Following an eight-game final at London’s Copper Box Arena, the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) has reached its dramatic conclusion. TSM are the ALGS Split 1 winners, finally regaining the title from Dark Zero Esports, who dominated 2022’s LAN tournaments, reports Hannah Marie from London’s Copper Box Arena.
TSM are long recognised as one of the most influential Apex Legends teams in the scene, with a history of dominating their North American region.
Throughout the competition, they have remained consistent, qualifying from the Group Stage into the Winner’s Bracket before holding on to a top 10 spot to avoid dropping to Elimination Bracket 2. Their biggest competition came from their North American rivals, NRG, and EMEA team Acend.
Breaking down the journey to becoming ALGS Split 1 winners
The ALGS LAN Playoffs followed a three-part format, starting with the Group Stage. 40 qualifying teams were split into Groups A-D, which played out over February 2nd and 3rd 2023.
February 4th marked the long day three: the Bracket Stage. Notable teams such as EMEA rising stars from UK esports org Jlingz Esports narrowly missed out on qualification for the finals after capturing the hearts of the London crowd.
TSM breezed through each stage of the competition, finishing the Group Stage at the top of the leaderboard and keeping out of the bottom 10 in the Bracket Stage to book their finals ticket. Rivals NRG kept close on their heels, finishing Group Stage only a few placements behind and outperforming the eventual winners in the Brackets on day three.
ALGS LAN finals are played in Match Point format. Teams must accumulate a minimum of 50 points – the match point – to have a chance at victory. Following this, they must win a game outright if they are to earn the coveted title.
After reaching game eight with four teams on match point, TSM’s timely late-game Valkyrie sky-dive gave them the perfect position to eliminate the remaining teams and take the trophy.
In one of their first interviews as ALGS Split 1 winners, TSM’s Evan ‘Verhulst’ Verhulst revealed that this series-defining moment was actually a split-second decision from the legendary ‘ImperialHal’:
‘That was Hal – we didn’t really talk about that beforehand. It was spur of the moment; we just went. We didn’t talk about it; we just saw the opportunity, and we always trust our IGL. It put us in the best place,’ said Verhulst.
The ALGS Split 1 winners look to their future, determined to continue their reign as the best team in the world
As the ALGS Split 1 winners, TSM have set the bar high for the Apex Legends competitive scene. Split 2 begins in only a few weeks, and the team will start the long journey to defending their position as LAN champions.
Coach ‘Raven’ revealed that their plans post-LAN are to ‘just keep winning’.
However, despite having just achieved a coveted LAN trophy, he remained appreciative of the skill and determination from their North American rivals, NRG: ‘I will obviously shout out NRG too – they played a phenomenal tournament. I’d like to think that in Match Point, sometimes there are two winners.’
Raven’s sportsmanship and respect for his fellow competitors are admirable. Seeing his success as TSM’s coach, the team is sure to continue performing at the top of their game as the professional season resumes.
TSM also provided a full interview while they were bootcamping at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere ahead of the tournament. Their full pre and post-LAN can be found here, on Hannah Marie’s Medium content hub.
Hannah is a writer specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for companies such as Lionscreed Esports, Esports Insider, and SideQuest Hub she has developed a love for wider esports and Apex Legends, although it may never surpass her drive to passionately beat her friends in every game of Mariokart. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ESI London, EGX, Discover: Esports and many League of Legends watch parties.
