Apex Legends pro Albralelie blasts “braindead” meta for ruining the game

Apex Legends content creator and pro player Mac ‘Albralelie’ Beckwith slammed the game’s current meta as “braindead” and explained how the super-aggressive playstyle encouraged by Octane’s jump pad is hurting the game.

There’s plenty on offer for Apex Legends players to enjoy as the battle royale’s eighth season winds down. Players have their hands full with the War Games event in full swing to close out the season, but there are still plenty of issues they’re calling out as well.

Despite several balance passes this season, many players are unhappy with the game’s current meta, and Octane in particular. The speedster Legend was buffed in Seasons 7 and 8 with changes to his stim ability and jump pad, making him (arguably) one of the most powerful Legends in the game.

TSM’s Albralelie, the latest pro to criticize Apex’s balancing in Season 8, called the current meta “braindead” and explained how Octane’s buffs have favored a more aggressive playstyle, and reduced the opportunity to pull off strategic plays with characters like Wraith.

In his Twitch stream on April 16, Albralelie was grinding ranked with fellow pros Mikkel ‘Mande’ Halle and Noyan ‘Genburten’ Ozkose when the topic of the game’s meta came up. All three players were quick to voice their concerns with the current state of the game.

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“I hate the meta right now. I think it’s the most braindead [it’s] ever been,” Albralelie remarked. “The only thought process now is we’re gonna [go] all in and we’re either gonna win the fight or we’re gonna die,” he continued, referring to the style of play that Octane encourages.

The TSM player also pointed out that abilities like Wraith’s portal provide more strategic flexibility, whereas Octane’s jump pad is used almost exclusively to push enemy teams quickly and aggressively.

“It’s so braindead and I absolutely hate it,” he said, as he expressed his unhappiness with the game’s current state. While Albralelie’s thoughts on the matter were mostly negative, he did point out a simple change that could potentially combat the Octane meta.

“[Respawn] can fix it [by] reducing Wraith’s portal cooldown and increasing Octane’s [jump] pad cooldown,” he explained, offering up a simple solution to reel in the high-speed daredevil’s power while also buffing another character in the process.

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While the pro doesn’t believe both abilities should share the exact same cooldown, he thinks this change would help encourage more players to choose Wraith over Octane and improve the game’s Legend meta.

Respawn have already confirmed their plans to nerf Octane’s stim ability in Season 9, but it remains to be seen whether this will be enough to bring him in-line with other Legends and shift the meta or if additional changes to his jump pad will be needed, as Albralelie has suggested.