team is definitely a big accomplishment for them. It's
an all Thailand team and they Yeah, like I said,
I think their biggest thing is just looking at, you know,
piggyback off of what they've done at the Open, what
they've done in Pro League, compared to a lot of

(39:43):
the other teams, like you'd mentioned, you know, the JD Gaming,
the jen G, the VK Gaming, they're not necessarily the biggest,
like fragging potential team FA FA fifth I think is
how you say his name.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
I didn't even try a hundred percent. Yeah, I'm not
doing that, but I'll.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
Just say F. I'll just go with that. Led the
team with sixty three kills during Pro League, which is
definitely not a number to discount. I definitely think again,
like they definitely played well and obviously did enough to
qualify for EWC, which is really good. Again, I think
in a region that's only improving, I think that's definitely

(40:23):
a very good showing for them. A big thing for
them that they're gonna be looking for is that they
were a top ten performing team of our EWC teams
on Broken Moon, So that'll definitely be a map that
they're going to look to continue to perform well on.
They're playing Out of Cultivation, which is a pretty decent
rotating map, and they also ended up getting City Hall, Harvester,

(40:43):
and Jurassic, So I think that just screens that they're
going to be playing Zone, which I think is definitely
very smart for them, just comparative to a lot of
the other teams is fighting ability from around the world,
So I think if they just play their game, they
don't try to do anything too crazy. I definitely think
they could be in for another really good surprise run,
just given you know, some of their track records. But

(41:05):
it could also be a team that, you know, since
they're playing Zone, if they do get some bad polls
or if they don't get to you know, they don't
get to Zone quick enough they get rotated on, could
definitely find themselves kind of struggling towards that bottom portion
of the of the leader board. So definitely won't discount
them and we'll definitely see what they do. But yeah,

(41:25):
definitely could be an another surprise run.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
You never know we got if this was if this
tournament was just based off of the names alone, we
got gop Gaps and fat If and that alone. Yeah, that, Yeah,
that'll give anybody a run for their money. So we
move off from rival Esports and we moved back into
another America's roster. We got rock Esports that we just

(41:49):
talked to Saucer not too long ago. There's also Deeds
in backslon on the squad and this this is a
team that personally I would love to see when this
thing just for the storyline alone, you know, obviously, like
we've talked to Saucer, We've had them on a few times.
I think we talked to Vacs a long, long, long
time ago on the pod obviously before you were involved

(42:11):
with anything, so long time since we talked to them,
never talked to Deeds. But just from a pure storyline perspective.
If I'm just a reporter, if I'm just a journalist
and there's a team you got to pick from, this,
I think Rocky Sports is the one that I think
I get most excited about for how much bullshit went
on with this roster from the beginning of Pro League

(42:32):
to now just insane amounts of roster turnover, weird days,
awful days, they had a one point day and they
still I think got fifth in the entire America's regent. No,
they got sixth by one point, so like crazy craziness
with this roster all the way around. But I feel
like they found themselves here and Saucer moving from I

(42:55):
jelling a team you'd been with for quite a while
to a completely new situation, new players, and finding like
a new kind of co igl, you know, relationship where
for a long time he's kind of just been at Igl,
just kind of dominating the coms, saying where to go,
doing what he likes to do. And then you have
Vax who comes in here and he talks about it

(43:16):
in the interview a little bit how he had to
balance out how exactly to play around that that fit
because it wasn't easy to start, but they managed, and
they bounced back from a tough first day as a
squad together, and then they won the next one, and
then all of a sudden they win the regional final.
So I'm really excited to see what Rocky Sports can do.

(43:36):
I'm rock hard. What do you got done?

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yeah? I mean you talk about obviously everything that happened
with the reps, you know, you throwing snipe down in
there for a bit. There were the rumors with Nocturnal.
He then leaves to go join the roster that Safts
comes from. I mean, there's just so many stories that
comes from this roster. You then obviously have Deeds and
vaxxline situations, you know, vaxxline and them getting dumbed from

(44:02):
Furia obviously Deeds. You know, his situation kind of just
bounced all over the place since he was with Tripods.
So it was definitely just as miss fits roster that
you just didn't really expect too much from because you
just felt like there's just too much BS going on
for them to succeed. You know, they have that first
tough match day together and then all of a sudden

(44:23):
you see, oh shit, they just won the next one,
Like what the hell? So it is. It's a team
that definitely has seemed to figure things out quickly. Definitely
a big shout out to Psycho coaching wise, So I
know there's a lot of mentions of him during the interview,
and I just think that when you get three players
that have been through the shit so much, it's almost like,

(44:45):
fuck it, let's just see what happens, right, And it
almost just gives you a little bit more ability to
relax and just kind of play your game and whatever
happens happens, because no one's expecting you to deal well
with all the shit that's been going on. And yeah, again,
not only do they win that one match day, they
end up coming up and winning in the regional finals.
You can say what you want about that Zone Bowl it.

(45:06):
They still had to win the game. They still had
to take care of business, and they did, and yeah,
it just you know, I think we've just seen an
interesting shift with Sauce going from a pretty hard zone
igl to more of a flex with like you mentioned,
kind of working with Faxelon on that and kind of
co Igling at times. And I think we've seen a
good mix with Deeds, who leads the team with sixty

(45:28):
six kills. I think everyone's been pretty impressed with how
he's only gotten better as time has gone on. And
I just think that you kind of just throw all
these good and things together. And yeah, it may not
have like the highest ceiling roster, but I do think
they have a lot of flexibility and character choices. I
do think that you know, saw us again when he's
confident and calling the way he can call and Vaxxceline's

(45:51):
confident and doing the same thing. You know, we've seen
that they can win match point and sometimes it is
just a confidence thing of knowing that you can win
in that form, whereas a lot of teams don't necessarily
feel that way because they've never won a match point
format kind of situation. So it'll be very interesting to
see how they play again. They're another team that's also

(46:11):
performed very well in the district and they do end
up getting a pretty solid POI out of Blossom Drive,
So I'll be very interesting to see if their regional
finals performance kind of snowballs to EWC. From what I've
seen during scrim so far, they've definitely been performing pretty solid,
so I'll be I'll be hopeful that they're able to
repeat this because, like you mentioned, it would just be

(46:32):
an amazing story if you're not in necessarily winning, if
they you know, if they go out they get top five,
top ten, you know, I think from where they started
the split to where they're at now, like it's just
it's almost already a success at this point, just even
qualifying for this land, So I'm I'm very excited to
see what these guys do and uh yeah, just you know,

(46:53):
hopefully the sky's the limits for him.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
Give it to me for the storyline. I just need
that storyline. What a what a crazy jayhawking of a
video that would be, I mean, because both of them would,
you'd have to, you have no choice. An incredible and
incredible video from both of them that I would one
hundred percent watch. Uh, we move on into the We
move on into the next I mean I watch all
their videos. Uh, we move on into the next team here.

