K4shera on Crypto, Champs qualification and more

Francisco "K4shera" Alves came just a single fight away from lifting the ALGS Split 1 Playoff trophy back in February. Acend found themselves in a final 3vs3 against TSM, with both teams on match point.

While Acend were not able to bring home the title, they did post one of EMEA's best ever LAN showings. Now, as competition in London approaches crunch time, can Acend do it again?

esports.gg spoke to K4shera after their first set of ALGS Group Stage matches.

It was a slow start for Acend, who earned just 17 points in their first group stage game set. K4shera admitted that nerves were behind their slow start.

"We just need to play our game. basically. We didn't show up, I guess nervous. A bit afraid of committing to some some plays that had to be made. And yeah, it costs us a lot. I felt like only the last game we actually played and then we even got a bit unlucky with the Kraber shot. But yeah, at the end of the day, we just have to realise that we know what we are capable of. And we just have to put our heads into second group having to win."

This hypothesis seemed to ring true. Acend performed much stronger when they retook the stage for their second set of games. Acend are now well on track to reach the winners bracket of the ALGS Playoffs.

Something that has surprised a few teams is how different the tournament has been playing out on LAN, in comparison to scrims. Of course, it is common knowledge that scrims in Apex Legends are not always super realistic. However, the meta always shifts between LAN's so it can take some adjustment when a tournament gets under way.

"I always play scrims in a way that I know that it's not realistic, and I kind of tried to create a mental image of what his actual the game is going to be. But I will say that there was a key component that I missed... it's not that we didn't really know that it was going to happen, but more oversight. We should have thought about it and talked about it a bit more. But we're just reset, we're gonna talk about it afterwards. And hopefully, we are able to fix what we we did wrong."

One of the hallmarks of Acend and K4sheras Split 1 success was thanks to Crypto. Using Crypto to gather information, scan the next zone and always work their way into strong spots before other teams. However, after the last LAN, Crypto received some big changes through the new class system.

"We started to work on that on [Pro League] split. We had to adapt. I will say it's definitely a bit different. And on Storm Point we had to bring another playstyle into play. But I think we ended up figuring it out. At this point, It's not as easy, because before any POI was good with Crypto: You take zone basically everywhere. And now you kind of have to maybe force a bit, we're going to contest in the last group. So it was things that we can avoided before but now you are forced to do it. Yeah, I think it's fine, we got it."

The question was, does K4shera feel as comfortable on Crypto now, as he did back in the Split 1 Playoffs?

"It's different. Like of course, like before, we played like that for so long that you're kind of used to it. And it was a way that helped a bit, the character itself not only because right now you need a POI with beacon. If you don't have it, it's very hard to take it and be a team rotates fast. And at the same time before you we used to take a lot of zones in the middle of the games and always like try to find the bridge.

"But right now the game is a bit different. We cannot rely as much on that information. We need to play with a bit more team fighting, trying to get as those God middle positions so we can make different decisions. But at the end of the day, it's Apex. It's always changing. We have to evolve with it."

The strong showing from K4shera and Acend at ALGS Split 1 means they are already guaranteed a spot at the ALGS Championship later this year. Famously, K4shera said on a Podcast that teams should remember this fact and that "disrespect will not be tolerated." Does being qualified already reduce the pressure on Acend?

"It's kind of a mix. It's definitely a good thing, you know? You're in champs and it's the biggest Apex event throughout the year. That's what everyone wants to be in. Of course, we want to be here. Of course, we want to win. But I will say that there is always a pressure to win, always the pressure to perform. That additional pressure wouldn't be good. I don't think it's good for anyone.

"At the same time you never know, maybe that extra pressure makes it makes you play even better, helps you to be more focused. It depends on the day. On the team, player to player, but I'll say a little bit less pressure, but still pressure."

Complaints about the ranked system has been common among Pro players during the build up to the event. Players do not feel that the system produces a beneficial practice environment for them. However, K4shera has never really focused on grinding ranked.

"Well, I'm not the best person to talk about it, because I'm the person that I think every LAN that I've been too, the last three, four LANs. I was like Diamond. I don't even grind if I go [to LAN]. If it was a good system — we had a fairly decent system with Realm in the beginning of the year, the solo-queue system.

"But other than that, I just don't play high rank. If I want to improve mechanics, I play normal games, I play Deathmatch. If I want to play like improve the team, I play scrims. If I want to improve decision-making, work towards the LAN, I VOD-review, I study the game, I study other LANs, the other teams. And that's pretty much the work I put in.

"I think ranked is good [for practice]. A lot of teams use it. And you can see the the teams that are better at team fighting, maybe are the ones that grind it the most. But it's not like I don't think it's useful. I think that's the way we approach the game. And at the same time, I really don't like it at all. Like there's no substance on it. We're just like, brainless, eight hours just running around, killing people if you're playing with full premade, and you can improve a bit. But the time that you waste for the improvement that you have, I will say it's not worth it. It's not something that I'm looking for."

When asked if K4shera feels some teams focus too much on simply hours played, instead of other preparation like VOD reviews, K4shera agreed.

"I will say that most people show off their the hours played instead of the VOD review only works because it's Apex. If it was any other esport, you'd have to distribute the work. And you actually need to know what you're doing. You cannot just rely on individual skill.

"Just the way like some people play the game... Because sometimes you are just so strong at teamfights or there's always an opening there or something and you don't even need to think about too much of the game. If you're a controller player, it's even easier. But yeah, I will say some teams that are struggling to qualify, if they spend a bit more time studying the game, they will definitely do way better."

Of course, Acend are not here in London with their spot in the ALGS Championship on the line. But, what is K4shers targeting across the tournament to return home satisfied?

"For me to be satisfied, finals, at least that will be like the baseline. If I don't reach finals, I won't be happy at all. And then I will say it's not about winning. One thing that I always say to my team is that I want to play the game and finish the final say we did everything, we called, we played our game, like this whole thing came to us or something like that. We did the best we could.

"Of course, you can always do a bit better. But knowing that we were able to play our game, things deemed went your way, but doesn't matter if it's second, third or fifth, anything. As long as we put in the work, and we played our game, I think I will be decently satisfied."

Acend's ALGS Playoff campaign continues later as the ALGS Group Stage approaches it's conclusion.

For more coverage of the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs, stay with esports.gg.