Apeks look to take over Fragadelphia 17

In an incredibly exciting move for North America's grassroots scene, Norwegian organization Apeks has confirmed to Dust2.us that their star-studded European roster will be attending Fragadelphia 17 in September. The organization's decision to send their marquee squad to the $100,000 LAN can be attributed to trailblazing done by their academy team, Apek Rebels, who attended Fragadelphia 16 last March. The Norwegian academy squad notably finished the event in second place after a fantastic finals against North America's hometown heroes Strife.

The recently assembled Apeks lineup has a surprising number of NA connections, making their decision to head to Philadelphia even more interesting. The team's IGL, Martin "STYKO" Styk, spent three months on Cloud9's books in 2018, famously attending the FACEIT London Major 2018 with the likes of Timothy "autimatic" Ta and William "RUSH" Wierzba. The team's Norwegian entry-fragger, Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad, should also be a familiar sight to NA fans as he spent three years in the region with Renegades, 100 Thieves, and EXTREMUM.

However, Apeks' most recent addition, Richard "shox" Papillon, is the player with the strongest ties to NA, as he played for Liquid for six months at the start of the year. Despite his relationship with NA's best team failing to produce success, his presence in the region was fascinating as one of the most storied French players of all time.

Incredibly, the connections go beyond the players as even Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński has some NA ties from his five-month stint as Envy's coach from 2020 to the start of 2021.

Beyond the allure of a reunion of NA's former imports, the addition of Apeks to Fragadelphia 17 is something Nerd Street Gamers' long-time event has never seen before. It will be an incredible opportunity for NA's young semi-pros and budding stars to get first-hand experience of playing against some of Europe's best talents. Additionally, it will hopefully entice more amazing squads to attend the event this year and in the future, helping NA's LAN scene regain some much-needed prestige.

Apeks consist of:

• Tim "nawwk" Jonasson

• Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad

• Martin "STYKO" Styk

• Justinas "jL" Lekavicius

• Richard "shox" Papillon

• Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński (Coach)

• Pål "Polly" Kammen (Assistant Coach)

Outside of Apeks, there has been rumblings in the scene about other top international squads who are interested in attending Fragadelphia 17. 9z's CEO, Francisco "Frankkaster" Postiglione, recently hinted that he would like to see the emergent LATAM squad attend the event. Fragadelphia 17 is set to start on September 8th and this iteration is looking to be an amazing one already.