Monsoon interviews Blinkzr ahead of ALGS 2026 Split 1 Playoffs at EWC

Ahead of the ALGS 2026 Split 1 Playoffs at the Esports World Cup in Paris, we handed Bowen “Monsoon” Fuller the mic and let him interview his own teammate, Miguel “Blinkzr” Quiles, with Esports Insider (ESI) stepping in only occasionally.

Rather than the usual pre-match press questions, we’ve got two champions bidding for back-to-back titles, with today’s Split 1 Playoffs Grand Finals all that stands in their way. Monsoon traces Blinkzr’s path from a Finance degree and casual Rocket League sessions to the ambition of being the best in Apex, unpacking what qualifying for Pro League felt like compared to winning it all, and getting refreshingly honest about the friction that comes with an IGL-led roster. It’s a rare look at how two champions actually talk to each other when the cameras usually pointed at them get turned around.

Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Monsoon: Shit, here we are in fucking Paris. How long has it been since we’ve teamed now?

Monsoon: Nah, it’s not been a year. Close though. How’s the time been?

Blinkzr: It’s been good, bro, it’s been good.

Monsoon: Has it been different? How many teams have you been on now?

Blinkzr: Not that many. Not as many as you. Like actual PL [Pro League] teams?

Monsoon: I’d say just teams in general that have lasted longer than three months.

Blinkzr: Okay, so real teams. My first team was Akimboh and Arkology.

Monsoon: The squad you qualified to Pro League with.

Blinkzr: Then it was me, Akimboh and Reedz for another split. Then it was me, Reedz and Nano.

Blinkzr: Yeah, then it was me, Fun and Jelly, and then it was me, Fun and you. That’s it. That’s who I played with.

Monsoon: Let’s go back a little bit. Fucking Blinkzr. When did you start playing Apex? What year?

Blinkzr: I started playing in season nine, which was… 2022? It’s a long time ago, but I’d never touched the game before that. I knew Apex existed, but I thought that game was fucking dogshit.

Monsoon: What did you play before that was really fun?

Blinkzr: I was playing in real life before that, but I was gaming. I played Rocket League, Ark: Survival Evolved and maybe a bit of COD on the side. I wasn’t competing in anything, just playing for fun.

Monsoon: Heard, so you were doing IRL shit growing up.

Blinkzr: Yeah, like university and stuff.

Monsoon: What were you studying?

Monsoon: Finance. A man about his money.

Blinkzr: I gotta get the bread.

Monsoon: That’s a pretty big shift, to go from finance and university, playing Rocket League on the side which is a completely different game, then to go into a first-person battle royale shooter.

Blinkzr: I played PUBG. I played a lot of Fortnite. I loved BR [battle royale]. BR was sick. I played PUBG when I was younger, and I played H1 too. I played H1 when I was even younger, at 13.

I played H1 when I was 13 or 14, Fortnite at the same time, and PUBG around the same time too. I just didn’t play Apex at first.

Monsoon: The theme is battle royale.

Blinkzr: Yeah, I played everything. I loved everything, but my main game was Rocket League back then.

Monsoon: So if you could go back with the knowledge of guaranteed success in the magnitude you’ve had in Apex today, what would you have played?

Monsoon: Apex? That’d still be your choice? If you could pick any game but the success you’ve had in Apex could be guaranteed but applied in a different game, what would it be?

Blinkzr: I mean, Apex. I still think Apex is the most satisfying game. Among all the competitive games, Apex is so entertaining. But for security and money, with the success we have, I guess if you don’t say CS or League, you’re kind of trolling.

ESI: What about Dota, TI5 era?

Blinkzr: Yeah, Dota. If you think about the money, if you’re a champion in Dota, you’re a millionaire, right?

Monsoon: What games were you playing? Obviously you could say CS because you could make all the money but…

Blinkzr: I genuinely think I could have been good at fucking Fortnite if I kept going, but I was too young. I didn’t even know you could compete in video games back then. A lot of players grew up watching CS or League and thought, “Oh shit, I wanna go pro,” but I didn’t even know going pro was a thing.

I knew there were competitions, but I didn’t know people lived off that until I was maybe 19. Before that, I was just playing for fun. I knew there were streamers and that they could make money, but I never thought, “Let me compete.” Then COVID hit, I started watching Twitch and seeing tournaments, and I thought, “This looks fun. I’ll play it a little bit.”

