Storm Point is coming to ALGS. The latest map to arrive into Apex Legends is now being added to the Competitive scene. However, there is a lot of frustration at how late the announcement has been made. The 2nd split begins in just over 2 weeks.
Apex Esports announced the entry of a second map into the ALGS rotation ahead of the 2nd Split of the Pro League and Challenger Circuit. Teams will now also be competing on Storm Point, as well as Worlds Edge.
Worlds Edge has been the only map in Competitive since Kings Canyon was removed. There had been much speculation about the addition of a 2nd map. However, this announcement comes just 3 weeks before the start of the circuit.
Short notice causes a lot of frustration
Storm point's arrival has caused a lot of frustration amongst Pro and Casual players. The frustration is (mostly) not about the decision, but how the decision has been announced.
The Pro League and Challenger Circuit are expected to return on the weekend of February 26th-27th. This leaves just 19 days from the announcement. With playoff places, serious prize money and careers on the line, many pro players are finding this short notice unacceptable.
There will now be a huge rush for Pro teams to start scrimming on the new map ahead of the Pro League Split 2. Most crucially, teams will be looking to stake a claim for a place to land on Storm Point. Generally, teams do not like fighting off drop in Competitive, and statistically teams that do perform worse.
However, when two teams want the same spot - they have to fight it out to establish supremacy. The lack of time could create some very messy games in the first few weeks of the Pro League.
Storm Point also coming to Challenger Circuit
Storm Point is also being added to the Challenger Circuit. This means that teams will play 2 games on Storm Point and 2 games on Worlds Edge per round.
4 games per round has always been considered a difficult situation for the Challenger Circuit teams. Most Professional tournaments play 6 or 8 games a round. This reduces the impact of RNG on your loot. It also allows you to recover if you are contested early on. Unlike the Pro Scene, you do not know the other teams in your lobby.
Furthermore, the Challenger Circuit teams also have 19 days to prepare. This means that players such as Effication from Orbit have to balance real-life commitments alongside a rush to quickly play as many scrims as possible. This could open up a major skill gap between the professional and amature scenes.
Will Storm Point changes help?
Respawn have taken action to address the major concern that most players had for Storm Point being in competitive.
Respawn have heavily adjusted the dropship pathing to make Northern POI's easier to access. This was a major issue in the Sweetdreams invitational that was played on Storm Point.
This should help to reduce the problem and keep the whole map accessible at all times. However, this change has not been tested. Storm Point is also not in the ranked rotation this season.
There was also major changes to the behaviour of the wildlife on Storm Point, and a huge number of quality of life and bug fixes. You can read the full patch notes here.
With a new map coming to competitive, it is sure to be an interesting 2nd split of the ALGS. So as always, for coverage of ALGS Pro League Split 2 and much more, stay tuned to esports.gg!