Are Lifeline and Newcastle going to take pro Apex by storm?

Lifeline and Newcastle could dominate professional Apex Legends tournaments in Season 23, following their respective buffs. Lifeline is getting a big rework in Season 23, and Newcastle is also getting some significant buffs. Additionally both Legends are benefitting from the huge Support Class buff too.

Developers feel that Apex Season 23 could challenge how pro players build teams. Traditionally, teams almost never use more than one Support Class Legend at a time. There have been times where Support Legends didn't feature at the highest level of Apex at all.

But, with such wide ranging improvements to this class in Season 23, they seem set to firmly enter the meta. Developers feel that Lifeline and Newcastle could work especially well together. Could we see this combination played by the games best?

Everything you need to know about Apex Legends Season 23:

Speaking at a discussion about Lifeline's Season 23 rework, developers suggested they feel that Lifeline and Newcastle could work very well together in Apex this season. Historically, they have been seen as two approaches to the same 'revival expert' role. Amongst top players, Newcastle has proved far more popular over the last few months.

"I think we might see some combinations of both of them working together, at least that's what started happening in our play test. Why don't you just bring them both together? Which might be an entirely new way of playing. We've seen a lot of double aggressive, one support, one anchor teams for a while in ranked and competitive.

"But we're potentially expecting that to shift and become a more double support with a flex who can make the rotates with utility that you'd need for this comp. [Lifeline and Newcastle] offer different styles of play and reset, and they go after different fantasies in terms of how you want to get there.

"Newcastle can lock down an area with his Castle Wall, and he can play that zone for a good while. Whereas Lifeline will be like, we're gonna stay mobile, we're gonna go for the flanking route.

"Then once you get in there with the ult, you need that hard reset, you can make aggressive plays with it where someone's kind of locked down a spot, you can deny that by getting in there up close, throwing your ult down and claiming that zone and that territories yourself, and then playing off the Castle Wall."

If the developers are right, and Lifeline and Newcastle compliment each other well in Apex Season 23, this could really shake up the game. Breaking the long standing 'composition meta' of what roles a team is made up of could be one of the biggest adjustments to how professional players approach the game in some time.

On the face of it, it does seem like Lifeline and Newcastle's abilities will synchronise really well at the top end of Apex gameplay. Lifelines new Ultimate, a halo shaped shield, has one major vulnerability. That comes in the form of aerial attacks, which could be Grenades, or abilities like Bangalore's Rolling Thunder.

While Wattson, an ALGS mainstay, would be a great solution to this so is Newcastle. Introduced in Season 21 was the ability for his Castle Wall to intercept projectiles for the first 30 seconds. With Support Legends getting faster revives and health regen that is plenty of time to execute a reset in a tense final circle.

Where the two Legends really seem to synchronise is in the amount of health and resources they will allow you to have. Both Legends will revive fast, with bonus health regen. This saves critical 'flesh meds' that frees up slots for other items, like Grenades.

Additionally, both Lifeline and Newcastle have 2x heals when using Cells (and Syringes) in Apex Season 23. This improves your economy significantly, which can be make or break towards the end of the game.

One potential weakness could be seen as a lack of aggression. However, both legends are getting significantly more aggressive potential this season too. Lifeline's abilities give her some 'on-the-go' power. Her Ultimate allows a quick reset, but more significantly D.O.C is now mobile. Lifeline can assign D.O.C to a teammate. This will then work a bit like Conduit's heals, but for flesh and not Shields.

Newcastle's Castle Wall also gets a healthy dose of aggression this season. Now, when he slams his wall down, allies in range get temporary health regen. This helps Newcastle back up aggressive plays and not feel boxed in as a defensive only Legend.

Of course, it's not just Lifeline and Newcastle that are getting buffs this Apex season. The major Support Class buffs impact several Legends, with Gibraltar and Conduit also getting improvements to their kit as well.

That means that "double support" may well become meta this season, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Lifeline and Newcastle who do it. After all, Gibraltar, Loba and Conduit have all had their time in the spotlight in the ALGS over the last few years.

Gibraltar could be a dark horse for a return in Season 23. Shotguns are still incredibly powerful, and his Dome of Protection cooldown getting reduced to just 17 seconds will allow teams to take more of those aggressive 'bubble fights' this season. Another big reason Gibraltar left the meta was how easily countered he was. Crypto and Mad Maggie could both destroy his bubble, this season, that is no longer the case.

Loba is a Support Legend with a lot of flexibility. However, developers have promised "spicy" changes to her in the mid-season patch so her time to shine may well be a little further off. Conduit is a good Legend for fighting, but her Apex Season 23 buffs seem perhaps better suited to resetting in Ranked than in ALGS and BLGS level games.

And, after all that, we might just end up seeing Valkyrie, Wattson, Newcastle and Valkyrie, Bangalore, Newcastle anyway.

Are you excited to try Lifeline Newcastle in your Apex games this season? Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Apex Legends Season 23 news.