Ollie swapped the abacus for Sonic on the SEGA Mega Drive at neighbor Frank's house at an early age and has never looked back. With thousands of hours in Dota 2 (and no ability to show for it), he still clings on to the hope that one day, he will replicate Natus Vincere at gamescom 14 years ago and lift the Aegis of Champions. Ollie has been at the intersection of video games, esports, and gambling for over ten years and has also worked in consultancy in the gambling industry. Ollie's work can be found on the likes of: BBC, Red Bull Gaming, Esports Insider, CasinoBeats, PC Gamer, Green Man Gaming as well as his own thought-leadership substack "Esprouts" looking at specific studies and stories where games meet gambling.
Image Credit: Joe Brady/ALGS/EA Ahead of the ALGS 2026 Split 1 Playoffs at the Esports World Cup in Paris, we handed Bowen “Monsoon” Fuller the mic and let him interview his own teammate, Miguel “Blinkzr” Quiles , with Esports Insider (ESI) stepping in only occasionally.
Rather than the usual pre-match press questions, we’ve got two champions bidding for back-to-back titles, with today’s Split 1 Playoffs Grand Finals all that stands in their way. Monsoon traces Blinkzr’s path from a Finance degree and casual Rocket League sessions to the ambition of being the best in Apex, unpacking what qualifying for Pro League felt like compared to winning it all, and getting refreshingly honest about the friction that comes with an IGL-led roster. It’s a rare look at how two champions actually talk to each other when the cameras usually pointed at them get turned around.
“I’m not gonna lie, dude, the craziest thing is qualifying for Pro League almost felt better than winning Champs. I’m not even kidding.”
Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Monsoon: Shit, here we are in fucking Paris. How long has it been since we’ve teamed now?
Monsoon: Nah, it’s not been a year. Close though. How’s the time been?
Blinkzr: It’s been good, bro, it’s been good.
Monsoon: Has it been different? How many teams have you been on now?
Blinkzr: Not that many. Not as many as you. Like actual PL [Pro League] teams?
Monsoon: I’d say just teams in general that have lasted longer than three months.
Blinkzr: Okay, so real teams. My first team was Akimboh and Arkology.
Monsoon: The squad you qualified to Pro League with.
Blinkzr: Then it was me, Akimboh and Reedz for another split. Then it was me, Reedz and Nano.
Blinkzr: Yeah, then it was me, Fun and Jelly, and then it was me, Fun and you. That’s it. That’s who I played with.
Monsoon: Let’s go back a little bit. Fucking Blinkzr. When did you start playing Apex? What year?
Blinkzr: I started playing in season nine, which was… 2022? It’s a long time ago, but I’d never touched the game before that. I knew Apex existed, but I thought that game was fucking dogshit.
Monsoon: What did you play before that was really fun?
Blinkzr: I was playing in real life before that, but I was gaming. I played Rocket League, Ark: Survival Evolved and maybe a bit of COD on the side. I wasn’t competing in anything, just playing for fun.
Monsoon: Heard, so you were doing IRL shit growing up.
Blinkzr: Yeah, like university and stuff.
Monsoon: Finance. A man about his money.
Monsoon: That’s a pretty big shift, to go fro…