Pro Apex Legends Player Refuses To Eliminate Lagged-Out ALGS Opponent

Apex Legends’ annual Apex Legends Global Series championship tournament took place over the weekend, pitting 40 pro esports teams against each other in Respawn’s competitive battle royale for a prize of $2 million. But when technical difficulties disconnected an opposing team, TSM squad member Philip Dosen–better known by his esports moniker, ImperialHal–implored his team to hold fire.

“They’re 100% tabbed out or crashed or something,” Dosen can be heard telling his squadmates in the footage of the incident. “Don’t shoot them.”

Eventually, the team followed Dosen’s lead, moving into a nearby building and leaving the enemy squad alone. In the end, both TSM and Scarz (the Japanese team experiencing technical difficulties) qualified for the next round, though team DarkZero would ultimately take first place and win the ALGS championship.

In the hours following the end of the tournament Apex players praised team TSM, citing Dosen’s good sportsmanship–the decision not to shoot came during a very precarious point in the match where Dosen’s squad needed every point it could get. But Dosen has remained humble, maintaining that he did what anyone should do in a similar situation.

“It’s the least every player can do out here with these issues,” Dosen said on Twitter, likely referring to the bevy of bugs and other gameplay issues that are currently plaguing Respawn’s highly successful battle royale.

Apex Legends is free to play on console and PC. A mobile version of the game, Apex Legends Mobile, is available for download on Android and iOS devices.