(47:17):
This team was Team Ronan, but it is now Evos Sports.
That is Nate Hoodie An MG Clutch. MG Clutch famously
has been on the pod before. I don't know if
we've ever mentioned that, just kidding, we one thousand percent
have mentioned that at the time when he opt on
the show, he was just a ranks grinder. Now he's
playing inside the pro scene. And not only is he

(47:38):
doing that, but he led his team with eighty four
kills after a ton of roster changes. This might be
the villain team here done because there was the the
infamous Nasky dropping and it looked like their Nasky was
gonna make it in above him. And then in that
final that regional final, they managed to clutch up. They
get in there, and now they're going to the land

(48:00):
MG Clutch. Obviously they went to the Open, but now
this is gonna be kind of like I mean, I
don't want to discredit the Open and say it wasn't
like a land, because it was, but like this, this
next one is kind of like their first land, right,
Like this is one where these this is congested. This
is gonna be much more difficult task. And they didn't

(48:22):
even necessarily do that well out the Open. They got
forty ninth overall. So what do you expect to see
from MG Clutch and the boys.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, I think that just with obviously everything that happened
with Nasary and kind of how things were shaping up
during the regional final, you definitely have to give them
a lot of credit. They I think, where a lot
of teams could have tried to maybe switch their play
style and played differently, they stuck their guns and went
for kills and that ultimately ended up being the decider

(48:53):
between them and ten k It was just that they
just continued to frag out and continue to pile up
the points. At when match point ended, they were to
keep themselves you know, in those top places, even if
they weren't the ones that closed it out on match point,
they almost give me a little bit of vibes of
like the His Watson Furia team. Yeah, Like it's obviously

(49:15):
I think the skill there's definitely a skill gap between
the two because I don't expect this roster to really
compete for you know, a top ten or anything like that,
at least as of right now. But they just, you know,
they play a lot of different off meta comps, you know,
even with the character you know, even with character bands.
I mean we see them pulling out lifelines and revenants

(49:35):
and things like that and just stuff you don't expect
to see even during the character band meta we've had.
But I mean, they're gonna they're gonna be hyper aggressive,
you know what you're gonna get from them. They're gonna
take any fight they can take. They're gonna want to
play edge from any POI that they're at. And I
think they're gonna be a team that I don't see

(49:55):
them focusing on the wins. I think they're gonna focus
on just cumulating points, and like I meant, it can
work really great in that first round and potentially maybe
they find their way into the top seven because they have,
you know, a couple of big pop offs. But I
think that when it ultimately comes down to if they
do make finals, I think their play style could struggle

(50:16):
just because one, they're going to run into a lot
more teams that can also fight at a high level,
and when you get to that match point style things
are just gonna play a lot differently. There's gonna be
a lot less maybe edge.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
Maybe like a tworkaholic situation.

Speaker 2 (50:29):
Yes, yes, that's probably a better comparison is I think
right now would be a Tworkaholics where like I said,
they're going to fight anybody. They're gonna do a lot
of different things on the map that you're not expecting.
And I just think that at the end of the day,
I could see them making finals in the right situation,
but I think it's going to take their best fighting

(50:50):
performances because again, like you mentioned, it's gonna be vastly
different from the open. There's not going to be as
many teams that don't have land experience that they're gonna
get opened up against. And I do ultimately think that
they're going to play on the knife edge that I
could see them maybe squeaking into the seventh team in
the finals, but I also can see them being one
of the three teams that go home first round just
because they're going to try to take too way too

(51:12):
many fights and not be able to accumulate the points
they need. So it'll be very interesting to see. You know,
they do get like a breaker wharf on broken Moon,
which is a really good edge POI. So if they're
maybe able to have a pop a couple of pop
off games there, you never know what could happen. But ultimately,
you know, if they continue to stay aggressive and play
the way they have, I'll be very interested to see

(51:34):
if it works, because traditionally we haven't seen that.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
It'll just be it'll be a situation where maybe and
and it's weird that this happens because in like traditional sports,
it's just not really the way you look at it.
But this might just be a situation where they just
want to make a finals lobby. You know, it's it
necessarily after that you're playing with house money. Yeah, you'll
take what you can get. They just want to make

(51:58):
a finals lobby just to prove that they can get
themselves there. And as far as in the grand scheme
of things, I would say they're most like I'd say
they're just like in the Hunt type team, meaning they're outside,
they're on the outside looking in like they're they're not
they're not in the playoffs right now. If this was
the NFL structure thing I was talking about, and be

(52:20):
more of they're just looking for a chance, looking for
an opening, and if they can get it, then they
can capitalize off of it. But we'll have to see
what goes down with EVOC Sports. Let's move over into
a PAC North. We've got r r X, the All
Japanese team. They were a decently nice surprise coming out
of a PAC North. They got fourth overall in their

(52:42):
pro league, and they weren't near the top because the
top teams were the SBIs and Nosey Foxes in the
E thirty six is. But in the like the conglomeration
of the rest of the four through eight teams where
all the points were pretty close, they were at the
top of that list. So don for r RX, What
do we see from this team? What do the people
need to know about tm RRX.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Yeah, I think it's it'll be interesting to see because
it's a very inexperienced roster. Outside of Ray, he does
bring a lot of experience. He actually was pretty close
to making finals. His team had finished twenty second at
the Esports World Cup last year, so they had just
missed out during the qualification process, just throwing like the

(53:27):
last year's qualifiers and all that. So it'll be interesting
to see how they do again. I think in their situation,
they probably took advantage of a week APAC North this
year because I think, you know, traditionally we was seeing
like a redtal order or rejecquinnity, you know, even crazier
act Coon being higher than what they were. You know,
I think that there's just a lot of teams that

(53:48):
weren't playing as well, and they did a very good
job and stepping into that gap and performing where they
had the ability to. One thing I've noticed is that
they were able to put up a decent amount of
damage and they had third of any team during per
league in APAC North, but they only had the tenth
most kills, So it seemed like they could potentially could
run into an issue of converting some of their damage

(54:10):
into kills, which again, like you know, when we get
into these lobbies where teams are just racing to accumulate
as many points as they can. They could be one
of those teams that kind of falls behind because they
can't convert their damage into kills. So it'll be interesting
to see, you know, when you have your leader at
only forty seven kills, that kind of shows that I
think this team was gonna be a little bit more
on the patient side. They may not necessarily go out

(54:32):
and be aggressive and take every fight possible. So I'll
be interested to see if they are able to kind
of make their mark on the land. I think if
they do find their way into finals somehow, I think
it'll come through that loser's part. I don't think they'll
be probably one of the seven that directly qualifies. But again,
you just never know what these lands. I mean, we

(54:53):
saw a lot of craziness happen last year, and now
that the Losers Finals has more than just two teams
that will make the final lobby, you just never know
if you can find your way, you know, into that
fifth or sixth slot. So yeah, I'll be I'll be
interested to see what happens.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
Yeah, moving over into the next team, the Apax Sule team.
This is team's soul and this was if I'm not
if I'm correct on this was it's just Goo Legacy
and Sharky. Two of those were from Team Guild correct
correct Ye. Guild was kind of like the big surprise
last Esports World Cup when they had Empty.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
Yeah, So I'm really excited to see Soul because I
I was on that Guild train during that last Esports
World Cup. I was looking to buy a jersey, I
was looking to buy a hat, couldn't find one. Thank
god I didn't buy one, because I probably would have
absolutely nuked the squad. But I'm super excited about Sole Esports.