Monsoon: Esports as a whole has scaled so much in the past 10 to 15 years. Fifteen years ago, it was practically non-existent. Ten years ago, it was League of Legends players and CS players. Now we’re at the Esports World Cup and there are 24 titles.

Blinkzr: TFT [Teamfight Tactics] players.

Monsoon: There’s TFT players which is insane by the way. They’re crazy good.

Blinkzr: Yeah, they’re smart.

Monsoon: Yeah, they’re smart.

Blinkzr: Their mechanics are insane.

Monsoon: Their mechanics ARE insane.

Blinkzr: They got crazy mechs.

Monsoon: For sure. But 2022 going into 2026, that’s some pretty significant success to find in a title and a genre. I mean, you played battle royales.

Blinkzr: But I wasn’t good. I never competed or anything.

Monsoon: So, four years of timeline, going from playing with Arkology and Akimboh for Pro League.

Blinkzr: Shout out to them, by the way. The GOATs.

Monsoon: The fucking goats. Under me, of course.

Blinkzr: Of course. Under you and Fun of course.

Monsoon: Yeah, of course. Everybody’s got their place. The foundations important.

Blinkzr: I’m not gonna lie, dude, the craziest thing is qualifying for Pro League almost felt better than winning Champs [the Apex Legends Championship]. I’m not even kidding.

Monsoon: That was your first fucking taste.

Blinkzr: Exactly. It was success or whatever. Back then, you think Pro League, “Oh, you made it. Now you’re rich,” right? But it’s still nothing.

Monsoon: Yeah, it’s still nothing.

Blinkzr: After you do it, you realise that. Champs felt insane, but first Pro League, the feeling was insane.

Monsoon: There’s merit. How you feel about that is totally valid. It makes sense. You’re starting off as a kid, breaking into this fucking new game, with no idea this shit even goes on like this. You qual to the biggest circuit.

Blinkzr: At that point, I had a feeling. I knew what was happening. I was watching.

Monsoon: When you first qualified, did you think you could fucking make it something?

Blinkzr: Bro, the crazy thing is, when we made PL, the first game we played, the first game on the first day of PL, it was a Wall Zone on the AL [presumably a reference to a specific map/point of interest]. I don’t know if you remember, but whatever.

Monsoon: Yeah, of course.

Blinkzr: We won the first PL game we ever played. First game, first PL game, all three of us, and we won. If you watch the VOD, we’re all screaming, “We’re the fucking best.” Then we ended the day in 14th place. We dropped zero points in all five games, and we just sucked. It was actually funny.

Monsoon: It happens like that. The first day of scrims they were running, I won the day, or maybe one game, and I was like, “I’m the fucking best. We’re the best players in the fucking world. We’re the greatest.

Nobody’s ever gonna beat us.” Of course, we were queue sniped, so everybody who was speccing was probably like, “These cringe-ass kids, fucking pubs. What is he doing?” I remember that feeling for myself in the moment. It’s funny how that works. One hundred percent.

Monsoon: Obviously competing for the last three years has taken you to some pretty crazy places. Out of all of them, what have you enjoyed the most?

Blinkzr: At first, it was travelling. Travelling is insane, dude. Travelling is champ. You get to go to Japan, you get to go to Saudi. Who thinks, “I’m gonna visit Saudi,” right? It’s such a beautiful place when you go, and it’s so nice. But who says, “I’m gonna go to Saudi”? It’s such a nice place. Even Paris right now, or NOLA, or where else did I go?

Monsoon: What’s been one of the most memorable places?

Monsoon: Japan, what about it?

Blinkzr: Everything, bro. The food, the experience, the people, the fans. The fans are insane in Japan.

ESI: Why do you think Japanese fans love Apex?

Blinkzr: They’re not as shy about expressing their love for esports. In other regions, especially NA [North America], fans see esports as a little cringe, so they don’t want to show that they love it. I think it’ll grow and become more mainstream in the future. Asia is really different in that respect. Their esports scene is much more developed, and players are seen more like stars and celebrities, so it’s really nice.

Monsoon: There definitely is a significant cultural difference from what we’ve experienced, in how they view games and shit, which is exciting.

Monsoon: How’s the venue?

Blinkzr: The venue’s sick. The EWC [Esports World Cup] setup is sick. The one in Saudi was actually like insane, but the one in Paris is just as good considering the amount of time they had to organise everything. It looks insane, it looks pretty good. I love it.

