The biggest Apex Legends tournament of the year kicks off on Thursday, July 7th. All of the greatest teams from around the globe will fight to decide who is the best. In a battle royale, any of the 40 teams have a chance, but some stand out from the rest. This ALGS Championship preview covers the squads most likely to bring home the trophy.
[Related: ALGS Championship Schedule and Streams]
TSM
It’s impossible to talk about competitive Apex Legends without mentioning TSM. Formerly the undisputed kings, they didn’t display the same level of dominance at the Split 2 Playoffs in Sweden. In Stockholm, the team managed to finish 6th despite an unusual amount of zero point games.
If recent scrims are any indication, TSM is fully ready for this LAN. Expect them to come out strong and possibly pick some off-meta legends. In practice, they experimented with a lineup of Valkyrie, Seer, and Mad Maggie. With confident calls from IGL Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen, this team should be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
DarkZero Esports (Formerly Reignite)
All eyes are on the defending champions from Stockholm. During their incredible run DarkZero managed to win the event without star player Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose. Now that the top Australian team is at full strength, they could easily repeat their last performance.
Before the huge win, Genburten’s ability to lay down damage and take over fights was thought to be the biggest part of DarkZero’s success. After the stunning victory, it’s clear that Rhys “Zer0” Perry is ready to enter the conversation of the top IGLs. If his shotcalling is championship-caliber with a player he never meet before, returning to full strength makes them a big threat to go back-to-back.
Team Liquid
Since adding young talent Zachary “Gildersons” Dennis in March, Liquid have been one of the most consistent teams. After the addition, they finished top ten in every competition. Glidersons rounds out the team perfectly and provides the raw fragging power they desperately needed for over a year.
Liquid is in the perfect spot in groups. Group C shakes out to be arguably the weakest and the second seed, NRG, is a familiar foe. They should be able to comfortably make it through the group stage and take their time to select a composition that works for them. Expect Glidersons to coast them into the finals and make a big impression on the last day.
Optic Gaming
North America owns all the momentum heading into Sweden. Five of the top eight seeds are representing NA and there is a good reason why. Optic is capable dropping 20+ point games regularly, they excel at 3v3 team fights, and play extraordinary well when they’re down a man.
Domestically, Ira “Dooplex” Shepherd leads the best “edge” squad. Edge teams love to loot up early and even take zone damage to craft more supplies. Optic often claim multiple drop locations, then leverage their gear advantage to overpower and outlast their opponents during the endgame. This trio will likely win innumerable skirmishes across the weekend and be a favorite to win it all.
Pulverex (Formerly Team UNITE)
The bronze medalists in Sweden represent a regional clash of styles. Pulverex likes to rotate early and focuses heavily on positioning. Opting for a Crypto, Wattson, and Valkyrie squad, they love scanning for zone knowledge and then fortifying a central position. This approach leads to more consistency, but less high kill explosion than North American teams. For example, in the Stockholm finals, Pulverex finished top five in 4 games, but got more than five kills in just 1 game. In Raleigh, the Japanese crew will hope slow and steady pushes them back to the top.
Alliance
Europe is looking shaky before this tournament. The region’s best performer in Sweden, Team Empire, is unable to attend because they were denied visas to the US. Other EU teams like Scarz massively underperformed in recent events. Alliance appears to be Europe’s best hope at the Championship. The squad is full of veterans with good chemistry. Fielding the traditional composition of Valkyrie, Gibraltar, and Caustic, means they can play safer. All around solid gameplay and strong leadership from John “Hakis” Håkansson places the trio strongly in the mix with the other teams in this ALGS Championship preview.
Singularity
Singularity is an unknown quantity going into the Championship. This team terrorized South America in 2022, winning basically everything. In a heartbreaking turn of events, a positive COVID-19 test for their IGL left them as a duo at Stockholm. Despite being at a massive disadvantage, the two-man squad fought hard, still putting up more points than full teams in several lobbies. With all three players, Singularity could be a surprise team in Raleigh. Felipe “Elysium” Zapata is the player to watch. Elysium accrued an astonishing 120 kills in Spilt 2, more than any other player in any region.
Honorable Mentions: aDRaccoon, NRG, Team Burger, 100 Thieves, FA Kitties, Furia
The ALGS Championship runs from July 7-10th. All the details on how to watch the championship are here.
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