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APA
TLC APA 2023 Split 1
Background Information
NameEain Stearns
Country of Birth
United States
BirthdayMarch 5, 2002 (age 22)
Residency
NA
North America
Competitive
TeamTeam Liquidlogo stdTeam Liquid
Contract Expires2024-11-19
Role
Mid Laner
Competitive IDsalways plan ahea
Soloqueue IDsNA: MU APA
Social Media & Links
Infobox Twitchlogo std
Infobox Twitterlogo std

Eain "APA" Stearns is a League of Legends esports player, currently mid laner for Team Liquid.

There is a disambiguation page associated with the name APA. One other player shares this ID.

Team History

Combine Role Swaps:No|Yes
Dates:Approx|Exact
TeamStartEnd
NA
F3 Visualslogo stdF3 Visuals
≈Jan 2019≈2019-01-??≈Feb 2019≈2019-02-26≈1mo 25d
ejel
NA
Lotus Esports (2019 North American Team)logo stdLotus Esports
≈Apr 2019≈2019-04-??Aug 20192019-08-05≈4mo 4d
ejel
NA
Fruition Esportslogo stdFruition Esports
Apr 20192019-04-10May 20192019-05-141mo 4d
ejel
NA
Logo stdC H I N A
≈Aug 2019≈2019-08-17≈Sep 2019≈2019-09-01≈15d
ejel
NA
Lucky Esportslogo stdLucky Esports
Sep 20192019-09-19[1]Jan 20202020-01-173mo 28d
ejel
NA
Aqualix Esports.NAlogo stdAqualix Esports
Jan 20202020-01-17[2]Feb 20202020-02-1024d
ejel
NA
Supernovalogo stdSupernova
Feb 20202020-02-10[4]Oct 20202020-10-23[3]8mo 13d
ejel
NA
Barrage.NAlogo stdBarrage.NA
Jan 20212021-01-09[6]May 20212021-05-07[5]3mo 29d
ejel
NA
Resolve NAlogo stdResolve NA
May 20212021-05-16[8]Nov 20212021-11-05[7]5mo 20d
ejel
NA
Maryville Universitylogo stdMaryville University
Dec 20212021-12-23[10]Dec 20222022-12-01[9]1yr 9d
ejel
NA
Team Liquid Academylogo stdTL Academy
Dec 20222022-12-01[9]Jan 20232023-01-111mo 10d
ejel
NA
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTL Challengers
Jan 20232023-01-11Jul 20232023-07-05[11]5mo 25d
ejel
NA
Team Liquidlogo stdTeam Liquid
Jul 20232023-07-05[12]Present8mo 14d
ej
TeamStartEnd
NA
F3 Visualslogo stdF3 Visuals
≈Jan 2019≈2019-01-??≈Feb 2019≈2019-02-26≈1mo 25d
ejel
NA
Lotus Esports (2019 North American Team)logo stdLotus Esports
≈Apr 2019≈2019-04-??May 20192019-05-29≈1mo 28d
ejel
NA
Fruition Esportslogo stdFruition Esports
Apr 20192019-04-10May 20192019-05-141mo 4d
ejel
NA
Lotus Esports (2019 North American Team)logo stdLotus Esports
May 20192019-05-29Aug 20192019-08-052mo 7d
ejel
NA
Logo stdC H I N A
≈Aug 2019≈2019-08-17≈Sep 2019≈2019-09-01≈15d
ejel
NA
Lucky Esportslogo stdLucky Esports
Sep 20192019-09-19[1]Jan 20202020-01-173mo 28d
ejel
NA
Aqualix Esports.NAlogo stdAqualix Esports
Jan 20202020-01-17[2]Feb 20202020-02-1024d
ejel
NA
Supernovalogo stdSupernova
Feb 20202020-02-10[4]Feb 20202020-02-23[14]13d
ejel
NA
Supernovalogo stdSupernova
Feb 20202020-02-23[14]Oct 20202020-10-23[3]8mo
ejel
NA
Barrage.NAlogo stdBarrage.NA
Jan 20212021-01-09[6]May 20212021-05-07[5]3mo 29d
ejel
NA
Resolve NAlogo stdResolve NA
May 20212021-05-16[8]Nov 20212021-11-05[7]5mo 20d
ejel
NA
Maryville Universitylogo stdMaryville University
Dec 20212021-12-23[10]Dec 20222022-12-01[9]1yr 9d
ejel
NA
Team Liquid Academylogo stdTL Academy
Dec 20222022-12-01[9]Jan 20232023-01-111mo 10d
ejel
NA
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTL Challengers
Jan 20232023-01-11Jul 20232023-07-05[11]5mo 25d
ejel
NA
Team Liquidlogo stdTeam Liquid
Jul 20232023-07-05[12]Present8mo 14d
ej

News

  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022
  • 2023
NA
F3 Visualslogo stdF3January (approx.),
NotTheRealPhilip,
Nova Bot,
always think ahe,
corgi, and
jamican banana join.
NA
F3 Visualslogo stdF3February 26 (approx.),
Draxyr,
Nova Bot,
always think ahe,
corgi,
jamican banana,
NotTheRealPhilip,
Qitong, and Conqueror Draco leave.
NA
Lotus Esports (2019 North American Team)logo stdLTSApril (approx.),
Srtty,
EricZYang,
always plan ahea,
Snitch, and
Wukie join.

