North America stands at the top of the Apex Legends Global Series, with DarkZero recently taking the Split Two Playoffs crown, and eleven teams qualifying for the upcoming Championship. But FURIA finds itself back in a familiar position: the ALGS Last Chance Qualifier, with a brand new player in tow.
FURIA announced the signing of Mac “Albralelie” Beckwith to their Apex roster today, ready to compete in the North America LCQ and to stick with the team beyond the tournament. This will be Albralelie’s third roster in 2023 after playing for LANimals in the NA Pro League and standing in for Wildcard Gaming during the SteelSeries Invitational.
The announcement comes three days after the surprise retirement announcement from IGL Jacob “HisWattson” McMillin following FURIA’s exit in 37th place at the Split Two Playoffs, as he transitioned to a content creator role within the organization. HisWattson made the announcement while the tournament was still going, clarifying that his decision was to grant his teammates and coach the most amount of time possible to find a suitable replacement for the upcoming NA LCQ.
Underneath HisWattson’s leadership, FURIA was one of NA’s most surprising teams in the ALGS over the last year, as he successfully lead the roster through the 2022 NA LCQ and to a second place finish in the 2022 ALGS Championship, even taking the tournament’s MVP award.
However, FURIA’s performance in the 2023 ALGS has been less than stellar, starting their season off rough by barely missing the Split One Playoffs with an 11th place regular season finish. Although they would improve to fourth place and qualify for the Split Two Playoffs, FURIA would fail to perform at LAN, placing 37th in the group stage and exiting the tournament early in the first elimination bracket.
Related: ALGS Split 2 Playoffs 2023: Scores, standings, and results
Albralelie would suffer just as much disappointment throughout the 2023 Season as well, with a bottom half domestic finish in Pro League Split One at 20th place during his time with FaZe Clan. For Split Two, Albralelie would come back with LANimals, a new roster comprised of Trenton “lou” Clements and Paris “StayNaughty” Gouzoulis, but would again face disappointment as they missed the LAN cutoff in 14th place, three circuit points off from securing a ticket to the Playoffs.
Albralelie now joins his new teammates Nelson “Xeratricky” Medina, Scott “Pandxrz” Maynard, and coach Sealion at a pivotal point in FURIA’s season, as they failed to qualify for the 2023 Championship through circuit points. Once again entering the Last Chance Qualifier to make a late-season run, FURIA stands as one of the biggest names to play in the tournament in NA, and could repeat history if they qualify for the Championship through the same path as 2022.
The North America LCQ starts on July 21 at 8pm CT, and will run for three days to July 23. Only the top two teams from the Match Point Finals will qualify for the Championship, with the other 38 teams ending their 2023 ALGS season.
