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Apex London LAN tries to avoid the mistakes of the past

The ALGS Split One 2023 Playoffs begin today, February 2, and end on February 5. In the first LAN... Maria | 2. February 2023

The ALGS Split One 2023 Playoffs begin today, February 2, and end on February 5. In the first LAN event of the season, forty Apex teams from around the world fight to win Split One and score points for the Playoffs.

DarkZero Esports previously won the 2022 Championship, but the competition was hampered, and many teams were affected by Covid-19, causing a shortage of venues in which infected Apex pros could compete.

Avoiding the mistakes of 2022

For the London qualifiers, extra precautions are being taken to ensure that all players in attendance can continue to compete, regardless of their Covid-19 status. Recently, in an interview with TSM, more information was provided about the additional planning Respawn is conducting at the event, including improved PC setup and quarantine zones for Covid-19 positive players.

2022 Championship

During the 2022 Championship, all players who tested positive for COVID were not allowed to participate; this measure had varying degrees of impact on many different teams.

Of the forty teams that competed in the 2022 Championship, fourteen were affected by Covid-19 and had at least one infected player. Five teams had no choice and were forced to play in duos during the tournament; the other nine had substitutes, coaches, or managers prepared to replace sick players.

Team substitutions

One notable substitution for GMT Esports was Torrent’s Beau “RamBeau” Sheidy, who helped the team finish fifth in the grand final with stellar moments such as single-handedly holding on to the first game against two full squads. On the other hand, James “JamesFearless” Phelps had to replace Filipe “Hiarka” Morgado, one of AYM Esports’ starters, who finished fifteenth.

However, not many organizations had the luxury of substitute coaches or could find additional replacements.

Four APAC-N teams tested positive for COVID; some had several sick members. On the first day, PULVEREX initially substituted Shotaro “saku” Sakata for his coach, Ryota “ChaNRiyo” Okazaki, but on the second day, ChaNRiyo tested positive, leaving the team as a duo.

FENNEL using the same strategy substituted its two sick players for the trainers. However, the same catastrophe is repeated when Hirotaka “Otogi” Sawazaki also tests positive for Covid-19, leaving FENNEL with two healthy players on the second day.

DetonatioN Gaming, FOR7, and 1iQ were three other Apex squads that suffered setbacks in the competition. Each team announced their sick player would withdraw, forcing them to finish the Championship as a duo.

Measures to solve situations of Covid-19 infected players

Other primary tournament circuits, such as the VALORANT Champions Tour, use the quarantine rooms. Where they hosted Liquid’s Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom during VALORANT Champions, the last event of the 2021 season. Similarly, in search of fairer conditions around COVID-19, the scheduled TL match was played at the end of the day. In this way, to better allow Nivera’s passage to quarantine.

Respawn is working on including the starting lineups of each team; for the Split One playoffs and all other events of the 2023 Apex season. To do so, they are using quarantine rooms for the London LAN. London will also host the Split Two playoffs and Championship.

Header: TheToxicGamerTW | Twitter