Th0rfinnnnn feels Challenger Circuit is harder than LAN

Paul "th0rfinnnnn" Menia has made one of the fastest rises ever through Apex Legends. At the start of 2023, he was playing in the ALGS Challenger Circuit. He finished 18th in the Split 2 Pro League qualifier.

However, the Frenchman was later picked up by Reply Totem and made his Pro League debut in Split 2. A mid season swap to the then 2R1C roster saw him qualify for his first ever LAN.

Now, he is signed to Entropiq and qualified for the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs winners bracket. esports.gg spoke to Th0rfinnnnn about his climb up the ALGS ladder.

"I haven't realised I'm playing on LAN on the mainstage yet because I was in f*cking challenger circuit five months ago and now I'm on LAN. So I do the job, but yeah, it's a good feeling. I'm doing great. I'm feeling great for the LAN."

Th0rfinnnnn has had almost no time to adjust to his status as a Pro League player, let alone a LAN level player. It would be only natural to feel nervous.

"During the first game I was nervous. And then it was cold at the first game. I mean, I did well, but I almost couldn't play because it was too cold!"

"When you're playing, you can only hear the people when they're yelling, because of the headset, you cannot hear anything outside, so it's pretty good."

Despite his rise to LAN from the Challenger Circuit, Th0rfinnnnn is keeping things simple and just playing his game.

"It is like any other game. It's the same thing I've always done, I'm just playing the game. I have my controller, so I have my aim assist, so it's easy! *laughs* It's doing everything for me, so I'm fine. It's better to play the LAN because you see everyone, you meet everyone, and you see other people as well."

For Th0rfinnnnn, just a few months ago he was idolising players he is now rubbing shoulders with. But, which players did he most want to meet? And how is he fitting in amongst the pro players?

"I think I'm fitting in great. I still can't believe I was in CC two, three, five months ago, watching everyone playing the pro game, watching the LAN. And now I'm with them, with the best, so the feeling is great.

"I'm gonna say Effect [who I wanted to meet most]. Effect is the best right now. The best one, he's the final boss as we say. Gild as well. And I'm a big fan of Knoqd from OpTic Gaming. I've been a fan of him for two years and he's still so good. Still underrated, I think. Very underrated."

When asked if he has approached Gild or Knoqd, Th0rfinnnnn was quick to admit he has not.

"Never"

But, does Th0rfinnnnn feel one day he will get to the point where Gild and Knoqd are wanting to speak to him?

"If I have time or if I have the opportunity to talk? Yeah, of course I will. I will talk to them. I saw Effect on the Tuesday night, he was with Fire Beavers in the city. And we met all of them. And he was pretty friendly, it was pretty fun".

Confidence can be a challenge for players who rise through the ALGS system as fast as Th0rfinnnnn has. It can be easy to feel imposters syndrome, when surrounded by household names and idols. However, Th0rfinnnnn is not phased by the occasion.

"No, I'm still working, I'm still focusing on my dream because the dream is to win the LAN, to be consistent, to play all the LANs. So I'm just here working, so I know I'm not at the best level, because I missed some experience in comp. I have only one year experience, I'm still a rookie guy in the competition. But Hiarka and Uxako want me to be the best, so we'll stick together for a long time."

Compared to LAN, Challenger Circuit is pure chaos. While teams have months to prepare, scrim and study opponents for LAN, the Challenger Circuit is randomly seeded. Teams can scrim, but the early rounds have hundreds of teams. Players call drop spots in the pre game chat, there are no maps or much public knowledge on which teams go where.

"For me, even in CC when you play online, it's the hardest, compared to when you play on LAN. Because the people online are not... not weird, they should play well on LAN. And online, people still stress as well. Even if they've played four LANs, they may be stressed. I just think that online is harder than LAN even in CC. In CC, online was hardest."

Th0rfinnnnn added that he feels some players are "stressing" on LAN, and are not shooting as well as they could be if the tournament was online. However, he is not facing the same struggles.

"Well I have aim assist! She is doing everything for me, my controller!"

As part of that preparation that teams get before a LAN event, Th0rfinnnnn admits that his team are more interested in Minecraft than the current Apex Legends ranked system.

"We start off with scrims, we play a bit of ranked, but not a lot because the ranked is completely bad. So it's unplayable. There's no point to play ranked right now. So we just play our games. I'm playing Minecraft with friends, or playing for fun at Apex in rank, but even for fun, outside of scrims, there's nothing to do in the game. Just play some ranked to stay consistent, but that's it. There's no point to play ranked."

Th0rfinnnnn also admitted that he is quite shy. He's enjoying the anonymity that his swift rise has brought him at this event.

"Well, in real life, I'm very shy. So I like to be... not alone, but I'm in my corner you know? With my friends. I'm laughing, and part of the group, but I'm shy in real life. So it's better that no one knows me. I mean, everyone knows me in right now, here, because I'm playing. But year, the first day not a lot of people knew me. Tuesday and Wednesday, only EMEA players knew me."

And if Th0rfinnnnn wins LAN and everyone gets to know him?

"Well if its like that... you know."

Th0rfinnnnn and Entropiq will be hoping to qualify for the ALGS Split 2 Playoff finals today as the action in London reaches a climax.

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