ImperialHal talks Red Bull Legends Inn: “I get to showcase all the work that I’ve done in the last five years.”

The inaugural Red Bull Legends Inn tournament final kicks off on Nov. 8 at The Godfrey Hotel in Chicago, IL. Headlining this event are none other than Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen and Timothy "iiTzTimmy" An. However, ImperialHal and iiTzTimmy aren't just competitors — they played a key role in making the tournament come to life. Ahead of the competitive action, esports.gg sat down with ImperialHal for an exclusive interview about creating the first-ever Red Bull Legends Inn tournament, what it means to him, and his thoughts on the biggest competition!

The Red Bull Legends Inn event features duos, a $25,000 USD prize pool, 19 teams, and nine rounds. What's unique about the tournament is that the viewers get to choose each round's game mode. To ImperialHal, having events like this one is great for the community. Red Bull Legends Inn not only lets fans see their favorite players battle it out, but also lets everyone meet and support their favorites live and in person.

"It's like going to see your favorite NFL team or NBA team," ImperialHal said. "It's kind of like the same thing, and then being able to get personal or just being here is a big thing for the fans. I feel like it's important for them because online is not as personal, and [here] is a lot different. Being able to partake in what happens in the tournament and seeing live events like this is a different experience."

ImperialHal then shared that this event represents the payoff of five years of his dedication to Apex Legends. He also expressed his gratitude for being able to keep doing what he loves.

"To me, it means all the hard work that I've done — I've been playing this game for five years — I feel like it's paying off," ImperialHal told esports.gg. "I get to showcase all my hard work and all the work that I've done the last [five] years. So I [am] grateful to be able to do this because I just play video games or Apex for a living, [...] and I'm just excited to always be able to do what I love."

Earlier this year during a Twitch livestream, iiTzTimmy gave ImperialHal a warm welcome to the Red Bull Gaming family. As the organization's Apex Legends players, they have since worked together to help make the Red Bull Legends Inn event happen. ImperialHal shared some details about how everything came about, recalling discussions about the tournament format, venue, and more.

"It started from Red Bull creating a very general idea and then the specifics of the creativity was just based on something that bounced off of me and Timmy and Red Bull itself," ImperialHal told esports.gg. "So we have stuff like lights connected to every room. If you're blue, that means you're alive. If it's red, that means you died in the game. We also have ideas of me and Timmy playing at a different area like a patio area where the public would be able to sit and watch us in person."

At the Red Bull Legends Inn, when a duo gets eliminated, the audience at the venue can simply glance up and see their gaming room's light change colors. Viewers watching from home can also experience this unique aspect of the event thanks to a high-mounted camera positioned across the street from the hotel.

As mentioned, Red Bull Legends Inn involves 19 teams and nine rounds. ImperialHal said that there aren't many avenues to practice for duo tournaments like this one, however, he and iiTzTimmy have built strong synergy by playing ranked together over time. Their familiarity with each other's playstyle has also helped them gel well as a team heading into the tournament.

"I feel like we have a pretty good shot a winning it just because we're pretty similar in terms of playstyle," he continued. "Practice wasn't too intense."

ImperialHal talked about his strategy going into Red Bull Legends Inn as well. He acknowledged Apex Legends recently kicked off a new season. However, that shouldn't significantly impact his and iiTzTimmy's performance.

"He's probably going to be playing Pathfinder, and I'm going to be playing Newcastle," ImperialHal told esports.gg. "But I'm pretty sure there's like boats or something [and] chat or the fans get to pick and choose what characters are played."

As for competitors to watch out for, ImperialHal acknowledged the strength of Brody "Xynew" Geissier and Israel "Koyful" Lawrence from Moist Esports since they took home the gold in the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Split 2 Playoffs. He also mentioned in-game leader (IGL) Christopher "sweetdreams" Sexton and Nicholas "Fuhhnq" Wall from Luminosity Gaming.

"The first team off the top of my head as the biggest competitors is for sure Koyful and Xynew," ImperialHal said. "I know they recently just won the recent Apex LAN, and they're both like really, really good together. Their chemistry is really good compared to a lot of other duos that are competing in the tournament. So definitely looking out for them. And I think sweetdreams is playing with Fuhhnq. That's another good duo because sweetdreams is a good IGL. [...] Those are the main two duos for sure. Other than that, I feel like me and Timmy can take them down."

As for parting words, ImperialHal encourage folks to check out more of Red Bull Gaming's Apex Legends tournaments since they're here to stay.

"Get used to Red Bull hosting Apex tournaments," he said. "I highly encourage you guys to tune in and watch because there's a lot of production and quality in all of this. We don't have a lot of third-party tournaments, so I just highly encourage that you guys stick around and watch tournaments. It's gonna be fun to watch, it's gonna be great to play, and it's gonna be worth your time watching and sticking around. In the future, it's even gonna be bigger. So it's gonna be a fun time."

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more news, interviews, and updates!