Alliance Unlucky arrives in Los Angeles with a point to prove

Alliance are one of EMEA's leading contenders to finally win a LAN title. With the addition of Andre "Unlucky" Türk they arrive in Los Angeles with significant firepower in their locker.

That firepower is substantially boosted by the presence of 'Effect' who has been able to travel to the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs after a tense wait for a visa. The young controller talent was initially denied a visa, throwing his place in the competition into doubt.

Now, with both Effect and Unlucky joining experienced Apex Legends veteran Hakis, can Alliance be the team to break the North American stronghold on ALGS in their own back yard? They have made a strong start, looking fantastic in the Group Stage matched played so far.

This fantastic start included an incredible 24 kill game, which broke the record for the most kills in an ALGS LAN game.

esports.gg spoke to Alliance Unlucky ahead of the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs beginning in Los Angeles.

It was a very brave decision for Unlucky to join up with Alliance mid-split. He was in great form alongside KIND4 and Matafe, with LAN qualification almost secured. Alliance on the other hand had made a slow start, and had ground to make up to also secure their spot in Los Angeles.

Was it a hard decision for Unlucky to make?

"Yeah, I'd say so. Because I'm really close friends with Matafe and KIND4 there. So it was really heart breaking actually to leave them."

However, since swapping to Alliance Unlucky has been able to slot into the 'refrag' or 'support' role on the team. He feels this is his strongest position, and is enjoying the change.

"I fit more in the refrag role. I'm not really the fragger so that was the perfect fit for me. I'm a support player for this team now. That was one of the main [reasons I joined].

"It was pretty easy for me [to switch into this role] because I played this in a previous team with Matafe and Tyler. I feel I fit more in this role supporting my teammates. I can follow up way easier to them, so it is easier for me."

Another major attraction of joining Alliance for Unlucky is the experience and leadership of their in game leader, Hakis. The Swede has competed in Apex Legends since the game was released, has countless domestic titles and LAN appearances.

For someone like Unlucky, who is still in the early days of his career, playing with someone like this is invaluable.

"[In joining Alliance] I was looking forward to a really, really good IGL, an established IGL."

That experience, Unlucky says, is something he will be relying on throughout the event.

"I'm [relying on his experience] a lot actually. His macro and micro is really good. He just brings us into the spots for me and Effect to make it work basically. So we just frag together, and that's really good. Hakis is a really good IGL for that."

Having Effect available for the ALGS Split 1 playoffs is a huge boost for Alliance, and Unlucky. It allows Unlucky to remain in his favoured 'refrag' role, and for Alliance to know they have one of the scariest controller fraggers in the world on their team.

What makes Effect really stand above the competition in terms of his fighting abilities?

"I would say he's really confident. He doesn't change any playstyle. All in all, every single time, he is really confident. At LAN, you get more people holding back a little bit. People are afraid of making a play. Effect is the opposite, he just yolos it and goes in."

This will be Unlucky's third time competing on the global stage at an ALGS LAN event. He hasn't yet had a result anywhere close to what he is capable of. With Vexed, he finished 40th, then 31st at the two Playoff events last year.

Now, in addition to a new team, he has the experience of those events to also call back on. What has he learned from those experiences?

"Definitely how to schedule my day. I think the first two LANs I was really sloppy with the management of my time, when to wake up etc, what to eat and stuff like that. So I'm going to do that better and then I think I can perform."

Expectations are certainly different for Unlucky with Alliance than his previous rosters. Does he feel he has a point to prove to the ALGS community at this event?

"100% [I have something to prove]. I had two bad LAN's, two bad reputations in this case. So, I'm hoping to have a good reputation here."

Unlucky, like a lot of support players, has found himself playing Caustic since the introduction of the Legend Upgrade system. With so many teams using Caustic, Bangalore and Bloodhound, Unlucky isn't enjoying the current meta too much.

"I'm playing Caustic now on the main roster. When I gas around, I can see within the vision through it, but I just don't like all the Bangs, Bloodhound. It's really terrible. Especially Bang, all the smoke. It's just everywhere smoke, every single gunfight. I don't really like it.

"Going from a Horizon one trick was pretty hard, I would say. It took me a while, like two weeks or something to get used to the hitbox, the movement and all that stuff. You have to be a bit more careful in how you position yourself, which angles you rotate from. Everyone, when they see another team, always shoot the Caustic. It's always the Caustic!"

Alliance will hope to fly the flag for the EMEA region in Los Angeles. Can they finally be the team to smash through the TSM and DarkZero dominance? Only time will tell.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for full coverage of the ALGS and all things Apex Legends. For live coverage and behind the scenes peeks of the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs, follow the new esports Apex Legends X account.