Seranok and Wak3r join as substitutes.
NA
Fruition Esportslogo stdFREApril 10,
eXyu,
always plan ahea,
Locke Lamora, and
Tomo join.
MattyMooo (Jungle to Bot) changes position.
Gible leaves.
NA
Fruition Esportslogo stdFREMay 14,
always plan ahea leaves.
NA
Lotus Esports (2019 North American Team)logo stdLTSMay 29,
Dragonminkim and
Yeonbee join.

eThug joins as substitute.

always plan ahea moves to substitute.
EricZYang leaves.
NA
Lotus Esports (2019 North American Team)logo stdLTSAugust 5, Lotus Esports transfers its roster to Hyper Nova and disbands.
Srtty,
Dragonminkim,
KT Impression,
Spawwwwn,
Gweiss,
VeryBitter,
always plan ahea, Coach Mike (Head Coach), and Nezzi (Internal Analyst) leave.
NA
Logo stdC H August 17 (approx.),
Tony Top,
Siddywiddy,
always plan ahea,
Tomo, and
Mist join.
NA
Logo stdC H September 1 (approx.),
Tony Top,
Siddywiddy,
always plan ahea,
CoreTienZ, and
Mist leave.
NA
Lucky Esportslogo stdLKYSeptember 19,
NotTheRealPhilip,
Kenv1,
always plan ahea,
Tomo, and
QTNG join.

Zhadox and Mitch leave.[1]
NA
Lucky Esportslogo stdLKYJanuary 17,
NotTheRealPhilip,
always plan ahea, and
Ugandan Royalty leave.
NA
Aqualix Esports.NAlogo stdAQLXJanuary 17,
NotTheRealPhilip,
Hyper,
always plan ahea,
Meech, and
Ugandan Royalty join.
[2]
NA
Aqualix Esports.NAlogo stdAQLXFebruary 10,
NotTheRealPhilip,
Hyper,
always plan ahea,
Meech, and
Ugandan Royalty leave.
NA
Supernovalogo stdSNFebruary 10,
always plan ahea joins as substitute.
[4]
NA
Supernovalogo stdSNFebruary 23,
Nuclear rejoins.

always plan ahea moves to starting roster.
Strompest and
Jurassiq move to substitutes.[14][15]
NA
Supernovalogo stdSNAugust 1, always plan ahea renames to APA.
NA
Supernovalogo stdSNOctober 23,
PCL,
APA,
EvanRL,
Clyde,
Kind, and Gbay99 (Analyst) leave.[3]
NA
Barrage.NAlogo stdBRGJanuary 9,
PieCakeLord,
Fanatiik,
APA,
Gorica, and
Winter join.
[6]
NA
Barrage.NAlogo stdBRGMarch 16,
PCL,
Fanatiik,
APA,
Gorica, and
Winter's contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 14 May 2021.[16]
NA
Barrage.NAlogo stdBRGApril 16,
APA and
Winter are allowed to look for opportunities with other teams.[17][18]
NA
Barrage.NAlogo stdBRGMay 7, Resolve acquires the Barrage organization.
PCL,
Fanatiik,
APA,
Winter, Lucien (Head Coach), XT (Manager), Jeff (Owner), AJ (Head of Performance), Excite (Head of Social Media), Froomie (League of Legends Director), and Slimkins (Talent Manager) leave.[5]
NA
Resolve NAlogo stdRSV.NAMay 16, Team is formed.
PCL,
Fanatiik,
APA,
Array, and
Winter join.
[8]
NA
Resolve NAlogo stdRSV.NASeptember 14,
PCL,
Fanatiik,
APA,
Array, and
Winter's contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 6 November 2021.[19]
NA
Resolve NAlogo stdRSV.NASeptember 27,
APA,
Array, and
Winter are allowed to look for opportunities with other teams.[20][21][22]
NA
Resolve NAlogo stdRSV.NANovember 5,
PCL,
Fanatiik,
APA,
Array, and
Winter are removed from the GCD.[7]
NA
Maryville Universitylogo stdMUDecember 23,
APA joins.
[10]
NA
Maryville Universitylogo stdMUDecember 1,
APA leaves.[9]
NA
Team Liquid Academylogo stdTL.ADecember 1,
Mir and
APA are added to the GCD.
[9]
Mir and
APA's contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2024.[9]
NA
Team Liquid Academylogo stdTL.ADecember 6,
Arrow and
Kim Down join.

