From Walmart Scrims to ALGS Glory: Raven’s Spicy 2022 Championship Stories

Flashback to 2026 – Apex Legends esports has come a long way, with flashier arenas, bigger prize pools, and rosters that rotate faster than a Valkyrie ultimate. But sometimes the juiciest stories still bubble up from the wild west days of the ALGS Championship back in 2022. And nobody spins those yarns better than GMT’s former coach, Raven. The man who once called tactical shots from inside a Walmart is still full of hot takes and behind-the-scenes gold.

Raven always had a way with words, and one of his most famous mottos was: “I would take scrim results with a grain of salt.” That’s become gospel ever since the 2022 Championship in Raleigh, where some of the best Apex teams on the planet were literally grinding scrims on computers that could barely crack 60fps. Talk about a rough start. The elephant in the server room? TSM was bulldozing scrims day after day. But Raven, ever the analyst, was quick to pour cold water on the hype. “It partially depends on the conditions they played them under,” he’d explain. “For example, we were playing on terrible setups that would dip below 60fps.” Ouch.

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But here’s where things get seriously bonkers. The “esports arena” that GMT and others used? It was tucked inside a Walmart, with rigs that had been bitcoin-mined into submission and barely optimized for gaming. Raven recalled the surreal setup: “We were at another place but there were screaming kids at a summer camp and no privacy.” Videos surfaced of kids using high-end gaming chairs as bumper cars while pros tried to focus on their aim. It was the antithesis of a LAN environment. No wonder Raven insisted on context for scrim results. One squad’s “clean 3-0” could just be the product of another team’s rig spontaneously rebooting.

Amid this chaos, Raven’s job was half-coach, half-detective. He couldn’t whisper in his players’ ears mid-match during the actual Championship – that was against the rules – but between rounds he directed the squad on what he called a philosophical level. “I’m there to direct the team on how we approach the game philosophically and refining it in scrims from there,” he said. Holding players accountable, studying other squads, and pouring an “exorbitant” amount of time into checking sightlines and terrain in custom lobbies – that was his jam. Plus, he had a crew of analysts feeding him zone data and datamined intel. In true traditional-sports fashion, the analysts provided the numbers and Raven pulled the trigger on conclusions.

Meanwhile, scrim culture itself was a mixed bag. Some teams treated these pseudo-matches like Disneyland – trying out meme comps and wild rotations just to see what stuck. Others played role-play serious. Raven, ever the pragmatist, knew that LAN pressure with a roaring audience flips the script completely. “There’s something to be said about teams who consistently perform in scrims but scrim environments are not the same as LAN with pressure and an audience,” he warned. So if TSM was farming everyone in scrims, that didn’t guarantee a trophy when the lights went up.

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Then came the tasty meta talk. Raven had been tweeting about a wild idea: Revenant could be the secret sauce to dismantle the rising Seer meta. Remember, Rev hadn’t seen serious competitive play since the “Revtane” craze of early 2021. Bringing him back felt like pulling out a vintage weapon in a modern war. But Raven wasn’t convinced Seer would dominate the Championship. “Seer is great into Caustic, Wattson, and Gibby,” he explained. “He’s risen in popularity undeniably because of ‘HisWattson’. Some people are copying, yes, and most will revert back to Valk, Caustic, Gibby.” When two million bucks are on the line, squads tend to hug their comfort blankets – and nothing says “safe” like bubble, gas, and jetpack rotations.

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So what was Raven’s spiciest take of all? “My hot take is that GMT wins LAN!” A classic coach move – backing your own squad to the moon. That prediction didn’t pan out (history remembers a different champion), but it perfectly captured the swagger GMT brought to Raleigh despite the Walmart scrimming circus.

Looking back from 2026, those tales feel almost legendary. Apex esports has matured massively – we’ve seen new maps, legends like Catalyst and Conduit reshape the meta, and production values through the roof. But Raven’s philosophy still carries weight. Scrim results remain tricky to benchmark; context is everything. And the tension between experimental comps and safe picks still rages in every pre-LAN bootcamp. The Walmart days might be over, but the lessons? They’re forever.

Key Takeaways from Raven’s 2022 Championship Insights:

Raven’s journey reminds us that behind every highlight reel is a mountain of imperfect practice and a coach who can see through the noise. So the next time you see a team dominating scrims, channel your inner Raven and ask: what story aren’t you seeing? 🤔🔥