Two Nessies sit on the analyst desk at ALGS Birmingham (photo by Joe Brady)
The ALGS Birmingham Group Stage is complete, with the upper and lower brackets confirmed that will establish who reaches the final and who is eliminated.
While some Apex Legends teams were able to establish dominance, the first stage of competition appeared more challenging than usual for much of the lobby.
Perhaps the most contentious focus point throughout the ALGS Championship 2023 Group Stage was the continuing dissatisfaction with EA’s servers. Despite facing significant difficulties and widespread rumours of a DDoS attack during the Split 2 Playoffs in London, the same server system is in place for Birmingham’s LAN.
As heavily anticipated by players, coaches, and managers alike, there have been several significantly disruptive game pauses and restarts, including a pause in the final stages of a Day 1 game. Opinions on the issue have been passionately conveyed over Twitter, including several comments from teams such as Optic Gaming and Oxygen Esports, who had their final game of the day reset after both found themselves in favourable positions in the early game.
Despite a few issues earlier in Day 2, the level of server problems arising has seemingly dropped significantly, with hopes high that tournament disruptions will be limited only to the ALGS Championship Group Stage.
Favourites TSM and DarkZero sail through to the Winner’s Bracket, with APAC-S team Blvkhvnd putting in an impressive performance
As expected, Split 2 Playoffs winners DarkZero have made a confident start at the ALGS Championship Group Stage. The team cruised through to the Winner’s Bracket at the top of the leaderboard – an achievement that comes with the highly valued day off, with no game to play on Friday.
In an exclusive interview, DarkZero’s Genburten expressed strong confidence in his team, explaining that since their win, they have not missed a single practice scrim and have worked on “getting into that mentality of winning the Championship”.
He also brought fighting talk to the table, accusing TSM of being “sheep” and claiming that UK esports organisation JLingz Esports are “chickens” for their defensive composition.
Despite their extreme success in the competitive Apex Legends scene as three-time winners, this is the first time the team has finished the Group Stage in first place.
Top EMEA team Alliance, however, have struggled to express the same dominance witnessed in the early stages of London’s Split 2 Playoffs. Starting Day 1 of Groups with their substitute player, Mande, they seemed less prepared for what has been an unpredictable lobby.
However, their stuttered performance continued into Day 2, despite Effect being able to take his rightful place on the stage. The team eventually secured a spot in the Winner’s Bracket – albeit in 18th place – and will be playing again on Saturday.
Regardless, the true success story in the group stage lies in APAC-South’s Blvkhvnd. The team had a satisfactory performance in London’s Split 2 Playoffs, but the Championship is where they have truly shone.
Following several successful games and a consistency many teams will envy, the team finished the AGLS Championship Group Stage in second place behind Dark Zero.
UK Team JLingz Esports narrowly miss qualifying for the Winner’s Bracket, finishing the ALGS Birmingham Group Stage in 21st place
Following the Group Stage, the ALGS format determines that the top 20 teams (ranked in a total accumulation of points over two days of competition) progress to the Winner’s Bracket, while the bottom 20 face an additional day of competition and extra games to qualify for Sunday’s Grand Finals.
Despite some strong performances, UK team JLingz Esports finished the Group Stage in 21st place, entering the Lower Bracket.
As a result, players Jmw, Noiises and Naghz will battle fellow EMEA teams Pioneers, GoNext, Aurora, Element 6 and LCDF to earn their place in Saturday’s second Elimination Bracket. From there, they will need to finish once again in the top 10 to secure a place in the Finals.
The ALGS Championship Bracket Stage begins
ALGS Birmingham’s LAN schedule vaires slightly from the Playoffs held in the UK so far this year. The Bracket Stage of the competition will be spread over two days: Friday September 8th and Saturday 9th. Over this time, 20 out of the 40 teams will be eliminated.
While the top 10 teams in the Winner’s Bracket will only have to play one set of games, all other teams will be competing in two sets to reach the Finals.
The fate of previous winners Dark Zero may appear to be decided, but many other teams remain in the balance.
EA announced back in July that Birmingham would the host the $2m ALGS Championship 2023
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.
