Apex Legends players are spoilt for choice when it comes to playable legends, however, Respawn Entertainment’s battle royale does not have many support legends. In fact, for a long time, there was only one option: Lifeline. This all changed at the start of Season 13, though, when Newcastle was introduced. His addition to the roster shook up the meta, along with our Apex Legends tier list, and he instantly became the number one support legend. Newcastle’s popularity saw Lifeline’s pick rate tumble dramatically – there was a new number one support legend in town. Now though, it appears that the natural order is being restored; Lifeline’s pick rate has climbed above Newcastle’s for the first time since his introduction.
Days after Newcastle was introduced to the Apex Legends roster, Lifeline’s pick rate hit an all-time low. Looking at the data gathered by Apex Legends Status – a site that tracks pick-rates, average ranks, and more – it can be seen that Lifeline was only picked by roughly 3.8% of players.
To put this into perspective, Lifeline’s average pick rate has been declining for some time – however, she was sitting at an average of around 5% prior to Newcastle’s introduction in Season 13. When she was at her lowest, Newcastle was at his highest – boasting a pick rate of over 10%.
However, it looks like things might just be returning back to some semblance of normality. Lifeline’s pick rate is back on the up and, for the first time since Newcastle’s introduction, she’s more popular than him. Interestingly, Newcastle’s pick rate has been steadily declining since hitting the aforementioned high point. This could signal that Newcastle is destined to suffer the same fate as Maggie, who has quickly dropped to become one of the least-picked legends.
Of course it’s hard to draw any solid conclusions, due to the fact that Newcastle hasn’t been available for as long as Lifeline and new legends always see a popularity spike when they’re released, but there is some correlation there that would suggest Newcastle had replaced Lifeline as the game’s main support option – at least for a little while.
Apex Legends players have been calling for changes to Lifeline’s kit for some time and Newcastle’s Retrieve the Wounded passive ability bares a stark resemblance to Lifeline’s long lost Revive Shield – which was removed way back in Season 9. It could be argued that Newcastle is better suited to replace Gibraltar in the meta, over Lifeline, as both legends offer shield-based ability kits. However, Gibby has found himself sitting fairly comfortably at an average pick rate of 3% for a little while now – and his popularity is higher at the top end of the Apex Legends ranks. So, we don’t think he has anything to worry about just yet.