(55:50):
I think that they can If they can continue to
put on some good performances here, it should be a
good Esports World Cup for them. Maybe this is just
their tournament. Who knows. They're sitting at fourth in their
pro league, kind of once again separated from that upper
echelon inside a Pac South, but at the top of
the conglomeration of teams from fourth through eight, same exact

(56:11):
situation as Team are r X when we just talked
about here. Now, when you lose a guy like Empty,
it's not going to be easy to replace. But they
have done a decent job. Man, They've done a pretty
decent job overall. What do you see from soul Esports?
And kind of where do you see them fitting in
the in the grand scheme of things here?

Speaker 2 (56:34):
Yeah, I mean s a UL like I was, Like
you mentioned the other they were the killed roster before
you know, they had gone from Empty to Phony because
Phony had filled in for them a chance when they
were missing the IGL after Empty left for Shopify and
then obviously Phony returns back. They're looking for a third player.
Oh hey, we'll just pick up a two time land
champion and Sharky is our third and that away place, Yeah,

(56:56):
usually will tend to help out, so I think with
them and their coach Rogers as well. Rogers has definitely
been a name that's popped up and a lot of
people have a lot of high praises. I think, just
all around, it's a really really good roster. You've got
a duo with Jesco and Legacy sounds like here I
may agree with me, but those two definitely are a

(57:17):
duo that is has only improved throughout year four. They
again have only proven from Igl to IGL that they
can get the job done and even now we've seen,
I believe the Legacy has stepped up into the IGL
role and done a pretty pretty damn good job with it.
Like you mentioned, outside of those top three, they're the

(57:38):
best of the rest, you know, in APAX South, And
I think a lot of that just comes down to
Saul play a little bit more of like a flex
style versus the three teams above them. With left we
play a lot more hyper aggressive and take a lot
more fights. So I think just the puer number of
you know, I don't want to say lack of kills,
but just kills comparative to the top three, I think

(58:00):
this team fits a lot more of a land than
potentially the other three teams do. And I do think
that on the right day again, they'll be a team
that can definitely compete towards the top ten, top five potentially,
So I'll be very excited to see. You know, Sharky's
definitely been in good form, led the team with seventy
nine kills, which was top five in the region. They

(58:21):
also performed very well on Stormpoint, which is a map
that is going to feature three times during the group's phase,
and they ended up getting Mill which, as we know,
Mill traditionally a very very good POI on stormpoint. So
I definitely think they make an I think they make
another run to a finals lobby. It's just ultimately going
to be what is their ceiling then? After that? Can

(58:43):
they do enough to make their mark on the match
point or is it more of they'll kind of finish
in that tenth, twelve, thirteenth range that we've seen them
kind of finish before.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
Yeah, so going to be really exciting there. For I
call them soul. You were calling him s a u L.
Yeahorious for getting names.

Speaker 2 (59:04):
Wrong on this Yeah, s a u L. From my
understanding is how the ORG wants to go by. So
that's coming from b Rad shout out to shout out
to him and shout out to my boy Pandas was
giving me a fuck ton of information on this region
at top of watching.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
So absolutely fucked that. But we're okay, L all good,
all good. No, I'm really excited to see what they do,
very pumped. I just I just love watching the Rosters
Guild and and I wish it was still under the
Guild because I thought that G was just it was
such a sick G, Like that logo G was so bad. Ass.

(59:39):
But it's okay, it's all good. It is all good.
We're gonna move on into the next team, the Apac
North team s b I E Sports and Don, we
talked a lot about SBI E Sports and why to
be talked about them a lot because they gave us
a reason to talk about them a lot. SBI E
Sports coming from Apac North. They were the winner of

(59:59):
the Pack North Pro League. They had the most points
that are at the top, why by one point, but
it doesn't really matter. They still won. The craziest part
about their win was the fact that they had a
zero point day and they still managed to h to
win it. So, Don, this team might surprise some people,
might sneak up on some people. People might not understand

(01:00:22):
or know who this team is going into it. The
only thing that we can say that could potentially hold
them back a little bit is the fact that they
haven't had too much land experience. So what do you
see coming out from SBI E Sports here?

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
Yeah, I think that in a year like we you know,
we kind of mentioned before with r Rex, they this
another team that kind of stepped up into the gaps
that have been left by some other teams. That we
kind of expected to perform a little bit better during
Pro League, and I mean they absolutely exceled. You know
that you have to give them a ton of credit.
You know, no matter what you can say about the

(01:00:57):
other teams, they were a team that outside of obviously
that zero point ay, they showed up. They were winning
multiple games during matchdays. They showed up and ended up
winning the regional finals in a insane one v one
v one to win the last game of the regional final.
And you just have to give them a ton of credit,
you know. They they've done a really good job of

(01:01:19):
you know, despite their lack of experience with Land. You know,
they go, they get eightieth place, they bring in E
E two as their new third and since then they
seem to play extremely well together. And we've got their
player Mike, who had seventy three kills, which is good
for six and the Pro League they had E two,

(01:01:41):
even like I said, wasn't even with the team the
whole time, and he got seventy one kills in seventh place.
So I think when you compare him to kind of
like the nosey Foxes and the thirty six's, they're gonna
play a little bit more patient. They're not as kill heavy,
but I do think that the way that they were
able to position position from themselves on the map, but

(01:02:01):
also the way that they were able to traverse bad situations,
because there is a time that in that last game
that they had to pull off a crazy res and
they weren't in the best position, but they were able
to flip it by forcing another team out of their
spot and ended up getting the better spot and again
ended up pointing out crazy one B one B one.
So they do seem to have that clutch scene, which

(01:02:23):
obviously will be huge when it comes to a land format,
so I'll be very interested to see how they do.
They had a pretty big weakness on E district, so
we'll have to see if they can improve that because
E district willed obviously come into play quite a few
times at land, so we'll see if they're able to
work through that. But I think that if they continue

(01:02:43):
their performances that they had in Pro League, they're definitely
gonna be one of those teams that is kind of
those star horses that you kind of need to keep
your eye on.

Speaker 1 (01:02:51):
Yeah, and see what wild card of sorts. The wild
card of sorts. Super excited, super excited for SBI E sports.
Always cool to see new teams and new faces and
and and all of these different things kind of come together.
That's what makes the sports so fun in the first place.
So I will be ready for it. I will be
rooting for SBI E Sports. Oh no, now they suck.

