Crypto’s pick rate has skyrocketed in Apex Legends following the Season 16 update, making one of the most overlooked characters significantly more popular overnight.
Since his release all the way back in Season 3 of Apex Legends, Crypto has been an extremely low-pick-rate Legend, sitting right at the bottom of the rankings.
The Surveillance Expert’s often stationary playstyle when flicking in and out of drone view only appeals to a small collective of players.
Not only that, compared to other Legends, Crypto has never managed to break into the meta or establish himself as a powerful choice.
Well, although he’s not quite in the top 10, Crypto’s popularity has skyrocketed massively in Season 16, taking him from 23rd to 13th overnight despite receiving no direct buffs to his kit.
Crypto pick rate explodes after Apex Legends Season 16 update
According to Apex Legends Status, Crypto’s pick rate went from 1.3% at the end of Season 15, to 2.7% after the Season 16 update.
That’s a total increase of 108% in just under a week and based on the stats, his popularity is still increasing.
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This means the Surveillance Expert has gone from contending with Newcastle for 23rd and 22nd place in the rankings to 13th in terms of pick rate.
It’s even possible that Crypto overtakes Ash soon based on his trajectory, as she’s only just in front at 3.1%. This shift is unbelievable for a character who has never managed to climb the leaderboard or interest a large portion of the player base.
Of course, this begs the question, why has Crypto’s pick rate gone up so high after Season 16? Well, the hacker received no buffs or nerfs in the patch, but he did receive some bug fixes and is included in the new Recon class.
This means he can interact with modified Survey Beacons to reveal all enemy positions on the Map/Mini-Map for 30 seconds. In combination with his drone, this makes Crypto a brilliant tracker for teams looking to rack up kills.
The Recon class passive is without a doubt one of the strongest abilities in the recent rework and has given Crypto a new lease of life in Revelry. However, we’ll have to wait and see whether he can maintain his popularity, or whether he drops back down in a few weeks’ time.
