Controllers have been considered a better option for Apex Legends competitive players, thanks to aim assist in close-up battles, over using a mouse and keyboard for a while now. Players using the latter have been slowly dying out.
The Apex Legends community has bemoaned about controller players forever as they say aim assist, and controller figurations that automate certain mechanics, give them an advantage over mouse and keyboard players. Respawn has addressed the community about this in the past and has outlawed some of the more egregious configurations.
At the professional level, using a controller is considered more optimal and most teams either have one or no mouse and keyboard player. The teams with a mouse and keyboard player usually utilize them as an IGL, leading the team with in-game calls or sniping opponents with long-range weapons.
But it seems like the days of the non-IGL mouse and keyboard player are on the way out, according to pro Apex Legends players.
Mouse and keyboard Apex Legends pros dying out
Alex ‘scuwry’ Scala is a veteran Apex pro who was last signed to 100 Thieves. He explained on social media how as a non-IGL mouse and keyboard player, he he feels “useless” for teams as a free agent.
“My only leverage in finding people to play with was the fact that I own the pro league spot, and even then, I struggled to find a team that could work. People don’t look for role-fillers anymore. They pick up roller players and hope they can learn the slot,” scuwry explained.
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Yeah, idk. As a mnk player who can't igl I'm genuinely useless in the scene now for any team. My only leverage in finding people to play with was the fact that I own the pro league spot, and even then, I struggled to find a team that could work. People don't look for role fillers…
— SCUWRY (@scuwry) February 25, 2024
The IGL of one of the only teams that have three mouse and keyboard players, Legends Gaming, also chimed in on the discussion in a now-deleted social media post explaining the plights of not using a controller at the highest level.
At the highest level of play, some fights come down to just taking on the enemy and praying “we hit enough shots to win cleanly.”
“Oftentimes, because we’re triple mnk, there’s not enough damage being dealt to effectively win the fight. Shots where a controller player would a one clip 90% of the time, an mnk player would just barely crack a person 90% of the time,” Gen Ghi ‘StrafingFlame’ Subroto said.
The player and his team, who placed third at the 2023 ALGS Championship, is often touted as an example to argue that mouse and keyboard players can compete. However, StrafingFlame concluded his post by saying that there isn’t a discussion anymore, at the pro level, of which is better for competition.