DSG’s Arctic talks moving to Thailand, quitting his job and more

Taylor "arctic" McNeil has had a breakout year in the ALGS. Initially with Made In Heaven, the underdog team took EMEA by storm, finishing fourth in the Split 1 Pro League and qualifying for the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs in Los Angeles. That was all three players LAN debuts, with the side putting in a solid performance on the international stage.

A move to FaZe Clan followed, with the team taking second in the EMEA Pro League's second split. However, after a poor performance at the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs Arctic was left in search of a new team. That search took him all the way to Thailand, with the 22 year-old relocating in order to play in the APAC South region.

Now, he is joining Disguised esports ahead of the ALGS Championship in Sapporo, Japan. esports.gg spoke to Arctic ahead of the tournament. You can watch the full interview below:

Arctic admits that when the fourth year of the ALGS kicked off, he never envisioned so much success.

"I don't think anyone expected us to do good, especially at the start. We were three new players with no experience basically, and we just showed up in Pro League. We had three new players with no experience basically."

However, while some players would be satisfied with the year Arctic has had for their breakout, he still feels he needs to win to be satisfied.

"I'd like to say that I'm happy with my year, especially as my first year competing, but I don't think I'm ever going to be happy with failure and the goal is to win. I haven't won anything yet, so I'm not really happy, but we've got one chance left for this year. Hopefully we can see it through."

One of the things that signalled Arctic's move from Tier 2 to Tier 1 in Apex Legends was him being able to quit his job at McDonalds, and concentrate on Apex Legends full time. Why was this year the right time to do that?

"I just couldn't see myself working a normal job anymore. I knew that this was a big opportunity and I had to give it everything that had. There was no other way of making it work. It was the best time for me.

"It's definitely given me time to breathe and just do more. There's a lot of things I couldn't do because I was limited by time. But, it's mostly what you do with that time because there's a lot of time that I look back at that I definitely wasted and I could have done more. Once you find out how to really narrow down those points that you need to work on that's when you see like new levels of improvement."

A huge milestone in Arctic's ALGS career was joining FaZe Clan. An iconic esports brand globally, FaZe isd one of the names synonymous with gaming. What was it like to join FaZe Clan?

"It was like the biggest thing when I was growing up. I started playing called trickshotting and then when FaZe shifted over to CS in like 2015, that's when I bought a PC to play CS because I've watched FaZe do it. And then it was always FaZe. And when we signed with them, it felt unreal.

"I told myself I wasn't going get happy until I saw the announcement. And when I did, I don't know what I was feeling, but it was great. It was insane. It was definitely a lifelong dream."

After parting ways with FaZe, Arctic took the extraordinary step to relocate across the world to compete in the BLGS. He joined up with former Legends Gaming stars PlayerKay and StrafingFlame. Alongside Split 2 Playoff Champion Phony, he moved to Thailand for the duration of the BLGS.

"It was definitely surreal. never expected to be in that position. The start of this year, being a no-name team with a Pro League spot, no one thought we were going to do good. I was working a normal job. Then Being in that position on that plane, moving across the world to compete, nothing I ever dreamed of. It was definitely nice. I wish it wasn't so long. It was a lot of time away from home. It wasn't a very good time, but it was needed. I had to prove myself under this team.

"Even though we didn't get the results we wanted in BLGS, we're definitely forming together more now, we're meshing well, and I'm excited for champs to show what we can do."

Now, Arctic has joined Disguised Esports ahead of the ALGS Championship. The organisation has been home to some big names in Apex Legends over the last couple of years, which Arctic is excited to live up to.

"It was pretty exciting to get an offer from such a big name. It's definitely a decorated org in Apex. They've got quite a good standing. Obviously having names like Timmy. It's big shoes to fill, big expectations for them.

"Especially with the results of my teammates. They've got a lot of good results under their belt as well. And no one wants to them fall short. Especially with me because If they do, then people might think it's my fault, but I'm sure we'll do good regardless."

Those expectations are high for Disguised, with Arctic feeling they should be aiming for at least a top five finish.

"We definitely want to show that we're a top five team in the world. That's what Player and Strafing have done before multiple times. That's the bare minimum for them. They know they're a top five team. And with me on the roster, hopefully better."

You can watch Arctic and Disguised kick off their ALGS Championship campaign when the action gets under way later today. Stay tuned to esports.gg for full coverage of the ALGS Championship in Sapporo, Japan and all things Apex Legends.