(01:03:12):
Let's move on into the America's region. We're gonna go
over to Shopify Rebellion and Shopify. I I made a
I made a claim. I think right after the Open.
I think it was like one of the first Pro
League match days after the Open, I said, Shopify are
going to win this tournament. So spoiler alert for the future.

(01:03:33):
I do have my prediction already locked. Let's see if
I change it in the time from here to the end.
But I said Shopify Rebellion was gonna win this whole thing,
And I like, I don't know, I just I just
feel like, as as a squad, you've got Empty koy
Ful Zainu obviously is the team. I feel like Empty
and Zinu together as an IGL unit, because I don't

(01:03:58):
even want to say Empty is the pure obviously he is,
but a lot comes from Zainu and he helps out
a ton with just the overall team comms and also
just the overall team morale and being able to keep
everybody in the right spot. And for a guy his age,
it's actually really impressive. If you see any of the
moments where they're about to lose it, he's able to

(01:04:20):
always kind of bring it back in hold the team together.
Super fun to watch, super interesting to watch, And I
also just think that their firepower is next to none. Right,
we could have talked about them easily at the beginning
of the show where we talked about the teams that
are absolutely dominant, we talked about Alliance only easily could
have brought up Shopify in that list, because they're another

(01:04:41):
one where if they won this whole thing, I don't
think a whole lot of people would be surprised. I'm pumped. Now.
Don Did I miss anything on Shopify that you would
like the people to know?

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
Yeah, I mean, I think the only big thing that
I did want to bring up is that I know
here in recent times, their scream performances have been pretty bad.
I've been kind of surprised with how things have looked
during scrims. I really feel like in this more aggressive
open format, we kind of see them dominate a lot more,

(01:05:14):
and they've definitely had great days, don't get me wrong,
in like fifth place at the Open and fifth place
in Pro League. It's definitely not bad by any means,
but I almost do feel like that's almost like a
failure in their eyes, and I do feel like they
they are in a position where either can come out
you know, you're super hungry to prove that you're one
of the top two three teams in the world right

(01:05:36):
or you might be in a position where you're pressing
too hard and trying to achieve this goal of always
winning everything. So I'll be very interested to see if
they are able to balance their aggressiveness and are able
to not overfight at times, because I think that definitely
is their downfall, is that they will take very bad fights,
which you know, even if they win the fight will

(01:05:57):
either one will get third party or two will put
them in bad position on the map. So I'll be
very like I said, it's gonna be a team that
I will definitely keep my eye on. I definitely think
you have to consider them one of the favorites just
because of on paper what they bring. But I do
think that of that favorite category. At least right now,

(01:06:17):
they probably are the team that might be closer to
falling out of that just based on kind of some
recent form. But again, you can't discount them at all.
There's way too much firepower on that team.

Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
Now, I do have a question, now that Waltz has
won a land, does MT move into that slot of
the player that desperately like you want them to win
a land so bad? Does he move into that next
slot where it's like he absolutely deserves to win a
land at this point?

Speaker 2 (01:06:49):
Yeah, I mean I think for me, it's it's either
empty or dropped. I think one of those two. Like,
you know, it's just igls that have just been so
close to some way times. You know, they've had so
many good rosters, and obviously from all accounts, you know,
empty definitely just seems like a very chill dude and
somebody that everybody gets along with. So it's definitely some

(01:07:09):
somebody you root for. It's definitely put it all the work.
I mean, just looking at his you know, resume, he's
been to eleven lands, which I'm pretty sure the most
is like it's like twelve or thirteen I think is
the most of any player, because that's yeah, you know,
that's just number of lands Apex has ever had, So
like it's it's one of those things again, like I
think it's either him or dropped. I think one of

(01:07:30):
those two are the ones that I don't want to
even say most deserving, but I just think that, like
if they won, that's just kind of like a very
feel good moment.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
So it's gonna be awesome. We want we wanted for
empty so bad. One last little tidbit about Shopify before
we move on is coy flin Zi knew with eighty
six and eighty five kills, respectively, and when we talked
about other regions and like top kills for teams we
were in like the fifties, the forties, you got two
guys on one team at say sixty eighty five. So

(01:07:58):
it's say, it's like, this is this is what where
the America's region is at right now, right this is
just where it's at. It's kind of separated itself. We
do know a lot of APAC South talent came over
to the America's Region, So not to take away anything
from APAX South now that we have I haven't really
been watching it to be honest with you, but the

(01:08:19):
Club World Cup in in world soccer I would love
to see And I think Jayhawk tweeted this out a
few a few weeks ago, it was if there was
ever like a an APEX World Cup, I think that
would be really fun to watch. Like first of all,
the roster formation, who who who makes up the teams

(01:08:41):
for I mean, I think a lot of names jump
off the page, but there'd be a lot of admissions there,
Like there's gonna be a lot of people who miss
out from the America region, There's gonna be a lot
of people who miss out from APAX South. I Like,
I don't know, I think it'd be a fun time.
Even if it was just like the individual countries, you
can make an entire land event out of that, I

(01:09:02):
think be really fun. So yeah, so that is Shopify.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Australia would go insane with the talent that are between
these two countries. Is I mean just even looking to
because we were even laughing about it when I was
watching a privacy stream. Just even the coaches list for Australia.
I mean, You've got Don You've got Drogger, You've got Rogers,
you got Winny, like just those four coaches alone. It's

(01:09:27):
like who would be the one person you would pick
the coach that team, Like, it's it's insane, just like
the talent pool, like obviously the US because like you know,
America's is the best region, but Australia man, for whatever reason,
just breeds Apex. It's it's actually crazy. So yeah, and
that's not even including like a legacy in a Jessica
and a bunch of these other players that are kind
of making that second wave right now off of Australian players,

(01:09:50):
So it's gonna be. Yeah. I would desperately ask if
Apex could figure out one thing and maybe besides fixing
fucking ranked, is get a freaking war Cup, because we would.

Speaker 1 (01:10:01):
Also even if they didn't want to make it a
full on land event, they just wanted to have like
some sort of like World Cup action. Dude, Honestly, we
should try to do this. We should just as a podcast,
we should do a like four v four TDM like
challenge like challenge between all of the nations and just

(01:10:21):
organize it and just see what happens if we couldn't
get a land going, like like obviously EA has already
got They've got their own problems to work out as
a podcast. If we could find a way to get
all the players to agree. They're just doing like a
four v four TDM from the Nations during the World Cup.
Obviously World Cup's coming up next year. We have that
go on while the World Cup is going on. We

(01:10:42):
have our World Cup of Apex TDM. Be extremely fun
to watch. I think that will have We'll have Jay
and Jump a cast it. We'll have We'll have Connor,
our sideline.

Speaker 2 (01:10:52):
Reporter, say four things the entire cast.

Speaker 1 (01:10:55):
Yeah, yeah, Jay.

Speaker 2 (01:10:57):
And I will get on the spreadsheet. We'll get that
shit started.