Mir and
APA's joining is confirmed.
[23]
NA
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLCJanuary 11, Team Liquid Academylogo stdTL Academy renames to Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTL Challengers.
Bradley and
Arrow's contracts are transferred to Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTL Challengers in the GCD, expiring on 21 November 2023.
Mir,
APA, and
Kim Down's contracts are transferred to Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTL Challengers in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2024.[24]
NA
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLCJuly 5,
APA leaves for main roster.[11]
NA
Team Liquidlogo stdTLJuly 5,
APA joins from academy roster.

Haeri becomes inactive.[12][13]
NA
Team Liquidlogo stdTLNovember 30,
APA,
Yeon, and
CoreJJ will remain with the team for 2024.[25]

Biography[]

APA is from Warren, Ohio. Starting out as an Aurelion Sol one-trick on an account named always plan ahea, he began playing competitively on a variety of minor amateur teams in the 2019 season. The most notable of these teams was Lucky Esports, where he played alongside future LCS players Philip, Kenvi, and Tomo.

2020 Season[]

At the beginning of the 2020 season, APA joined Supernova, a longstanding North American amateur organization. During this time, he continued to main Aurelian Sol despite its lack of presence in the meta, but gradually diversified his champion pool over the season. Supernova performed well, winning the FCS Season 4 Playoffs and ranking highly in many of the other tournaments in the amateur circuit, but fell short in the SGC 2020 Play Off, finishing fourth and not qualifying for Scouting Grounds. Despite this, APA qualified for Scouting Grounds individually due to his high solo queue rank. It was at Scouting Grounds that he officially changed his competitive ID from always plan ahea to APA.

Prior to Scouting Grounds, APA was rated highly by analysts. In Tim Sevenhuysen and Pastrytime's power rankings for the event, APA was ranked fourth of the twenty attendees. The analysts praised him for his roam-heavy style but criticized his champion pool, claiming he was still too reliant on off-meta picks like Aurelian Sol and Cho'Gath. At the event itself, APA competed on Team Mountain Drake, which placed fourth out of the four teams. While the other three mid laners at the tournament (Copy, Yunbee, and CptShrimps) eventually wound up on either academy teams or LCS-affiliated amateur teams, APA would not be picked up by an LCS organization.

2021 Season[]

APA left Supernova and joined Barrage.NA, the North American branch of a European organization. He was the only player on the team who did not have prior academy experience. Working on the weaknesses that plagued him during the previous season, he focused primarily on playing meta champions, only using Aurelian Sol as an occasional pocket pick. Midway through the season, Barrage was acquired by the Resolve organization and Barrage.NA became Resolve NA. Like Supernova the year prior, the Barrage/Resolve team performed respectably across the season, although it usually finished behind the other top amateur teams. At Proving Grounds, however, the team outperformed expectations and finished as one of the top two amateur organizations in the tournament, qualifying all of its team members for Scouting Grounds.

During his second Scouting Grounds appearance, APA was drafted onto Team Ocean Drake. However, APA's team once again finished last and APA was not picked up by an LCS organization afterward.

2022 Season[]

APA joined Maryville University, considered one of the best collegiate organizations in North America, where he split time with Oceanic mid laner Getback. Maryville performed well throughout the season in both the amateur and collegiate scene, but was not ever to finish first in either the Proving Grounds Circuit or the College League of Legends Championship. As Scouting Grounds was discontinued, APA's competitive season ended after being knocked out early in Proving Grounds. However, APA would get another chance to showcase his abilities. Because Worlds 2022 was held in North America, many of the top professional players from around the world played in the North American Champions Queue.

APA performed well in Champions Queue even against elite competition, even maintaining first place on the server for several days. This performance skyrocketed APA's profile as a top upcoming North American talent and he was invited to the broadcasted tryouts for Team Liquid Academy. APA received even more attention during the tryouts after a game-saving 2v5 pentakill; APA and his team would go on to win the tryouts.

Trivia[]

  • His ID APA stands for "always plan ahea," his solo queue ID.
  • Known for his Aurelion SolSquareAurelion Sol.

Tournament Results[]

This table shows up to the 10 most recent results. For complete results, click here.

