One of the top Apex Legends teams in North America has added a third player, and he has a distinguished background. Aidan “rocker” Grodin’s addition by the club completes their competitive roster in time for the third Apex Legends Global Series.

Rocker played with NRG for the final two ALGS seasons, when he and Nathan “nafen” Nguyen created one of the game’s most dreadful fragging teams. Although the team was one of North America’s most dependable teams during year two’s Pro League and won numerous tournaments in year one of ALGS, their performance in the playoffs and at international LANs fell short of the team’s expectations, which led rocker and NRG to mutually decide to part ways.

Rocker has now joined the C9 team, which is already stacked with talent and is eager to make a comeback in ALGS.

In the 2021 NA ALGS Championship, the team of Zach Mazer and Paris “StayNaughty” Gouzoulis finished in second place. In order to improve their roster for the next tournament, the team decided to swap out current OpTic player Logan “Knoqd” Layou for TSM’s Mac “Albralelie” Beckwith. While the new trio had some of the best mechanics in the world and a very high ceiling, the team dynamics with Albralelie on Gibraltar felt like they hindered some of the best aspects of the TSM fragger. This was despite the fact that Zach, Naughty, and Albralelie occasionally had trouble getting along.

The greatest Gibraltar in North America over the past two years of ALGS play has been Rocker, who also has a wealth of expertise with other characters and is adaptable enough to meet C9’s demands. He is renowned for his capacity to serve as an IGL and a committed supporter for his team. Last season, C9 struggled with several players trying to call shots and clashing during games. The team is hoping that the inclusion of rocker will help reduce some of these intra-team conflicts.

In the simplest terms, one of the top free agents in the league has just joined one of the strongest clubs in the league. And while many people who have been following rocker and the other C9 players’ broadcasts over the past month won’t be surprised by the decision, North America as a whole has been put on notice.