Speaker 1 (01:11:00):
No, that would be so fun. That would be sad.
Moving on into another America's team, We've got Liquid Alienware,
We've got Nisel, Yaguadas and Yanya and now this team
had split up for a slight little blip in time,
but they are back together as a team. But it
hasn't been like their typical run of the mill Pro League.
There was a lot of struggles. Obviously, they didn't start

(01:11:21):
the Pro League together. They kind of came there afterwards
after the Open that is when everybody kind of came back.
Yanya came back over and they've had some good times.
They've had some bad times as well, but we know
that this team has a lot of history, and what
we've talked about in this podcast a lot is teams
that do stay together and form formulate that history. A

(01:11:42):
lot of times that chemistry can't be replicated even with talent.
So what do you see from Liquid Alienware, Like, do
you this version of Liquid alien where this is a
year ago? I don't think we're speaking about them this way,
but right now it's like where are they at? Are
they Are they the same liqu alien where that we've
known from the past.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
Yeah, I think right now this is definitely a different
version of Liquid than I think we've seen, just at
least in terms of just their overall performance. You know,
I haven't got the chance to really like watch their
POV if they're still playing like the hyper aggressive way,
but just at least based on the numbers, it definitely
just seems like they're either not winning as many fights

(01:12:25):
that they're used to winning, or they're not taking as
many fights as they're used to, just because just seeing
you know, Nazulu led their team with fifty nine kills
during the split, which is definitely not I think normal
for them, just in terms of the number. I really
feel like we're used to seeing this team produce such

(01:12:45):
high kill numbers at times. You know, we were used
to seeing them. I mean, they held the record at
Land for most you know, kills and points in a
singular game. So it's one of those things that you know,
we'll have to see if maybe some of the flair
can come back at Land. I do remember we did
see some struggles from them at Lands when they were

(01:13:06):
even together and doing you performing better. I remember Germany
was a good example of that. They definitely were struggling
their way through a lot of the losers brackets and
really kind of struggle to really get their their footing.
So I'll be interested interested to see what happens. I
know a big struggle that they had is Broken Moon.

(01:13:26):
They've definitely been there the worst performing team on that map,
so they ended up prioritizing the other maps, which I
think is a good idea at this point. So we'll
see if that ends up helping them or not. But
I'll be very inested to see if they can return
to some of their fighting prowess that we've seen in
the past, because I think that's just what we've always

(01:13:47):
insinuated with Liquid right, it's just a team that can
find a fighting team.

Speaker 1 (01:13:53):
Moving on into the last few teams here, we've got
Twisted Minds from the America's regions. That's Alberlelli, Enemy and Crook,
and this is another team. I do feel like they
kind of fit into the roc E sports category, if
that makes sense, Rock, where they have the as, they
have the ability to absolutely win a day, and then

(01:14:15):
they do have that floor where it's kind of like, okay,
wait a second, like what is this team and you
kind of revert back to, you know, kind of past performances,
struggles all that kind of stuff. But Twisted Minds did
come out in this split and they played really really well.
So one thing to note here, I do think that
Enemy has his confidence back. I think he even tweeted

(01:14:36):
it out that he's excited that he has his confidence back.
So I'm really happy for that. I think Enemy playing
the way he has been playing has been really good.
Albert Lelly obviously he's been having a great resurgence and
it continues to grow. He continues to grow, and then
Crook as the igl this team when you watch their
their VODs there's a lot of free flowing conversation going

(01:14:59):
back and forth of calls going around. So I'm I'm
struggling to put them into a category as far as
where I'll throw it to you, do they make finals.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
I do think they ultimately end up making finals. I
feel like it could be kind of in those situations
where they may struggle a little bit to get there.
But I do think you know, we saw the Open
that you know, they did perform well, you know, and
they ended up getting I think it was sixth place
if I remember correctly, But yeah, it's they're just kind

(01:15:41):
of a weird team because obviously, you know, they have
the Open, they had a really good run, they'd started
off pretty well during pro league, but any kind of
blink and it's like, oh, they finished eleventh. Like it's
just kind of one of those teams that, like you
almost feel like they're performing better at times than they
really are. And I just think that they didn't necessarily
have the greatest end to their pro league. And I know,

(01:16:03):
just with how kind of close a lot of those
teams were in the middle when that regional finals came
and there was those inflated points, I think that definitely
was a big part of why they fell down the
standings as well. But the biggest thing I've am gonna
be curious with how it goes is that Crook a
lot of the times has been on a Crypto in
the past, and as I jelled from that and they've

(01:16:25):
moved him. At least during the regional final, he was
a lot of the time on Sparrow, which obviously is
a lot more you know, out in the open. You know,
you're not necessarily sitting in drone nearly as much. Yes,
the it's really nice to have the ultimate for Sparrow,
but I'm curious if maybe for EWC he ends up

(01:16:49):
playing a lot more of Crypto and kind of going
away from the Sparrow. It'll be very interesting to see
because I'm just kind of scrolling through their regional final
and definitely looked like for the most part he did
play Sparrow more often than Crypto. So I'll be interested
to see if they stick with that plan after struggling
and getting sixteenth during the regional final, or if they

(01:17:13):
have maybe worked out some of the kinks and he
continues on that character, because I know the character house
and provides a lot but when Crook is so good
at Crypto, it's almost like, why I fix something that's
not broken.

Speaker 1 (01:17:25):
Yeah, And I think I think I gave the wrong
comparable to Twisted To Twisted Minds, I said a little
more like Rock. I think it's more kind of like VP,
where they started off really well and then things kind
of fell off after that. I think that's more of
the comparable because I think Rock, obviously they shot up
after the open, everything started to go their way, whereas

(01:17:47):
Twisted Minds, like you said that, you look at it
and you're like, holy shit, they got eleventh and you
just kind of forget that that entire second half wasn't
exactly the Twisted Minds that we were seeing in the
first half. So we'll have to see what happens. It'll
be one of those teams that I'm really looking at
because the last time we saw them, they were in
the late they were in the final fight at the

(01:18:07):
late game. So you want to see them do that again.
I love the players on the team and and I
want to see them do well. But ultimately, if if
if their past performance has proved us anything, it's that
you don't really know what you're gonna get so we'll
see what goes down and so mind.

Speaker 2 (01:18:22):
Yeah, it's always going to come down to how well
Crook an Alt kind of I g L together because
they definitely balance each other out, with Al tending to
be a little bit more aggressive and Crooked being a
little bit more wanting to play for position. So I'll
be interested to see how it goes, you know, and
ultimately how their cohesion works between the co I g
LS at times, and if they're able to do that,

(01:18:43):
I think they'll definitely, you know, we'll see a lot
more of like what their open performance was. It feels
pretty zone heavy is what they're leaning towards, at least
based off their POI draft, because they went you know,
POI's like Monument Command Center, Vivil and Terrorformer, which is
gonna be a lot more towards zone. So I'll be
interested to see if they end up just playing a

(01:19:04):
lot more patient this time around and kind of let
the game come to them. And again if Crook and
Alf can I jail well together?