Minimum place

APA (Eain Stearns) Tournament Results
DatePlEventLast ResultTeamRoster
2024-03-104 LCS 2024 Spring
7 - 7Blanklogo stdRR
Team Liquidlogo stdTL Impact,  UmTi,  APA,  Yeon,  CoreJJ,  Spawn,  Reignover
2023-10-2315 - 16 Worlds 2023
0 - 3Blanklogo stdRR
Team Liquidlogo stdTL Summit,  Pyosik,  APA,  Yeon,  CoreJJ,  Reignover,  Dodo
2023-08-193 LCS 2023 Championship
2 : 3NRGlogo stdNRG
Team Liquidlogo stdTL Summit,  Pyosik,  APA,  Yeon,  CoreJJ,  Reignover,  Dodo
2023-07-214 LCS 2023 Summer
10 - 8Blanklogo stdRR
Team Liquidlogo stdTL Summit,  Pyosik,  Haeri,  APA,  Yeon,  CoreJJ,  Reignover,  Dodo
2023-07-171 NACL 2023 Summer
10-7-1Blanklogo stdRR
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLC Bradley,  Mir,  APA,  Haeri,  Arrow,  Kim Down,  Spawn
2023-04-013 NACL 2023 Spring Playoffs
1  : 3Cloud9 Challengerslogo stdC9C
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLC Bradley,  Mir,  APA,  Arrow,  Kim Down,  Spawn
2023-03-069 NACL 2023 Spring
6-6-3Blanklogo stdRR
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLC Bradley,  Mir,  APA,  Arrow,  Kim Down,  Spawn
2022-12-041 LA Comic Con Invitational
3 : 1Saint Louis Universitylogo stdSLU
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU Niles,  Odd Orange,  APA,  Getback,  ScaryJerry,  Shady,  Jensen Goh
2022-08-0317 - 20 LCS Proving Grounds 2022 Summer
1 : 2TSM Academylogo stdTSM.A
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU Niles,  Iconic,  APA,  Azog,  Zyko,  Jensen Goh
2022-07-265 - 8 PGCQ 2022 Summer 2
1 : 2Area of Effect Ginger Turmericlogo stdAGT
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU Niles,  Iconic,  APA,  Azog,  Zyko,  Jensen Goh,  TEEJ,  Miko

Media[]

Post-Match Interviews

DateTournamentMatchLink
2024-02-04LCS 2024 Spring
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
vs
Cloud9logo stdC9
Link
2024-02-03LCS 2024 Spring
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
vs
Dignitaslogo stdDIG
Link
2024-01-21LCS 2024 Spring
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
vs
Shopify Rebellionlogo stdSR
Link
2023-08-13LCS 2023 Championship
Golden Guardianslogo stdGG
vs
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
Link
2023-07-22LCS 2023 Summer
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
vs
Dignitaslogo stdDIG
Link
2023-07-07LCS 2023 Summer
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
vs
Immortalslogo stdIMT
Link
2023-06-11NACL 2023 Summer
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLC
vs
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU
2023-03-18NACL 2023 Spring Playoffs
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLC
vs
CLG Challengerslogo stdCLGC
Link
2023-02-26NACL 2023 Spring
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLC
vs
Dignitas Challengerslogo stdDIGC
Link
2023-01-28NACL 2023 Spring
Team Liquid Challengerslogo stdTLC
vs
Immortals Challengerslogo stdIMTC
Link
2022-07-01Gateway Legends Collegiate Invitational 2022
University of St. Thomaslogo stdUST
vs
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU
Link
2022-05-31PGCQ 2022 Summer 1
Cincinnati Fearlogo stdFEAR
vs
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU
Link
2022-03-07PGCQ 2022 Spring 2
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU
vs
Supernovalogo stdSN
Link
2022-02-22PGCQ 2022 Spring 2
Maryville Universitylogo stdMU
vs
Nameless Randomslogo stdNR
Link

Images[]

Redirects

The following pages redirect here:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 UPL 2019 Fall Official Spreadsheet docs.google.com
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Aqualix Esports' Tweet twitter.com
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Supernova's Tweet twitter.com
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Super Nova's Tweet twitter.com
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Resolve's Tweet twitter.com
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Barrage Esports' Tweet twitter.com
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2021-11-04; after change - NA - 2021-11-05
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Resolve's Tweet twitter.com
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2022-11-30; after change - NA - 2022-12-01
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Maryville University's Tweet twitter.com
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Team Liquid's Tweet twitter.com
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Team Liquid's Tweet twitter.com
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Haeri's Tweet twitter.com
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 UPL 2020 Official Spreadsheet docs.google.com
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Super Nova's Tweet twitter.com
  16. ↑ Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2021-03-15; after change - NA - 2021-03-16
  17. ↑ APA's Tweet twitter.com
  18. ↑ Winter's Tweet twitter.com
  19. ↑ Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2021-09-13; after change - NA - 2021-09-14
  20. ↑ APA's Tweet twitter.com
  21. ↑ Array's Tweet twitter.com
  22. ↑ Winter's Tweet twitter.com
  23. ↑ Team Liquid's Tweet twitter.com
  24. ↑ Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2023-01-10; after change - NA - 2023-01-11
  25. ↑ Team Liquid's Tweet twitter.com
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