Rise and grind: tensions between ranked grinders and pros heat up as the distinction between them narrows
This is The Final Circle, a newsletter for the competitive Apex community
As you probably know, the North American team Ranked is Harder, who openly derided the ALGS with their former team name “RP>ALGS”, dominated their qualifying lobbies and placed 2nd in North America’s Winter Circuit #1. On Wednesday this week, Dropped tweeted about his team’s recent success:
What started as a benign flex quickly descended into an exchange of barbs with TSM’s coach Gdolphn, who replied to Dropped’s initial tweet with the following:
Gdolphn questioned the impact that Ranked is Harder’s impressive ALGS performance had on the competitive meta, suggesting that teams were dropping Wraith because of her hitbox nerf, not because they were inspired by Ranked is Harder’s unorthodox team composition.
(In related news, yesterday, TSM won the GLL weekly tournament with Horizon-Gibby-Bloodhound.)
Dropped’s teammate Rogue then chimed in with a direct accusation against either members of TSM or their fanbase, and Dropped seemed to confirm it with a quote: “These guys are trolling, this is only gonna work in the first round.”
This “cringe” Twitter skirmish between players whose primary focus is the ranked grind and those who are signed to pro rosters isn’t too surprising, given the broader economic trends we’ve seen in the Apex world since last March. When coronavirus deleted a burgeoning LAN scene, the pro ecosystem cratered. As orgs left Apex and the online-only ALGS ecosystem failed to attract significant new investment, grinding ranked lobbies on stream became a far more reliable source of viewers, and thus income, for highly competent pro players with little chance of securing a salaried position at a pro org to support them. Increasing social media presence, hours streamed, and follower counts became a more sustainable path to success as a working professional in Apex.
Pro players focused on tournament results, many of whom don’t command the large audiences that ranked grinders have, have reason to be peeved at the success of a team like Ranked is Harder, who disdain scrims and don’t take the ALGS seriously; while a pro like Dropped, who has transitioned from not streaming all that much while signed to Rogue to working long hours as an unsigned player with a focus on the ranked grind, seems to feel a desire to “prove haters and doubters wrong”—asserting that his “content creator” squad has skills equal to any other team in a formally competitive setting like the ALGS.
As pros like Dropped have transitioned to success on the ranked grind, the distinction between these previously distinct roles has narrowed. Dropped is in 10th place in North America by ALGS points, and his Twitch stream has only really taken off since he left Rogue and starting working long hours grinding ranked. Pros are ranked grinders and vice versa.
Only a few months ago, grinding the ranked ladder wasn’t necessary, or even desirable, for most pro players. Scrims were frequent, and despite GLL’s many failures, also fairly consistent, lasting for hours during peak streaming times on the weekdays. These obligations kept most pros from the top of the ladder, creating a distinction between players who chose to pursue tournament success and those who tried for the top of the ladder. Now, most popular pros also grind ranked, putting in long hours around irregular scrim schedules and tournament obligations, growing their communities (and income) as much as possible in an ecosystem where spots on pro rosters are few and far between.
With all this in mind, I’ve decided to broaden the scope of The Final Circle. While the newsletter has found success with a core audience, I no longer believe that separating the competitive Apex scene from the work of content creators and ranked grinders makes much sense. I have no intention of discussing new skins or anything, ever, about the Battle Pass, but I’ll try harder to more inclusively cover all aspects of this ecosystem.
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I want to quickly debrief that last week at Lulu’s Throwdown, a $100,000 invitational hosted by LuluLovely and sponsored by Apex, Soar’s Draynilla won $3,000 from a preliminary ‘Apex boxing’ match. That’s the same amount of money teams get for 2nd place in the finals of an ALGS Winter Circuit tournament.
Here’s some other assorted Apex news:
David Purcell writes on Dexerto that it’s the perfect time for Warzone fans to switch to Apex.
Apex is only getting more popular: with the release of season 8, it cracked the top 10 games on TwitchTracker, sitting right behind Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
After feedback on King’s Canyon in the ALGS Winter Circuit, Respawn/EA has excluded the map from the Winter Circuit.
Esports Arena Series E Season 2 is currently in qualifiers. Players on the 9 sponsored teams are getting a pay raise for the league’s second season. They will now be paid $750 per month. To kick off the new season, ESA is hosting a $10,000 invitational tomorrow, detailed below.
Popular EU esports org North dissolved, sending the recently-hired Nessy squad back to free agent status
Jasper “Kano” Jacobs, of Liquipedia fame, interviewed South African ALGS star player Brandon-Lee “Chambie” Ellis of the ATK roster
What to watch:
Tomorrow, on Saturday, February 13th, watch the Esports Arena $10,000 invitational at 2 PM PST. NRG, CLG, COOLER, and the sponsored ESA teams are slated to attend.
This coming Wednesday and Thursday, February 17th and 18th, Teq is hosting a Wraith-Wattson-Path only tournament. The $10,000 prize pool was funded by the community, and the twenty best teams in North America, determined by ALGS points, were invited to compete.
...that witcher reference lol. Looking forward to the expanded coverage including the ranked grind scene! FYI GuhRL also won $3k in Lulu's boxing event, not just Dray (she won Day 2).