Apex Legends Season 3 Meta Update

We take an early look at the possibilities in Season 3 Apex Legends meta.

The Apex Legends competitive scene is going through a quiet period right now. There has been no major esports tournament throughout Season 3. Only smaller online cups like the T1 scouting grounds are taking place. These small cups have highlighted the meta of Season 3 hasn’t shifted too much. This is despite the major Season 3 changes offering a new map, a new Legend, and a variety of balance changes. We will look at the current projection of the Apex Legends competitive meta, with explanations as to why things are and are not changing using the information available.

The source of information:

One of the only active tournaments right now is the am-pro T1 scrim league. The league is designed to encourage teams to compete and earn their way into the Private Apex cup. The teams in this league attempt to replicate competitive compositions, the same way top teams did at the Apex Preseason Invitational.

The T1 Scrim League is currently in its 3rd week of Season 2, making it one of the most reliable sources of meta sourcing at present. Rkt, a statistician looking at the T1 league curated an infographic of the trending meta. The infographic presents us with two current meta compositions, which is familiar to those who watched the Apex Preseason Invitational.

So far, Wattson and Wraith still dominate the core of both actively picked team compositions. One strategy uses the Season 2 strategy featuring Wattson, Wraith and Pathfinder. On the other hand, Gibraltar has seen an increasing priority. This is for a wide variety of reasons, courtesy of the new map and balance changes to Gibraltar’s kit.

According to RKT, Wraith, Wattson and Gibraltar are dominating the meta with a 61% pick rate in the league. The Season 2 Preseason Invitational comp of Wraith, Wattson and Pathfinder comes in second with 33%. Finally, another comp exists that has <1% pick rate not featured in the above image. Gibraltar replaces Wattson in this comp, whilst Wraith and Pathfinder remain. As you can see, there isn’t much differentiation in the meta since the Preseason Invitational.

Why?

The new map plays a large impact on Legend viability in the current meta. World’s Edge is the newest map to the game and is still the only map choice accessible in Apex Legends Season 3. World’s Edge design philosophy as a greater take on map verticality, which impacts the game greatly that we’ll get to later. Examples can be seen with the multi-storey skyscrapers in Capitol and Lava. In addition, Train Depot has its own suspended buildings, with zip lines for ease of travel. As for the open areas of the map, there’s much more open space compared to King’s Canyon, which had more geographic features to navigate with.

World’s Edge is easily a different take to King’s Canyon, and that makes changes the value of Legend picks. Geographically speaking, any Legend that can hunker down harder to defend spots immediately increases their value, such as Gibraltar and Wattson. Legends that navigate the map easier are also much more sought after. This explains the continued importance of Wraith and Pathfinder.

Wattson in the open fields of World’s Edge can still hold a strong presence with her ultimate. In buildings, Wattson remains to be the best tank for securing sites. Given the strength of her utility, she remains to be the most versatile tank in the game. Finally, the added danger on the open map adds value to her already valued teamwide shield regeneration. It remains clear why Wattson remains in the meta of competitive Apex Legends.

Wraith and Pathfinder

Wraith and Pathfinder both remain well suited to the World’s Edge map due to their team-wide manoeuvrability. Even with nerfs to their kit in the form of balance changes and bug fixes, they are still key components to team compositions. As stated, verticality and open terrain is more a key design feature of World’s Edge. Moving quickly and safely across these more dangerous designs keeps Wraith and Pathfinder in the discussion.

Finally, Gibraltar is the only new Legend to enter the discussion. Season 3 buffed Gibraltar to have a 25% healing speed decrease for allies in the Protective Dome. This ability is also great for defending in the open field, giving on-demand cover. Furthermore, Gibraltar’s ultimate is a great zoning tool or ability to flush out opposition from cover. This makes him a great addition to a team comp due to the well-fitting kit and team utility.

This is an early look at what a possible Season 3 Apex Legends meta may look like. There’s still potential for the likes of Crypto to come in as a counter to the Wattson pick, but we are yet to see it trialled. Only time will tell when the official competitive season begins.