When Rhys “Zer0” Perry hoisted the trophy in at the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) 2022 Split 2 Playoffs in Stockholm, he wasn’t just celebrating a tournament victory. He was living out a moment that would define his career. The Australian-born Apex Legends prodigy had just won his first major LAN, solidifying his place among the best players alive. 

In the chaos that followed, there was a small but unforgettable gesture: a signed Team SoloMid (TSM) jersey.

“After we won, we got a signed TSM jersey from all of them,” Zer0 said of the jersey signed by the three team members who had placed 6th at the event, but won several others before that. “Back then, that was pretty cool. They were on top of the world.”

At the time, TSM was the team everyone looked up to. Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen and his teammates were the gold standard for Apex Legends. They were the blueprint for how to dominate in an evolving battle royale scene. For Zer0, then a rising player who hadn't solidified his legacy yet, getting a signed jersey from the team that defined an era stuck with him.

That was three years ago. The landscape has shifted. Zer0 is no longer a rising star. Now, he’s the one other players study, the one whose every rotation and call gets dissected in VOD reviews. Now, he’s bringing that legacy to Team Liquid.

Zer0’s rise through the Apex Legends Global Series has been nothing short of meteoric. His reputation as one of the most talented players in the game was forged through a string of top finishes that would come to define his competitive identity. He’s a three-time ALGS LAN champion, a consistent top finisher across multiple splits, and the architect behind some of the most dominant team performances in the game’s history.

Now, after surpassing his own expectations in terms of LAN wins, Zer0's goals aren't what they once were. 

“They have definitely changed a lot,” he said. “For a long time, I was just focused on winning one LAN. But I achieved that way earlier than I expected to in Sweden. Since then, it’s been pretty different. Every win, consecutively, gets less and less meaningful. But it turns into a different kind of motivation, because now it’s about legacy.”

Legacy is what separates great players from the best in the world. Winning alone isn’t enough anymore. What drives him now is the idea that 20 years from now, people will look back and see the mark he left on Apex Legends. He's never been desperate for offers, as a bidding war has started whenever he previously became a free agent. This time, it was different. 

"It's about having my name on the back of a jersey and having nostalgia about it," Zer0 said. "That was the driving factor with Team Liquid."

A dream coming true

Zer0 is joined on Team Liquid's new Apex Legends roster by his former teammate, Nicholas "Sikezz" Odom, and Nicholas "Fuhhnq" Wall. They've been working together in the lead-up to this announcement, preparing to dominate under the guidance of the squad's coach, Winnie "tiltedwinnie" Long. 

"She's the best mind for the game I've had as a coach, ever," Zer0 said, adding that her calm and positive demeanor is key to keeping the squad focused. "She's always positive. That's a huge part of it."

For Zer0, joining Team Liquid isn’t just another roster move. It’s a full-circle moment. Growing up, Team Liquid was the kind of organization he dreamed about being a part of. The blue and white jersey wasn’t just a logo; it was a symbol of excellence that he saw on screen when he watched the LoL Championship Series. He remembered seeing them on top, fighting with other juggernauts, regularly.

He always wanted to join an organization he grew up watching. Something he could look back on years from now and feel proud of. Something that would let him say, “I made it.” It’s the kind of connection that goes beyond contracts or short-term goals. It’s about pride, belonging. About building a chapter in Liquid’s long history that future players will point to as inspiration.

Inspiration becomes rivalry

Before joining Team Liquid, Zer0 most recently played under Team Falcons, an organization known for assembling superteams built to win on the biggest stages, including the Esports World Cup. Joining the Falcons was a unique experience for him because it meant teaming up with ImperialHal, the player he once learned from. 

“He wasn't an inspiration; he was more of a blueprint. I’ve watched more Hal than anyone else on the planet,” Zer0 says. “More of his VODs, more of his plays. Because back then, he was the only person to learn from.”

Zer0 and ImperialHal performed well together on Falcons, winning multiple major online tournaments and proving that their combination of leadership and mechanical skill could hang with anyone. But while the results were impressive, the chemistry wasn’t perfect. Both were in-game leaders with strong personalities and a deep understanding of their own systems. When two shotcallers share a roster, creative friction is almost inevitable.

"We just kept going and going, because we were doing really well," Zer0 said. "But the team was never going to work out with two in-game leaders (IGLs) like that. It was inevitable."

Zer0 has immense respect for ImperialHal and everything he accomplished. But now that they’re on opposite sides again, that respect ends the second they drop into the same lobby.

“Outside legacy and winning, it's just about beating individual people,” he says about his goals on Team Liquid. “Right now, it’s just about beating the Falcons.”

That drive defines Zer0 as much as his accolades do. The need to prove, to outthink, to outplay, to take down the players and organizations that once stood above him. Every time he queues into a tournament, that fire pushes him forward.

A legacy in blue

For Team Liquid, signing Zer0 isn’t just about adding another star to the roster. It’s about continuing a tradition of excellence. For Zer0, it’s about finally realizing a dream he’s carried since he first fell in love with esports right after Apex Legends came out in 2019. 

The jersey on his back may be blue and white now, but the story behind it stretches back to that moment in Sweden, when a young champion was handed a signed TSM jersey and realized that one day, someone would be asking him for his signature instead. He's hoping he can stay with Liquid and add to the organization's legacy as well as his own. 

Zer0: "I'm looking forward to being part of something so much bigger. Liquid is a massive organization with a wide reach into all these esports that I love. That's exciting."