Summary
- ImperialHal is leaving TSM.
- He's Apex Legends' biggest star.
- ImperialHal is joining up with Zer0 and Genburten on a Galacticos-esque superteam.
“I'm not looking to retire, but my checklist has been checked,” Phillip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:told TheGamer after TSM’s ALGS Championship victory in September 2023. Eight months later, after a poor showing at the Split 1 Playoffs where the biggest team in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Apex Legends esports 🍬finished in 17th place, ImperialHal has announced he’s leaving TSM for pastures new.
For those of you unfamiliar, ImperialHal is Apex Legends esports. He’s the game’s biggest streamer, the esport’s most successful athlete by nearly every conceivable metric, and the draw for thousands of fans to chant “TSM!” at LAN💧 events. There’s a reason♌ his visage lit up the Las Vegas sphere earlier this year.
If ImperialHal is the biggest player, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:TSM is the biggest team. Dominant since the esport’s inception, ImperialHal and Jordan ‘Reps’ Wolfe have been joined by successive players to rise to greatness at every call. Mac ‘Albralelie’ Beckwith, Eric ‘Snip3d𓆉own’ Wrona, Evan ‘Verhulst’ Verhulst. You could make a Mount Rushmore of competitive Apex players from ImperialHal’s teammates alone and there would be few complaints.
“I never🌞 thought it would come to this. I hope you guys don’🔥t hate me for it.”
ImperialHal leaving TSM mid-season is like Jude Bellingham leaving Real Madrid. Worse, it’s as if Zinedine Zidane left Real Madrid in the January after scoring that goal i𝓰n the 2002 Champions League 𝓀final. Mr. TSM is leaving TSM. Mr. Apex Legends can only step down.
“I never thought it would come to this.” Hal tells the world in an announcement video posted on social media. “I hope you guys don’t hate me for it.” His six-minute speech is followed by a heart-wrenching montage of his best moments set to an emotional violin score. It’s the en✱d 🔯of an era.
But ImperialHal isn’t retiring yet. He speaks of “the next chapter” in his esports career, and he’s since announced that moving forward, he’s teaming up with Rhys ‘Zer0’ Perry and Noyan ‘Genburten’ Ozkose from TSM’s arch-rivals DarkZero. Impe𓆉rialHal 🧜isn’t Zidane, he’s Luis Figo.
There’s no official announcement that Hal has signe🔜d a contract with DarkZero, and it appears from that Nicholas ‘Sikezz’ Odom isn’t being dropped. If rumours that suggest that Saudi esports team Falcons may be moving in for Hal, Zer0, and Genburten are to be believed, Apex Legends has its Galacticos. ImperialHal has settled to let Zer0 make the calls as in-game leader (IGL), and may even take an anchor role in the squad. Whatever happens, esports fans are in for a treat in Split 2 of the ALGS.
We know what’s next for ImperialHal, but where does TSM go from here? Reps and Verhulst are a duo now, having lost their IGL as well as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:coach Raven, whose contract wasn’t renewed after the last tournament. TSM no longer pays for the team house, after it lost a lot🃏 of money in a big crypto gamble. ﷽As well as losing their friend, their IGL, one of Apex’s top fraggers and consistent kill leaders, TSM has lost its identity. However much Reps and Verhulst offered the team, this was ImperialHal’s squad.
Presumably the pair will be looking for an IGL, unless one of them fancies stepping into the enormous shoes ImperialHཧal leaves behind. Free agent William ‘SkittleCakes’ August may be th൩e man to call upon. Joining TSM is an attractive prospect, as is teaming with Reps and Verhulst themselves. They won’t be short of applicants.
LANs could be interesting in the future. TSM always has one of the most raucous fanbases in any arena – alongside the🌄 likes of Fnatic and Element6 – but will fans stay loyal? In esports like Apex, where players are huge celebrities with massive online followings, fans can be fickle. Will they stick with TSM, or will they burn their jerseys and join the Dark(Zero) side?
ImperialHal is an Apex Legends icon. He could retire now and have his name engraved in the Apex Hall of Fame. He has earned the honour of being able to do whatever he wants. What he wants to do is form a superteam of the very best Apex playℱers in t🌼he world. Who can stop the DarkZero duo with ImperialHal? Who can top Apex Legends’ Galacticos?
