Snip3down on Falcons fusing fireworks, Halo BR hopes & thriving on the ALGS desk

"I've got to be in the top ten longest careers in esports. I'm in year 16, almost 17. I live and breathe this." Eric "Snip3down" Wrona is the epitome of a professional, having spent the better part of two decades winning championships.

Spanning through Halo and Apex Legends, Wrona has now made his debut appearance as an analyst after a FaZe Clan fiasco saw him take a sabbatical from the roster and play on Native Gaming, who missed out on qualification to the international Split 2 Playoffs in Mannheim, Germany.

But despite being adamant that his playing days are not numbered, an appearance on the desk has been a revelation.

I sat down with Snip3down to talk about everything from his favourites and ones to watch during ALGS Split 2, his desk debut, and what his competitive career has to offer in Apex (and not Halo. Unless...).

Desk Debut

The ALGS Split 2 Playoffs has seen Snip3down be an almost-permanent mainstay on the desk as he opens his account as an analyst. In the opening two days, he covered five out of six heats of Apex Legends gameplay, breaking down the Group Stages in its near entirety.

"I have absolutely enjoyed being on the Analyst Desk," he told me. "I'm with a lot of peers who actually cast me in Halo, and whom I've been friends with. They've been hyping me up on the main stage, and now I'm next to them hyping some other people up."

"If I can't be up there playing, then I can't think of a better place to watch and be a part of the tournament than on that desk."

The legend of esports isn't ready to hang up the controller yet, but he already wants to stay within the industry beyond his playing years, claiming that analysing would be the perfect pivot, combined with content creation - and streaming.

"I would absolutely consider, you know, being a permanent desk," he continued.

"My favourite aspect of watching rather than playing is, when I'm playing I'm so tuned in on the game that the nerves don't exist - I've been doing this a long time and I'm always locked in and only focused on the game - but when I'm watching, I feel the buildup in the games. I see the points shifting and see where people need to go. You don't have that on the stage."

"I've gotten more nervous watching than playing and it's exciting being in the crowd and seeing the intensity out there."

Fame or fireworks for the flying Falcons

Snip3down's analyst debut doesn't come without some rather bold insights, though - just like his playstyle, he comes out swinging. This time, he had scepticism over his former teammate Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen and the new Team Falcons roster, which has been formed to dominate the world but could equally be the biggest bust that the esport has seen yet.

I asked Snip3 who he thought were the "underdogs" and a "team to look out for" in Split 2, where he quickly dapped up Bleed Esports as a team that could surprise the rest of the competition after already setting the tone in the first two days.

But when it comes down to the X-Factor category, it's all Falcons. He quickly cemented them as favourites to win, but there is a lot of uncertainty around the roster and the big personalities.

"I feel like they're also the team to watch because they haven't been as strong this tournament as we've seen them," he said. "They broke the kill record - or points record - in the last tournament."

But while he noted that Falcons might be the most entertaining team in-game, there's also potential for a huge explosion, seeing Hal and Zer0 both jostle for the reigns.

"I saw Zero say how he's never lost a Split 2 Playoffs," Snip3 pointed out, before adding that the serial winners won't accept not being champions and allowing the other regions to continue pinching trophies from beneath their noses.

"I think people are waiting for the Zero and Hal blow-up, because when are they going to disagree about something? It's all great at the beginning, but when it goes bad, there'll be some fireworks."

• I also spoke to Hal about his position on Falcons, as he reminisced over past relationships on TSM.

Halo chapter is closed... unless... 

Snip3 hasn't enjoyed much success as an Apex Legends pro this year, falling at the same early hurdle in both Pro League splits and missing out on LAN qualification for both FaZe and Native.

Yet, he has zero ambitions of leaving Apex and moving back to Halo. "At this point in time, Apex is the core game that I would play," he said. "I don't think I will ever go back to compete in Halo."

There was a small pause, though, as he considered Halo before he added, "If they have a Halo BR, it would pique my interest. That would be something. I think that they could do a really good job, but we've seen some struggles with the launches of some of those titles."

"Still, five years later, I love Apex and enjoy it. I'm always going to play other games and explore other titles, but I don't think there will ever be a time that I just full-on quit the game."

The ALGS Year 4 season is coming to a climax, with just the World Championships left to play, but there is no reason that 2025 couldn't mark a comeback year for Snipe3down. If not, there's surely a permanent home waiting for him on the analyst desk.