One of the most popular faces in Apex Legends officially has a new teammate. FaZe Clan’s NICKMERCS and his Apex Legends Global Series team, Tripods, have needed a new third member since mutually parting ways with former IGL Lewda.
And today, the streamer and pro announced that replacement, officially welcoming G2’s Rigo “Gent” Padilla to the Tripods team. Gent had previously been filling in for the team in Lewda’s absence for multiple tournaments over the last few weeks and will now carry the Tripods banner forward into the third year of ALGS competition.
NICKMERCS and teammate Deeds faced questions from the Apex community on their ability to compete at the level North America’s Pro League will require, especially after deciding to let go of Lewda, who called shots for the squad. In Gent, they added one of NA’s best free agents and a player with some serious pedigree over multiple years of competing with the AimAssist squad, who represented both G2 and SolaFide at various points.
Simply put, Gent is one of the best fraggers the region has to offer right now. A masterful player on controller, the team won’t be in need of firepower with Gent buzzing around fights.
There is still a question of leadership and in-game decisions to be made for the new Tripods squad. While NICKMERCS and Deeds have both grinded Apex over the course of the last year or so, both are still comparatively green in the game’s pro scene, compared to many of the teams they’ll face off against. And while Gent is one of the best free agents in the scene, he’s not been known as an IGL in the recent past. If you’re looking for a question Tripods will need to answer if they’re going to have success in Pro League, it’s who on the team will be calling the shots and how much success they find in that role.
Still, this is an exciting pick-up for Tripods and an interesting role for Gent, who left G2’s competitive team after they failed to live up to their own expectations in the second half of the ALGS season, placing 35th in the Split Two Playoffs and failing to qualify for the ALGS Championship.
Published: Sep 6, 2022 02:48 pm