Speaker 1 (01:19:14):
Okay, we've got three teams remaining here, We've got unlimited?
Is that how that's actually the name Unlimited? They didn't
want to put the ed at the end. Nope, Unlimited, Okay,
all right, that's fine. Unlimits, cool limits cool Apac North
team we got ULARI man, I don't know how to
say the last two, so I'm not even going to

(01:19:35):
try because I've already messed up enough name on this podcast.
But don talk to me about Unlimit.

Speaker 2 (01:19:44):
It has been quite the story to see this team develop.
We saw them qualify for Apac North out of the PSQS,
and we didn't really know much about u Lari Man,
but we quickly quickly learned who this man was and
just how bad this band is in Apex. And I
don't mean bad as and sucks. I mean bad as

(01:20:05):
and he's just that guy it is. It's been being
pretty incredible to watch. They end up getting eleventh at
the Open, which I don't think really anybody expected them
to perform that highly because it was all of their
first lands, and especially for a team that came from
qualifiers to do that at the Open and then finish
top five in their pro league. Yes, again, you can

(01:20:25):
say you know whatever you want about Apac North as
a whole. They just frag out like they can shoot
with anybody. The Lari Man had one hundred and thirteen
kills during a split, which yeah, you literally laugh at it.
It's like, there's just no way that's the truth. But
he only got I believe, beat out by effect. I

(01:20:48):
think effect I had the only was the only player
with more kills and maybe I think one other player
out of Apex South. But still like top five in
the world for a guy that came from qualifier. You
know people I'm sure were thrown out the accusations until
he goes to the Open and just frags at the
Open and they finish eleventh. So like it's it's a

(01:21:09):
fun story to watch. I'll be very interested to see
how this aggressiveness can play out on land again. They're
going to fall in like that category of like an
E thirty six and a nosey Fox that are going
to want to play aggressively and take a lot of fights.
But when you've got that much firepower and it's consistently shown,
whether it's Pro League or the Open, I don't really

(01:21:31):
see why they would slow down. I think they could
make finals and we could potentially see a repeat performance
of them getting a top ten to fifteen. It will
be interesting to see how they can play on E
District because that was a map they struggled on. And again,
typically their play style is trying to find picks early,

(01:21:52):
get some fights on edge, whereas E District a lot
less teams are going to want to play a edge.
So I'll be very interest to see how that map
in particular goes. They did get Lotus on that map,
which is definitely one of the top five pois on
E District, So even though they struggled, they should be
in a pretty good position, uh, playing out of that POI.

(01:22:15):
And again, I don't really see any reason why they
would slow down unless they ran into you know, Falcons,
a bunch of Times or Alliance or whatever the case is.
So definitely one of those teams to keep your eye on.
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say the word because
then they'll get immediately laught place want. But they're just
they're just one of those teams. If you get what

(01:22:36):
I'm inferring that, you know, we'll we'll be interesting to watch.

Speaker 1 (01:22:40):
Last two teams, We've got one from the America Region,
one from APAX South, and I'm gonna save the Apax
South team for the end because that is Dawn's team.
Let's start off with Vertice Pro. We got Zach Masers,
Slayer and Lou and for a moment here VP was
sitting at the America's Region. They were coming off some

(01:23:03):
incredible performances, some great games, lots of good calls, lots
of good team cohesion. Slayer was on something different and
now they they they made it close at the end there,
and I feel like it was imperfect, like Zach Maser fashion,
you know where. It's just like everything was looking great,

(01:23:24):
all of a sudden it was looking really bad, but
then he manages to pull it out and keep everything together.
They get fourteenth overall inside the region with seventy seven points,
and I'm happy to see them there because I love
I love talking to Zach, I love talking to Slayer.
Han't gotten a chance to talk to Lou yet, but
both those guys I really enjoy. This is the tough part.

(01:23:45):
Who the hell are we gonna get? Who are we
this is? I think this is as much as a
toss up as any other team in any other reason,
Like you just don't know, you have no idea who's
gonna show up at the top end. VP is a
team that can contend with the best. They are a
Super Bowl contender, and at the bottom end, you wonder
if they're gonna be in contention for the first overall pick.

(01:24:07):
You just don't know what you're gonna get from VP.
You want to see them do well. I love watching
them when they're doing well. I love Zach's igl style.
I love that he talks a lot. I love that
he calms literally everything. It makes it a really fun watch.
I've been a big fan of Lou for his time
with Complexity, right, so I already really liked Lou. We
had Slayer on the pod, one of my favorite interviews.

(01:24:29):
So it's like, I like all these guys, I want
to see them do well. What happened there in the
back end? Don I don't even know what? Can you
even describe it as anything else other than I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:24:41):
Yeah, it's really tough to really pinpoint it because again,
it's just like you see these rosters that are led
by Zach and it's just like you know, you've seen,
you know, they've gotten second at an online championship. I
believe it was a year two well, you know, when
he was with Cloud and and you've seen you know

(01:25:02):
where they got, you know, rinsed essentially by Nasky and
a contest on Land. Then you see them at Japan
and they're one fight away from extending the land even
further and potentially, you know, being the team that could
win on a match point.

Speaker 1 (01:25:19):
You know it.

Speaker 2 (01:25:20):
You've just seen so many different versions of the same igl.
It's just like, I really don't know what to say
with this team anymore. It is It's just like you
just you expect them to be, on paper, one of
the better teams, and if I had to pick one
way or the other, I just feel like they're going
to be very hungry to prove a lot of people

(01:25:42):
wrong given how the split ended and being grateful enough
that they qualified that they're going to want to show
up and show out. And I think we've seen at
Land more often than not that Zach is that team
that will show up and have her performance, because I
think outside of that even that can test that I
brought up in La, you know, if they don't have
that contest, you know, they were definitely one of the

(01:26:04):
better teams going into that final. So I think their
biggest thing is that if they can just make the
final in pretty good shape and their you know, their
vibes aren't too shot. I definitely think they can be
a team that can you know, get a top ten.
We've seen it before enough times. But it's just like
you said, it's just like I also can see them

(01:26:24):
somehow being one of the three teams that goes home
on day one, Like it's just you just you just
don't know who it's.

Speaker 1 (01:26:31):
It's literally one of those situations where you could talk
yourself into either situation so easily, Like it wouldn't require
like a whole lot of explanation for you to If
somebody walked up to you and said, where do you
see vertis pro and you said seventeenth, I think they
get bounced immediately, they'd be like, okay, yeah, I get it.
You know they they've struggled out the gate they've been
or they struggled on the back half after the open

(01:26:52):
makes a ton of sense. And then if somebody walked
up to you a different person said, where do you
see VP? So I think they're gonna win the whole
fucking thing, Like why do you think? Well, did you
see how well they were doing to start this pro
League split? Did you see how well they can be
as a team? You've seen Slayers resurgence, right, So it's
like you can talk yourself into any part of it.
You know, maybe maybe the winning the whole thing is

(01:27:13):
a little bit more of a stretch. But also like
if they were to even if they don't win, if
they if they were to get another top five like
they did a Champs, that's not a far stretch. Like
I don't think if I walked up to Jay or
Jump and I said, yeah, I think VP is getting
top five, I don't think they'd be like nah, Like
I think they'd be Oh, I could see it. You know.
Maybe they don't personally believe that they would get the
top five, but I think that they could see where

(01:27:35):
that could happen, right, So I don't know, it's it's
a weird situation. I want to see it. And it's
so funny too. You brought up the the contest with
Nasky and then like they absolutely get shit stomped, and
then the one game they actually get to play, they
pulled out like the craziest win of all time, just insane.
So you know, it's just the zach Maser experience. Whatever.

