After a turbulent year of famous names withdrawing from the ALGS, the Apex Legends community finally extends its welcome to a new organization. Late on Dec 28th, Electrify Steel announced that they had signed the free agent roster of former Acend player Lufka with his teammates Paweł “lighT” Haratyk, Jamie “Blasts” Levine, and coach “Liuq.”
The team formed after Acend made the decision to release their Year 3 roster, making star EMAS players Lufka, Kashera, and PostKiLL free agents. The trio is perhaps most famous for almost winning the 2023 Split 1 Playoffs’ match point final. Although they narrowly missed out on the win to TSM, they proved their worth as a team.
Electrify Steel announced the signing of Lufka’s team to great excitement from the Apex community. Although Electrify Steel is an American organization, this is not their first investment in the ALGS’ EMEA region. In 2022, they signed Accentiii, Of Importance, and Sabz, the latter being the only player not retired at the time of Electrify Steel’s return.
B-stream aficionado and Apex legend NiceWigg commented on the signing with a positive attitude and healthy dose of humor, remarking, “We love to see it even though Blasts gets carried by @MrGreekGod_ in ranked.”
Other ALGS community members responded with similar positivity and humor, with Apex Legends coach Alex “coldjyn” Nicholls commenting on how “hot” Lufka looked in the announcement post and another individual reminiscing on playing core keeper with coach Liuq, where they “tamed some cows.”
Joking aside, having an organization re-enter the competitive Apex scene is a breath of fresh air following the losses of Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, G2, Acend, and Kansas City Pioneers, none of whichcurrently have active rosters. In an interview with Apex content creator and writer JMeyels, the Electrify Steel executive vice president JP Williams revealed that it was the team’s enthusiasm that stood out to the organization the most, encouraging them to make the signing.
Seeing new organizations take an interest in the ALGS, marking a potential sign of recovery. EA has introduced its Year Four partner program, providing a financial stipend to participants and aiming to promote more collaboration and cross-promotional content creation across the league.
Now with the backing of Electrify Steel, Lufka, Light, Blasts, and Luiq can start preparing for the ALGS Pro League, which kicks off on Jan. 20, 2024.
