A Verhulst thirst trap was all it took to finally unite Apex fans on the controller debate

Mark your calendars! Jan. 24 is the day the Apex Legends community reached an agreement on controller input supremacy. As it turns out, the one thing players needed to finally agree that a controller is better than a mouse and keyboard was Verhulst’s abs.

TSM’s extremely talented controller player and Apex heartthrob Verhulst needs no introduction, especially after his incredible performances throughout 2023. However, it is not his skill on a Battle Beaver that has attracted recent attention. Instead, his Jan. 24 post on X (formerly Twitter) sharing pictures from a recent photoshoot has everybody talking. The shoot, masterminded and photographed by TSM’s associate creative director Valdizbro, is entirely topless and displays an impressive hard-earned physique.

Unsurprisingly, the post received immediate attention from the entire Apex fandom. More unexpected, however, was how his attractive appearance has apparently swayed even the most religious of mouse and keyboard players to give up the long-running fight and admit controller players rule supreme. 

Controller versus MnK has been a bitter argument since the dawn of aim assist, with players often throwing insults, jokingly or otherwise, at those on the opposing input. After witnessing the sight of Verhulst, his controller, and a lack of jersey, MnK players have admitted: “Maybe controller players are alright.” BirnoOCE, MnK input Twitch streamer and content creator, was also able to confess he was becoming a controller fan.

In the same vein, another gamer expressed “Maybe aim assist isn’t broken,” with one even confessing, “Swapping to controller is not the only thing I’m considering.”

Amongst a sea of concessions and confessions, existing controller players were also able to cease criticising their MnK counterparts and encourage the change. According to one commenter, “This can happen to you too if you switch to controller.”

The Apex input debate was not the only subject circling in the post’s comments. Verhulst’s thirst trap had several men complaining their wives or girlfriends were going to leave them. One user seemingly had the solution, posting that they were running to block Verhulst and his profile from their girlfriend’s social media pages.

All in all, the reactions elicited from Verhulst’s impressive photoshoot can be summed up by his fellow professional Apex competitor Monsoon’s distracted ramblings: “Hmm yes hmmm quite good yes…… hmmm precisely…. nonetheless… yes indeed…”