Phillip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen is one of the most impressive esports athletes to ever grace the Apex stage, and he’s still going strong years after winning the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Championship in 2023. Esports Insider spoke with the star athlete at the ALGS Open in 2025 to gain his perspective on the recent format changes to competitive Apex Legends.

Alongside Team Falcons, ImperialHal secured victory at the ALGS Open, outcompeting Alliance and winning $300,000.

In our interview, Team Falcons’ ImperialHal voiced his perspective on the ALGS Open, spoke about his favorite legends, and shared advice for up-and-coming Apex athletes.

The ALGS Open hosted 160 teams in 2025, the most teams in an ALGS event ever. ImperialHal thinks that 160 teams is too many, particularly due to the skill gap between competitors.

“When it comes to the amount of teams, I feel like it’s kind of a waste of time. I don’t want to sound selfish, but most of these teams are kind of here to be eliminated. I think 80 teams are going to be eliminated within two days, so it’s like, what’s the point?”

Despite his dislike for the size of the ALGS Open, ImperialHal does want emerging teams to have a shot but suggested that 80 competing teams would be a more logical compromise.

“Obviously, you want to give everyone an opportunity to compete for their dream, but there’s a very big skill difference between the finals lobby compared to the very beginning. For me, I think it’s more so a waste of time. If they were going to do a lot of teams, maybe 80. I think 160 is a bit too much.”

The ALGS Open is a unique opportunity for underdogs to build their reputation, but it can be frustrating for pro teams to compete for multiple days when they typically end up in the final lineup anyway. ImperialHal and Team Falcons won the Open, which he told us he always expected.

During an EA investor call from February, there was some discussion of a possible follow-up to Apex Legends, though it would likely be more of an upgrade, like Siege X or Overwatch 2. ImperialHal would prefer that Apex stay largely the same.

“I wouldn’t ask to change the game at all. In terms of the core mechanics, I think Apex is perfect. I don’t think you need to nerf aim assist or change the movement or how the characters look. Respawn just needs to refine what they have – what they have at the core is amazing.

“New releases give people a reason to come back. If you compare Apex to Fortnite or any other battle royale, it’s like our new content is the bare minimum. If they did do an Apex 2, Respawn should really focus on releasing new content. If they don’t, then Apex Legends is going to fall behind, and players will come and go constantly.”

ImperialHal voiced a few of the ways that Respawn could be successful with a sequel to Apex Legends, but in the end, he doesn’t want the gameplay to change dramatically.

Prior to the implementation of a legend ban system, many of the top Apex players prioritized a single character. In 2025, teams have to prepare for the possibility of their main legends getting banned from an entire series.

Luckily, Team Falcons has the necessary experience to benefit from the ban mechanic, as ImperialHal explained: “The ban system is really good for us as a team because we’re really experienced and able to play multiple characters compared to a lot of the other teams that don’t have that experience. That helps us a lot.”

ImperialHal also told us that he’s been playing Ash more than any other legend in the last few months, as her recent rework created new opportunities to use the assault character on the competitive stage.

“In this meta, I kind of only play Ash. I would only play one character before the ban system was introduced. Now with the ban system, some of the characters are very hard to practice in ranked because the setting is not the same as competitive. Most of the time, I’m trying to play ranked so that I can get into as many gunfights as possible.”

Ash has become much more popular in 2025, so ImperialHal has made an effort to adapt to her play style.

ImperialHal plays a variety of legends, as his extensive experience allows him to be a versatile competitor in the Apex space. We asked the esports player about his favorite legend for casual play, and he appeared to be a huge Octane fan.

“Octane, for sure. When Ash got buffed last season, I played Octane constantly because I couldn’t keep up with Ash before she was nerfed. I was just spamming Octane. I love playing Octane because I feel like I’m always in the fight.”

As a player who can play numerous legends on a pro level, Octane is a unique pick, and ImperialHal appreciates the character’s focus on fun gameplay.

Pro esports players like ImperialHal have unique insights, so we asked what advice he’d offer to aspiring competitors.

“I feel like whenever any team wins a tournament, their first one is just the start of their career. It’s a huge boost of confidence, like a domino effect.

“I found my main success after I took more control for myself. I feel like not just for esports, but for anything, you should always bet on yourself to the point where you feel like you can just take over a game.”

In a team-based FPS like Apex Legends, you need to be able to rely on yourself completely and help compensate for teammates who might be having an off day.

“The best advice I can give is to become good enough to the point where you don’t rely on other people to play the bare minimum. You have to always try to be above average. There are going to be days that other people won’t play great, and you have to compensate for that.”

A trio is a unit, so picking up the slack is a core component of any team-based battle royale. ImperialHal acknowledges this fact and strives to be the best he can be every day.

To promote his esports career, ImperialHal recently recorded himself skydiving. This stunt drew a lot of attention to the Team Falcons’ member, so we posed a question: was winning the ALGS Open or skydiving a more exhilarating experience?

“Right now, skydiving. But when I have more time to take it in, it’s definitely the win. I do everything in my life because I love winning,” said ImperialHal.

ImperialHal responded that while skydiving was more exciting in the short term, this major victory will be more exhilarating in the long term.

ImperialHal aspires to improve even further as an athlete: “In terms of esports, I’ve never looked up to anyone because I was always focused on myself. I guess Faker, he’s just the best esports player in the world, and it falls off pretty hard after that. I want to get to Faker’s level, where I’m the best and there’s no question.”

Becoming an esports legend is a challenging road to walk, but ImperialHal is already on the path to success, especially after winning the ALGS Open.