(01:27:59):
If they ever have a Hall of Fame of Apex Legends,
igls Zach may not be in the Hall of Fame
for like, hey, he was the greatest igl of all time,
but what he would be in there for is pure
entertainment value, pure entertainment. I think him in design both
fit in that role. Like, I think they both kind

(01:28:21):
of fit there. You're like, they bring the heat, whether
it's you know, the weirdest finishes or the best finishes,
they bring the heat. So that is VP and don
Let's round it out with the final team here, VK Gaming.
You've been the champion of VK gaming forever. You've been
saying that this is a team people should be watching

(01:28:41):
out for. What do you got on VK gaming? This
is your squad right here. How are you feeling about
them heading into the or not the open, into the
mid season playoffs?

Speaker 2 (01:28:52):
Yeah, I mean I think if you're a VK Gaming
you're definitely feeling really good. You know, they end up
winning Pro League and at a very solid performance during
regional finals as well. So I definitely think they're a
team that has definitely you know, figured out their region
and should you know, for the foreseeable future be qualifying
to every land just coming from APAX South, but they

(01:29:16):
definitely developed from what I think some people thought was
mainly just a crypto team because that's how we kind
of saw them playing heading into Germany. They are definitely
a team that will take fights like they have been
somebody that has been super aggressive, especially during this pro League.
They definitely rank amongst the top teams with kills, and

(01:29:38):
QQ definitely had one of his best splits. He had
one hundred and four kills, which again one of the
only few players in the world that broke the hundred
kill barrier. That was good for third in the region.
If that tells you like how some of these other
others been down to within the region. But they're just
a team that you know, they ranked top ten across

(01:29:58):
every single map they played in per league, so they're
good at every single map. They don't really have one
that they faltered on. They have the most points accumulated
on the district, which, again for a team that's aggressive
and a map that doesn't necessarily play that way, it's
definitely a good sign for them that they're able to
kind of still stay aggressive and get the points they
can on EA District. So I definitely think it's a

(01:30:20):
team that they will be in contention. It's just are
we going to see a team that ends too much
in the finals lobby and kind of ends up where
they were at at the Open, or are they gonna
be even more like a team at Champs where they
are a little bit more position based, they find themselves
in the right spot and if it wasn't for a

(01:30:42):
fourth and fifth party, you know that going next ends
up being the winner of You know, they're right in
the game winning position because again, they were on match point.
They were one of those four or five teams that
kind of piled up there in that overlooked fight, and
they're right there to winning the biggest Apex event that's
ever took place. So I think the sky is definitely

(01:31:04):
the limit for this team. I feel good about them,
which means they'll definitely get fortieth. But I you know, again,
like I just think everything on paper screams that this
team should be getting top ten. It's just can they
make those final decisions to be a contender?

Speaker 1 (01:31:23):
All right, don it's the moment of truth? How God
it is? Prediction time? All right, prediction time. Here's what
I want. I want a winner. I want a top three,
and then I want a dark horse. All right, do

(01:31:44):
you need me to go first?

Speaker 2 (01:31:47):
Yeah, I would say so.

Speaker 1 (01:31:48):
Okay, prediction time. And once again I apologize to all
of these teams that had any team job. Okay, I'm
just doing my job. Actually, I'm gonna add one thing.
A team that you think is gonna do well that
might struggle. A team that most people expect, I should
say most people expect to do well. General consensus team

(01:32:12):
does well, they struggle. All Right, my winner, I said
it a long time ago. I am not going to
change it. I think Shopify Rebellion is going to win.
I have Shopify Rebellion as the winner. I'm going to
keep it that way. I think Shopify Rebellion when I
look at their team dynamic, it's one of my favorites

(01:32:32):
to watch. I just love it. I love watching the
way they come, I love watching the way they fight.
Eighty five eighty four kills respectively. You gotta love that
from from Koi fuln Zainu. I love having that. I
think empty And I didn't even realize this till I
talked to Jay, but just realizing how many times he's
put himself, has put himself in a great spot to
win a land and just how many high tier finishes

(01:32:54):
he has. People talk about his ability to not slay out.
I don't know. I think when you got those two guys,
when you got the Bash Brothers over there just killing everything,
you know, I'll take that, like I'll take that all
day long. So I think Shopify Rebellion is going to
be the winner. If I'm picking a second place team
to round out my top three, I got to pick

(01:33:16):
the greatest second place team of all time. I'm going
to pick Lions. I got Alliance as my second place team,
and then for my third place team, I am going
to go with NAVI. I really like the way they played.
They obviously won Champs, and they continue to perform after that.
I think they they continue to do that. I think
they keep going with good performances. I feel like they

(01:33:39):
are the team that is going to turn into a
team that a lot of people start to know. Remember
when they won under the go nex Crown, Even me
and you were frustrated a little bit because like, ah,
there's the storyline a suite who was right there. There
was VP who could have kept it going. Go next.
I don't even know who these guys are. Then we
talk to these guys, and we realize that they're actually
some really cool dudes, and they continue to per be

(01:34:00):
a whole different story. They just dropped off the phase
of the planet, right, So I'm excited to see I'm
excited to see NAVI, and I think that they could
be a team that you know, in the future will
continue to perform like this. And this is going to
be a team that we expect in and out every
single tournament, every single land to perform. Now, if I
had to pick a team that I don't think is

(01:34:21):
going to do as good as people are expecting, hmm,
it'll be one hundred thieves, like we talked about at
the start of the show. I just I don't know.
I haven't liked the way that they've been playing recently.
You look at their kills phonies. Leading it with sixty eight,
you don't expect that. Typically you'd want Evan up there,

(01:34:42):
you'd want Jen up there. They're both at fifty one,
which is pretty pretty far behind. They're gonna need some
firepower to win this tournament, and I do think that
they might struggle. I don't think they'll get bounced like immediately.
I just don't know. We'll have to see, I'm just
not fully invested in one hundred thieves down your predictions,

(01:35:05):
all right.

