The more things change, the more things stay the same. And that’s especially true for Spacestation Gaming in the Apex Legends Global Series. The North American org is returning to the ALGS and is even coming back with a familiar face.
Spacestation announced the signing of North American free agent Apex team PLP today, an extremely talented squad consisting of former FaZe Clan IGL Josue “Phony” Ruiz, former DarkZero fragger Brody “Xynew” Geissler, and ex-FaZe, NRG, C9, and returning SSG veteran Joseph “Frexs” Sanchez. The trio is also joined by their coach and analyst, former FaZe coach Dan Barbour. SSG will be represented in the ALGS Pro League in the coming weeks but already sits in the top 10 of NA after the now-former PLP team won their second matchday over the likes of DarkZero, FURIA, XSET, Moist Esports, Disguised, and more.
Frexs helped lead Spacestation Gaming as an IGL in 2022 and 2023 and did not fail to qualify for a LAN under the org’s banner alongside current Sentinels player Angello “xenial” Cadenas and now-OpTic Gaming star Mark “Dropped” Thees. The team also made it to every possible finals lobby on LAN before SSG exited Apex a year ago, citing concerns about a lack of revenue sharing in pro Apex.
Now, SSG is back, Frexs is back, and he brings a promising squad with him. This time, Phony is the IGL for the team, having proven himself in LAN competition with FaZe last year and earning fifth and sixth-place finishes at the Split Two Playoffs and ALGS Championship last year with Frexs and Snip3down. Xynew is the newest face for this seasoned team, but his inclusion is perhaps the most intriguing. He won over many fans with his excellent performances in the Split Two Playoffs last year, helping DarkZero to the Split Two title in his first ALGS LAN.
Both Phony and Frexs have long been known for their consistency and ability to find their way into end zones over and over again, but Xynew’s fighting ability brings a new wrinkle to the squad ALGS fans are still only beginning to see. Phony referenced this fact just this last weekend after their Pro League victory. “With my previous roster [FaZe], I didn’t take enough risks,” Phony told the ALGS desk, noting how he would default to trying to rotate around other teams instead of taking fights too early in matches. “No shade to the FaZe roster or Snip3, I love that guy… [but] the main problem was, when it came to fighting, I wasn’t necessarily trusting my team the way I do with this [current] team.”
SSG will carry big expectations forward to qualify for LAN, and to get over the final hurdle as well. Phony and Frexs made match point with FaZe in their previous two LANs before ultimately losing out at the last second, and Frexs reached match point and nearly won the 2021 and 2022 ALGS Championships with SSG as well.
With the addition of Xynew’s fragging and proven ability on the biggest stage, SSG will have a singular goal in mind: LAN champions.
