After early playtests, Apex pros are expecting Wraith to finally make her long-awaited meta comeback

Apex Legends features a cast of twenty-two playable legends, with half of the roster played at the highest level of competition. Throughout Split One and regional finals, fourteen of the legends were picked, with some only showing up on select teams.

Professional players have chimed in over the course of the season on the topic of pick diversity, with a major focus on legends like Valkyrie holding an almost 100% pick rate in pro play. TSM’s ImperialHal has stated he is one of the many pros selected to playtest Season 16 and has high hopes for the changes to the game that it brings.

Season 16 could herald new Wraith metagame

And, according to those playtests, it’s looking like the meta is bracing for a shake-up⁠—Wraith, one of the most popular and played characters, is now rumored to be a star again in the upcoming Season 16 meta, according to the pros.

OpTic Gaming’s Knoqd discussed the topic on his Twitch channel with SZN’s Clane and former G2 Esports player Dezignful, where the trio mentioned individual picks for the upcoming season. Between them, Wraith stood out as the biggest change.

The pros debated over what the new meta Apex compositions could eventually be in Season 16, with Wraith, Caustic, Valkyrie, or Wraith, Mad Maggie, and Caustic as the first leading impressions. It certainly paints a stark contrast to the current popular pro meta dominated by Bangalore, Seer, and Valkyrie.

How likely are Wraith changes, really?

Changes for Wraith would mark big news for the battle royale’s meta.

Wraith is currently the second most picked legend in Apex, but has not received any significant changes to her abilities since May 4, 2021, in the Legacy patch notes, where the Low Profile passive was removed from the game. 

Although Respawn has been cautious of buffing or nerfing legends who have overwhelmingly high pick rates in the past, intrinsic reworks of kits have historically happened.

Season 8, Mayhem, introduced a change to Octane’s Jump Pad that removed the technique of super-jumping by reworking it into the ultimate ability with an added double jump and two different launch arcs. This lowered the skill floor for all players to access, without lowering the skill ceiling for experienced mains, all without dropping Octane from his number-one pick rate across Apex. 

Respawn may plan for a similar reimagining of Wraith’s kit to bring her abilities more in line with the new legends like Valkyrie, who have historically outclassed her for rotational abilities on a professional level.

Wraith has been missing in Apex pro play for some time

At the 2022 Championship, Wraith was not selected a single time. Heading into the 2023 ALGS Split One Playoffs, only two teams run the Interdimensional Skirmisher, with both highlighting different play styles.

EMEA’s first seed heading to LAN, Aurora Gaming, specifically runs Wraith, Caustic, and Mad Maggie on World’s Edge to great success as an aggressive, space-taking team, leading the region in kills and total points per game on the map. South America’s K1CK won the regional finals using Wattson, Wraith, and Valkyrie on Storm Point, using her Dimensional Rift to safely rotate when Valkyrie’s Skyward Dive is too dangerous to take, giving Wattson time to set up and prepare for enemy squads.

Aurora and K1CK have both proven the viability of Wraith leading up to Playoffs after a precedent set with FURIA Esports in the 2022 Championship. They used Horizon, Valkyrie, and notably Seer when he was still undervalued at a 20 percent pick rate. After FURIA’s second-place finish, the meta shifted to include Seer in every region, with over half of the playoff teams using the Ambush Artist in one or both maps.

Once Season 15 ends, Wraith could return to the competitive limelight once more, if the pros are to be believed in their meta predictions. The Split One Playoffs run from Feb. 2 to Feb. 5, with Aurora playing in Group A and K1CK in Group C.

If either team finds success with Wraith, a shift in the future metagame of Apex may well occur, especially if Respawn follows through with the rumored kit changes.