The return.
After more than a year out of the Apex Legends Global Series, the time has finally come: Timothy “iiTzTimmy” An has announced his intention to competitive Apex. And this time, he seems to be making it a real priority.
Timmy is no stranger to competitive Apex. He competed in last year’s ALGS Pro League with his official streamer dream/meme team, Team SHEEEEEEESH, alongside 100 Thieves creator Jack “NiceWigg” Martin and former NRG content creator and Anthony “Apryze” Andrade (who, incidentally, also announced he was LFT for ALGS tonight). But even before that, Timmy was a signed Apex pro with Golden Guardians, and that’s where he first made his name in the Apex scene long before gaining notoriety as a major content creator pulling in tens of thousands of viewers to his stream.
In a TwitLonger, Timmy explained his reasoning for leaving competitive Apex behind multiple times, and why now is the correct time for him to make a comeback.
In his tweet, Timmy described both his inexperience as a pro player with Golden Guardians that led to poor results for his squad and ultimately him pursuing a career in streaming, and his own mental health struggles that ultimately were one of the main reasons that he stepped away from competing with Team SHEEEEEEESH. Timmy went into greater detail on much of those struggles in a YouTube video, where he opened up with his viewers about some of the issues that he’s dealt with in the recent past.
Ultimately, much of the criticism he received from viewers and fans as a part of Team SHEEEEEEESH, even thought the team was primarily created as a fun outlet for him and his teammates, “ruined competing” for him. He also was in a bad place with his personal mental health, as he details in his TwitLonger: “My depression was at an all time low, but I was too afraid to publicly say that at the time. I still could’ve played, but we spoke as a team and made the decision together to quit.”
Now, Timmy says he is “finally” at a good place in his life, and the drive to compete is still there. He currently plans on playing in the ALGS Challenger Circuit in Split Two, the level below Pro League. While Split Two Challenger Circuit teams aren’t fighting to qualify for Pro League, those that place high enough over the course of several weeks of competition can still qualify for their regional Last Chance Qualifier for the ALGS Championship this summer.
He’s already got a head-start on finding a team, as well. Timmy says he’ll team with former eUnited pro Lyric Quinonez, another competitive player that frequently blurred the lines between competitive play and content with his flashy style of play. Timmy says they’re looking for a controller player that can act as IGL for the two of themalthough Timmy’s also open to IGLing and “run[ning] us down again.”
There are many players that can serve in that capacity for the two, although it will be an interesting reversal of normal player roles when the controller player on a pro Apex team has to reign in two mouse-and-keyboard-wielding fraggers.
Still, Timmy and Team SHEEEEEEESH showed that despite being out of the comp scene for long stretches of time, he still has what it takes to compete. And with this latest comeback framed as a chance to fully enter back into the competitive scene and not just play for content, it’s difficult to bet against the return of competitive Apex‘s prodigal son.