Speaker 2 (01:35:06):
I've gone back and forth because again, I just think
right now, for me, there's just two teams that I
think in these formats are just clear right now, and
I just don't think I've seen enough from anybody else
to really change that. I think if I had to
go with somebody, I think that I think Falcons gets

(01:35:30):
it done in front of the home crowd. M I
think that they were so close last year. We obviously
saw how they were reacting and how much it meant
to them, just you know, having the ORG there and
being where the ORG is at. I think that they're
going to learn a lot of their lessons from last year,

(01:35:50):
and obviously we've seen them win the first land with
the legend bands in place. I think that with their
versatile with their ability to you know, how sometimes play
the frontline character, zero play the frontline character, just depending
on what characters are available, and then just every other

(01:36:11):
superlative of how it's being a free gun controller and
being the best shooter in the game. Right now, I
think Waltz getting the confidence from winning his first Land.
I just think that you know, despite what a lot
of people will say, I just think that Falcons will
be the team that takes it. I agree with you,
I think Alliance will end up in second. I almost

(01:36:32):
think sometimes their play stylist just bread to get second place, unfortunately,
just because of some of their struggles on match point. Again,
if there's any place to, you know, to prove people wrong,
it's obviously where you got it done last year. But
even last year, we obviously know there is a couple
opportunities before they won for them to close it out,

(01:36:53):
and they didn't quite do it. It took I mean,
some miraculous plays by other teams to keep the land going.
So so I do think they end up at second.
And I think for my third place team, this is
honestly been the one I have been struggling to figure out,
just because I think third is just so up for

(01:37:13):
grabs right now. I think that fuck I almost get
back to the boys. I'm just gonna say VK Gaming
find I think that they have played well. I think
that you know they are. They've been closed a couple
of times to finding their way into the top five

(01:37:33):
at a land and I think that with this format,
I think they should feel pretty comfortable with getting through
that top seven, and I think that they will be
able to find a way to get it done and
find themselves in the top three. For my one team,
I think that won't do well. I think a lot
of people are expecting. Just something in my gut tells

(01:37:56):
me I'm not gonna I'm not gonna sit here and
say they're gonna miss finals or anything before anybody gives
me heat this. I just for some reason don't have
a great feeling about Shopify right now. Oh no, my
big I like I hated when you said that. I've
thought about it more and more, which honestly, I don't
know if it might like me saying this might cancel
out what you said, so like they'll do well. Maybe

(01:38:18):
I don't know, but like I just for some reason,
I could just I feel like anything outside the top
three for them is bad, like in terms of their standards,
and I just for some reason, I feel like I
see them getting like a seventh or eighth or like
something like that, which, again, for a lot of other
teams is potentially the best result they'll get at the land.

(01:38:38):
But I feel like for them, like they'll see that
as a pretty big disappointment. Something just for me, Like,
I just the thing how things have gone recently in scrims,
how some of the things even were going down during
the end of the split. Just something something tells me.
I just I'm not fully confident that we'll see the
same version. I mean, just even seeing them get thirty teenth,

(01:39:00):
they're in the regional final, I just for something just
tells me that I just don't think we'll see the
same version that we've seen in the past. My only
other thing I do want to mention is that everybody
still needs to keep their eye on al Kasia because
I feel like that's a team that is very easily
forgotten about, because everybody doesn't think about al Kasia as

(01:39:23):
a team, you know, as those top two or three
teams in the world. But I think we've seen it
too many times now where Strafing Flame is able to
take a roster, and especially with a roster with Pricey,
with player K. We saw them get it done at
the Open, and we're very close to figuring things out.
I just I've got a decent feeling about them. They
had struggled in the finals at ABC last year, but

(01:39:45):
they pulled off that miraculous play that kept things going.
But going into that finals, they were one of two
teams I was going toe to toe with Falcons in
that group stage. So I'll be very interested to see
how they play, because I do think that they're style
is more meant for Land just in terms of getting
the zone, and I think they do a very very

(01:40:05):
good job of that. And I just again, I just
think that the recipe is there for them to have
a very good Land and it would not surprise me
if they shock some people with another you know, top
two or three or fours as well.

Speaker 1 (01:40:20):
All Right, last prediction, who is the team most likely
to get fifth or sixth? And this one was tough
for me, really it was. But ultimately I they're gonna
go with AGG. I think'm gonna go with AG. Yeah.
I just have a feeling I have a feeling about Yeah,
I just got a feeling. It could be seventh, maybe

(01:40:44):
even third, Maybe could be ninth. You know, you never
really know what that team. So okay, ladies and gents,
that should just about do it for Pool number B.
Super excited for EWC. We're gonna be putting this out
and then not only that, after this episode is over.
What me and Donn are gonna do is gonna have
a live stream where we go over this once again.

(01:41:05):
But don I was thinking about this as we were
going down the NFL idea where it's like the tiers
when we do the stream, I think we put that
up as like a tear maker, and we put the
teams into that tier just based purely off of in
the Hunt on the Bubble Contender, super Bowl Champion, like like,
we put it in there like that, and then we

(01:41:26):
go through and we talk about the teams each time.
That way, I think that would be like the best
way to do it for sure. So yeah, I think
we do something where we like teer it up. But yeah,
so we're gonna be going live. Do you want to
go live on the apex or do you want to
go live on on the Dawn Channel.

Speaker 2 (01:41:42):
I'm good with whatever we can. We can figure that out.
Just definitely be sure to follow both just in case.
We'll let you guys know and the discord and obviously
why and I will be tweeting that out as well.
We'll be looking to do that next Wednesday, which is
the day before EWC, so all the information will be fresh.
We can see how bad you how good we do,
more than likely how bad we do given our track record,

(01:42:04):
but definitely be on the lookout. Have notifications turned on
for Twitch from either the Apex or my channel dk
don six Again, that'll be on the ninth of July,
and I am definitely very excited to go more in
depth with it.

Speaker 1 (01:42:19):
So hell yeah baby, So thank you guys for tuning in.
We will catch you guys probably right after EWC is open.
We might do some shows cuz we're gonna be still here.
This is one that we're not going to so we
might be able to just record some quick pods, maybe
even do some live pods and just throw them up
on the on the old channel after every after each day,

(01:42:41):
just to kind of get everything out of the way,
get your guys' content pill in there throughout the week.
But just keep your eyes open, keep your ears peeled.
We're gonna be doing some stuff for EWC.

Speaker 2 (01:42:53):
What I plan on doing is I will be live
watch party and everything as it's going on from my
channel dk dono six. But then I think what would
be cool to do is potentially on the Apex, I'll
be doing a live stream to recap it. Later that
night for the North American fans that maybe weren't able
to watch it live, we can kind of break everything down,

(01:43:14):
see how well teams did, how bad teams did, and
kind of go from there. Obviously hopefully why you can
join when that is because I know, especially the Thursday
and Friday you'll be working. My boss is goaded and
I am not working those days, so I'll be watching it.
But yeah, we'll have the double stream going once in
the morning and once at night. And yeah, should have
you guys all covered for EWC.

Speaker 1 (01:43:35):
Hell yeah baby, all right, Well, thank you guys for
tuning in. We'll catch you guys next week for EWC.
We're super excited. We're ready to go. We'll see you
guys soon. See ya,

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