Monsoon: Is this tournament experience, and the build-up to it, comparable to the excitement or apprehension of other events?

Blinkzr: The whole EWC brand is super nice. I prefer it over the normal ALGS [Apex Legends Global Series] circuit because of the player treatment. It’s so nice. You’re treated, not exactly as a VIP, but like the players matter. The player experience is so good. At EWC we’re treated so well, so I’ve got nothing to complain about. I think it’s perfect.

Monsoon: That’s whats up.

ESI: What does success look like for you guys this weekend?

Blinkzr: We’re gonna win again. Back to back.

Monsoon: Regardless, a 50% win rate’s not bad.

Blinkzr: We’re winning again.

Monsoon: Yeah, 100%. I believe it.

Blinkzr: The fuck are you saying?

ESI: With battle royale, there’s an element of RNG [random number generation, i.e. luck] in where the zone ends up. What’s it like playing a game where you are at the mercy of that?

Blinkzr: Some teams play the edge playstyle, so they go edge and get the most amount of kills. We play the other way. We try to extract the most RNG from the game. We go zone, make the fewest mistakes and play the perfect game, or at least that’s what we try to do. That’s how we think we can beat the RNG. We play what we call clean Apex and try to beat the RNG.

ESI: As Apex develops, do you think you’ll see more meta shifts? How are they going to keep the game fresh?

Blinkzr: Apex can do so much. I wish they’d listen to us more, but they’ve got so much they can do. They can keep releasing characters, rotating the weapon meta, move the maps.

I have one crazy take, a hot take. What they could do, and I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen but what they could do divide the POIs [points of interest] on the map into sections. One game, Thermal Station and The Wedge could be top right and bottom left.

You could shift the map by slots and move six sections around. That would make every game feel so fresh. Would it be good? I don’t know. But it would feel so fresh.

ESI: You guys are at the top of Apex. Underneath you, there are loads of shitheads like me who are shit at the game. Do you sympathise with the challenge of balancing the game for both the top and the wider player base?

Blinkzr: I don’t blame the devs. It’s so hard to balance the game for pros and casuals at the same time. Maybe separating the two could be good: a full-on casual mode and a full-on competitive mode.

But that could split the player base. Is it a good thing? I’m not sure. I’m not a dev, so I can’t speak on that. I think the devs are doing good and have been on a good path. I just wish there was more content in the game. Less skins and more stuff to do every season, because right now it’s been three seasons and there’s legit been nothing new except this fuck-ass Axle character. That’s it.

ESI: You two have been teammates for a while now. What thing about each other pisses you off the most?

Monsoon: You go first. Lay it on raw.

Blinkzr: The thing I’ve struggled with most is that he was an IGL [in-game leader] before. I’ve worked with players who were never IGLs, except Nano, but Nano’s a different case. Sometimes it’s been hard to get my point across because we’re both strong and see the game in a pretty similar way. Sometimes we both have a view of the situation and try to get our point across the board, but most of the time we’re able to work through it.

Monsoon: The thing I struggle with most… Well, first it’s understandable. He’s the IGL. His role is to set up the team’s success through every step.

ESI: So every time you lose, it’s his fault.

Monsoon: Not at all actually, it’s much more complicated than that, which is fucking insane because Apex is crazy. But when things fail, the IGL instantly takes responsibility for everything, to an extent at least.

When it goes wrong, it feels like you have to pinpoint exactly where it went wrong, because there are so many variables in the recipe for success. Sometimes, and I used to do this too, you (Blinkzr) get hot-headed instantly.

Monsoon: As soon as it goes wrong, it’s not necessarily super neutral questioning. It’s more like, “What the fuck happened here? We needed to do this. You didn’t do this,” and so on so forth, which is totally fucking fine.

I get it, and then we go back and forth and shit. But I think after you get more refs in, you’ll feel the importance of the space people need to process shit as soon as it happens. But it’s not even really that bad — giving people space to process shit as soon as it happens. It’s not even really that bad.

ESI: I didn’t want to cause any team fractions.

Blinkzr: No, we chill. Just don’t trip and win finals. That’s all that matters.

Esports Insider’s travel and accommodation for the Esports World Cup Finals in Paris were provided by the Esports World Cup Foundation. This did not affect our editorial coverage.