168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Apex Legends esports in the EMEA region is in disarray. A few weeks ago, players were readying up to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:jump into Storm Point for tℱhe first time in the ALGS, and now they’re faced with half-empty lobbies and six days of non-stop to♔urnament play. Esports is the least important victim of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the repercussions of it are hitting CIS players hard.
Players based in Russia and Belarus have been banned from the competition unless they relocate, but that’s not an option for everybody. Kind organisations are helping house some players in countries like Turkey, as well as loaning them PCs to play on, but not every player can find or afford plane tickets at such short notice - and there could be mಌyriad other factors in play.
“Banning players that reside in these countries is a really bad decision, because gamers have nothing to do with government ✤[or] politics,” says Artyom ඣ‘Hisofu’ Frizov, who plays for Redragon in the ALGS and is based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. “Games always help you distract from reality, and I can say with ease that every pro player from Russia and Belarus is feeling anxious about the whole situation in the world.”
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:EA announced the decision on March 16, and players reportedly needed to be in an eligible country (i.e. no𒐪t Russia or Belarus) by March 20 at the latest, according to an EA email posted on by Russian player Elvira ‘Esdesu෴’ Temirova.
Hisofu learned that he was banned from ALGS via EA’s Twitter announcement (“no warnings, no nothing”), just four days before he needed to be out of his home country. EA reportedly later changed its March 20 deadline, meaning that players who could prove they had flight tickets to another country before the start of Pro League w♍ould be eligible to play, but TheGamer could not verify this information ahead of publication. Still, it’s less than a week to find flights, accommodation, and a good quality PC in another country. That’s not to mention a decent ethernet connection.
“I think it was really badly timed,” he tells TheGamer. “If they had that in mind they just could've posted it earlier or at least let us know that it might happen, but not only did they post it randomly, they announced a Pro League schedule RIGHT AFTER the decision.”
The Pro League schedule is another issue entirely. Due to EA pausing ALGS competition for the EMEA region after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, players who are not in the two ineligible countries now have to play six days of matches in a row; an unprecedented amount of playtime. Additionally, the ban on players in Russia and Belarus inadverten🐬tly impacts Ukrainian players as well - the ALGS has no wholly Ukrainian teams, and only one Ukrainian player does not play with Russian or Belarussian teammates.
Gambit’s Tishchenko ‘Artyco’ Artur will likely be able to play due to the fact his Russian teammates Konstantin ‘Hardecki’ Kozlov and Leonid ‘Leogri3x6’ Grishin are in Turkey, being hosted by esports organisation Digital Athletics. Artyco seems to stiꦯll be in Lviv, Ukraine, however, so his ability to play and state of mind may not be wholly focused on the esports this week.
Natus Vincere has two Ukrainian players, Oleksander ‘Sanya’ Bokuchava and Dmytro ‘Xron’ Sakharu🐟k who both appear to be in Lviv also. Their Russian teammate Anatoly ‘Wrugb’ Belousov has relocated to Tu🐬rkey. But Gambit and Na’Vi are two of the biggest organisations in the EMEA region, and simply relocating to the opposite end of the continent isn’t as easy for players on smaller orgs, or those not signed at all.
“[Relocating] wasn't an option for us due to financial and ‘in real life’ issues,” says Hisofu. The ban affects 14 out of the 40 teams qualified for EMEA Pro League (not counting Ukrainian players who are affected by the war but not EA’s sanctions), and at present it appears that half of those teams have had to pull out of the competition. According to , Name1ess, dead inside, FIGVAM, Redragon, SSD, UpRising, and VCTRY Esports have all had to cede their places in Split 2, nearly 20% of the lobby.
As for his plans now he has a free week, Hisofu is planning on watching the ALGS and supporting his fellow CIS competitors. He mentions Gambit, Team Empire, 789, Magicians, and ZETA Division by name, but it’s safe to say that he’s rooting for every team from the region. Looking fur♕ther to the future, his Apex career remains up in the air so long as EA’s ban remains in place.
“My only goal in this game is improvement,” he says. “And I think ALGS is the best way to improve for me as a player right now because you compete with one of the best players in the game. Regarding other competitions, they don't help much because they completely differ from the ALGS’ gameplay, so I'm still thinking about competing further, maybe when I move from this country.”
EA has 💧forced the hands of many players from Russia, Belarus, and other countries (including Ukraine) simply because of the nationality - or location - of their teammates. While some have managed to quickly relocate in order to compete in Split 2 and have a chance of fighting for the ALGS Championship in the summer,𝓀 the ban impacts players from smaller organisations the most, and the likes of Hisofu and Redragon won’t be able to compete at the highest stage of Apex Legends esports, after working so hard to get there.