As the circle closed in around the circular structures that dominate The Mill on Storm Point, Alliance weren’t exactly in a great spot. Their Seer had been knocked in the chaos of the final closing zone, and while Newcastle could revive him, their Valkyrie was sent to the spectator screen and the freshly standing Seer was immediately stuck by a stray arc star.
They kept their composure, however, with one thing going for them: all the teams around them were fighting, too. As a duo, the Newcastle and Seer managed to return to full health, driving an advancing team back and into the sights of yet another squad. They poked and prodded at both the remaining teams, forcing them to fight and looking for trades, before their relentless pressure and the closing zone finally forced one team into the open and the other into a desperation swing through the devastating final circle. As those last few opponents fell, the final screen told the biggest story there was to tell about the ALGS Regional Final in EMEA: Alliance cemented their status as kings of Europe.
Alliance’s Apex Legends squad have earned every bit of their reputation in the battle royale. They’re the best team in Europe and are one of the world’s most consistent squads. They have arguably the best IGL in the ALGS, John “Hakis” Håkansson, flanked by big-moment machine Oscar “Yuki” Jiang, and one of the most fearsome controller players to emerge internationally in the last year, Miron “Effect” Novikov.
As such, they’re no strangers to winning tournaments big or small. But one title still eludes them: LAN champions.
The ALGS Split Two Playoffs, beginning on July 13, will be Alliance’s latest chance to finally win their ALGS crowns, and the team isn’t lacking in confidence heading into the event. In an interview with Dot Esports, Hakis and Yuki exuded both confidence and comfort with their team’s position. Finally able to play with their full team without needing to worry about visa issues and assured in their flexible team compositions, there’s no doubt what the goal is for Alliance this LAN.
“I think now, with the addition of Effect, we have nothing other than first place,” Yuki told Dot Esports when asked about Alliance’s expectations for the Split Two Playoffs. “I believe we have every single ingredient we need to cook.”
It’s difficult to argue with him that Effect might just be the missing ingredient that Alliance need to secure their LAN victory. The controller fragger was far and away the most dangerous player in EMEA during Split Two of the Pro League, leading the region with an astounding 114 kills. Only one player all season had more in either split of the Pro League anywhere in the world, with Crazy Raccoon’s Song “Ras” Hong-gyun notching 118 in Split One. Visa issues kept the Russia native from competing in the Split One Playoffs earlier this year, and while the team finished fifth with an admirable performance from substitute Mikkel “Mande” Hestbek, it’s easy to wonder what might have been had the team been at full strength.
“He is much stronger than what everyone thinks he is,” Yuki said. “I know everyone thinks he’s already very strong, but he has never played at LAN before. And I feel like that’s where players prove themselves. It’s a big opportunity for Effect to show people how strong he truly is.”
Hakis agreed with Yuki’s assessment, noting that with Effect on the team, Alliance can simply choose to fight any team they want to, as opposed to shying away from more difficult engagements. The IGL also noted how much more aggressive Alliance are with Effect on the team, and how that aggression becomes a tool for the squad to secure more points for themselves: “We have the opportunity to take more fights, and get away with more fights.”
And Hakis is used to calculating how to best use every tool at his disposal. Much has been made of his military background in the Swedish army on ALGS broadcasts when discussing his leadership capabilities. But his success as an IGL is more than just confidence and communication. In his methodical breakdown of different characters and team comps for Dot Esports, it became clear that his multifaceted understanding of Apex is vital to Alliance’s success.
Over the last split, that combination of confidence and understanding of the team’s strengths and playstyle has led to many different off-kilter team compositions, from helping lead the charge in popularizing Rampart among ALGS teams to using characters that have fallen out of favor with many teams in recent times, like Newcastle and Ash.
“I just think that we have such an established playstyle. We know what we do no matter what. So for us, the comp doesn’t really matter that much,” Hakis told Dot Esports when asked about Alliance’s unique team comps. It’s not necessarily about what legend is or is not “meta,” he says, but what characters best help play to his team’s strengths.
Related: ALGS Split 2 Playoffs 2023: Schedule, format, and more
The Alliance Rampart composition is a perfect example. Catalyst’s rise defined much of the second split in the ALGS in several regions, and Hakis agreed that Catalyst is “extremely good” but that Alliance doesn’t like to play buildings where Catalyst’s passive and tactical abilities are strongest. The team prefers to play in open fields and on the edge of the zone instead. Since the team’s playstyle didn’t fit Catalyst’s kit, the legend wasn’t useful to them despite how strong she could be. For Hakis, Rampart was simply “more useful” to Alliance more often in their games.
Newcastle is another interesting character Alliance may pull out during the LAN, and he’s one that they use differently than most. Often thought of as a passive character tied to Wattson in the middle of the circle, Alliance uses Newcastle to help them play from the edge of zones.
“Newcastle is one of those characters that are versatile in how you want to play him and how you want to pair them,” Hakis said. “So basically, if you play Wattson then you can play zone early, and you can set up and basically make places easier to hold. But when you’re playing him [on] edge, then you need to play him as a space-taking character that has extra mobility.”
For Hakis, Newcastle’s ultimate and the distances it can quickly traverse make him a more aggressive character for finding off-angles during engagements, with further support offered to teammates by throwing his Mobile Shield tactical to help during fights. And if you take plenty of fights like Alliance do on Newcastle, he also comes with a safety valve thanks to his full range of shielding abilities: “He helps you be consistent because you can reset more often if you fuck up.”
Those off-meta picks that Alliance have become known for might just be what the team needs to combat more popular compositions, like Catalyst or another legend that continues to enjoy dominance in ALGS: Seer.
Despite changes many thought would be nerfs to Seer that got rid of his healing and revive-canceling abilities, Hakis joined the chorus of ALGS pros who think Seer might just be even stronger than he was before. He described the recon character as “still incredibly broken,” and while the nerfs to Seer’s passive were nice in his opinion, the new slow caused by the tactical ability was a buff, in Hakis’ opinion. He also doesn’t think the nerf to Seer’s Exhibit ultimate was of much consequence at all: “I think, overall, he’s about the same strength, [and] might be slightly stronger than before even.”
Whatever team compositions Alliance choose, consistency has always been one of their calling cards. And it will be that same consistency in their results that they rely on to win the Split Two Playoffs.
Because according to them? There shouldn’t be anyone that can stop them.
“In terms of a team that we fear… I really don’t see anybody on our level,” Yuki said. He did mention Japanese squad NAKED as a team that have done quite well in international scrims and surprised some of the more established players. But the only teams he seemed concerned about were teams that might contest Alliance at their preferred landing POIs. And even then, he’s not losing any sleep over them.
“Anybody that contests us is a little bit of competition because they’re the ones who could change our direction and where we want to go,” Yuki said. “But they’re not really competition. They’re moreso a nuisance, I’d say. Which we’ll take care of.”
