It’s a remarkable story and one for the UK esports history books: British Apex Legends player Jake ‘Jmw’ Walters has won the Global Series (ALGS) Split 2 Playoffs, despite never having spoken to his team prior to the tournament.
Jmw was an emergency substitute for Reignite. He was called up at the last minute after one of their players – Genburten – contracted Covid just days before the LAN event was due to start in Stockholm, Sweden.
He recounted below how he caught a late flight to Sweden to make it the tournament on time.
Jmw was the only Brit in the roster alongside Australians Zer0 and Sharky, but he slotted in perfectly, and helped his temporary team take first place and the top prize of $250,000. Not only that, but Jmw switched to using a controller a few months ago, and has taken to it with aplomb.
Reignite amassed 78 points in the finals, ahead of second-place Team Liquid who managed 69.
Jmw said to interviewer Raynday on stage after the game: “It feels like we’re naturally just playing together, honestly. It feels fantastic. Zer0 is IGLing us [as in-game leader], Sharky and I listen to him, and we’re playing it calm. Step by step, we’re closing out games, today we probably played some of the best Apex we’ve ever played together.
“Zer0’s been making absolutely outrageous calls – this guy deserves so much more recognition out there, it’s insane. And Sharky is one of the best Gibbys [players of the Gibraltar character].
“I think we do have something special. I’m a player that can literally flex on the spot, I can listen, I can give opinions if they want calls, I can play any character… I recently switched to controller and I’ve barely been on it for six months. I decided to give the controller a go, loved it and continued to grind on it. And now winning the first [Apex] LAN in three years!
“I want to give a big shoutout to my family. On the day, I called my mum and I was like, ‘I need to get to Sweden – a team needs me as an emergency sub’ and she said, ‘yeah, we’ll get you there’. My dad came home from work that day and drove me up to the airport.”
“Three days ago, he’s sitting in his bedroom in London, I’d never talked to him before, and now this… I can’t believe it really.”
Zer0, Reignite
Genburten said of his replacement: “Jmw is the best fkn sub! Absolute crackhead.”
Zer0 added: “Three days ago, he’s sitting in his bedroom in London, I’d never talked to him before, and now this… I can’t believe it really.”
Ahead of the finals, Zer0 also spoke highly of his new UK teammate:
Jmw was one of several UK players at the ALGS LAN, with others including ChaoticMuch (K1CK), SirDel (GMT), Yuki (Alliance), Slayers and Naghz (Element 6) and brynn, noiises and urban of Invictus Gaming. Other UK talent at the tournament included broadcast talent James Bardolph and KillerPigeon.
Jmw usually plays for Kungarna, and the teammates he’s used to playing with also reached the finals at the LAN – Graceful with Cloud9 and maydeelol with GMT.
The news comes a few days after Apex Legends pro players complained of having to use 2070 graphics cards at the event.
The next Apex Legends Global Series Championship LAN takes place in North Carolina from July 7th to 10th 2022.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
