ALGS Year 5 Championship Day 1 analysis: Who surprised and who sank on their Sapporo 2026 debut?
Day 1 of the ALGS Year 5 Championship has already witnessed breakout stars, returns to past greatness, and sour disappointments.
The phrase “start as you mean to go on” represents pride for some, but concern for others, so who were the biggest winners, surprises, and let-downs in the Championship’s opening games?
The elephant in the room: ENTER FORCE.36 storms the first day of the ALGS Year 5 Championship
There were several standout performances on Day 1 of the ALGS Year 5 Championship. However, ENTER FORCE.36 certainly attracted the most attention.
After placing 5th in the ALGS 2025 Split 2 APAC North Pro League and 14th in the Pre-Sapporo ESCL Scrim, little expectations were held for the team.
Nevertheless, their breakout Day 1 performance made them one of the best-performing and most surprising teams.
Choi ‘ILY’ Jun-hyeok, Kim ‘Cinap’ Sang-rok, and Shin ‘Jusna’ Yong-ju started in Group CvD, a formidable lobby that was ultimately dominated by both ENTER FORCE.36 and Team Falcons, with five out of the six games won by one of the two teams.
Despite finishing with fewer points than Team Falcons in the set (75 points to the Falcons’ 91), they won Games 1, 4, and 5 over the North American powerhouse. In the words of B-Stream caster Greek, “E36 came out with a super, super dominant performance, I think some people don’t realise how difficult it is to take 3 out of 6 games.”
However, Team Falcons struggled to regain the same dominance in their second set.
ENTER FORCE.36 maintained power.
During their BvD set, they finished in the top 10 for four out of six games.
It was Game 6 that propelled them to the top of the set’s leaderboard, leaving the crowd, online viewers, and broadcast talent alike stunned by the team’s resilience.
Their 13-kill win saw them overcome a staggering number of knockdowns and resets, displaying a remarkable resilience that will go down as one of the most iconic moments in the ALGS Year 5 Championship overall.
Thanks to this resilience and overall consistency, they finished the day in first position on the overall leaderboard, with a guaranteed place in the Winners Bracket for Saturday’s Bracket Stage.
Which were the best-performing ALGS Year 5 Championship teams on Day 1?
Aside from ENTER FORCE.36’s stunning Championship debut, there were several other teams that achieved an excellent start to their competitive journey.
From Team Falcons to Citadel Gaming, here are the teams that matched their preset expectations:
Team Falcons
Returning Philip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen to his native IGL role has done wonders for Team Falcons. Comparing their performance before Rhys ‘Zer0’ Perry was benched from the roster to Day 1 of the ALGS Year 5 Championship, the difference is night and day.
ImperialHal had the most kills on Day 1 with 36, and the most knocks at 50. He also dealt the most damage by one player across his two sets.
Impressively, he achieved these accolades without his usual ZD Ultimate.
In a controversial decision, EA moved to ban ImperialHal’s controller of choice the day before the tournament due to its unique wireless capabilities and macros.
This unfortunate timing definitely did not hold him back.
Alongside his successful individual performance, Team Falcons secured third place in the overall Day 1 standings.
Their first CvD set saw them finish at the top of the Group with an astonishing 91 points, and although they were unable to replicate the same win-rate in Group AvC, they still scraped into the top half of the lobby.
With a spot in the Winners Bracket lying in wait, ImperialHal might be able to guide Ben ‘Wxltzy’ Walton and Zachary ‘Gild’ Dennis to the ALGS Year 5 Championship trophy.
Alliance
EMEA’s most successful team, Alliance, joins Team Falcons in the category of teams that successfully fulfil their high expectations.
Their remarkably stable roster (for Apex Legends standards) has established a well-cemented formula that consistently brings them success in both regional and international competition.
Under the guidance of expert IGL John ‘Hakis’ Håkansson, high fraggers Miron ‘Effect’ Novikov and Andre ‘unlucky’ Türk are constant troublemakers for their opponents.
Throughout both of their Day 1 sets, Hakis utilised precise macro and strategy to deploy Effect and unlucky like perfectly trained attack dogs, while he continued to deal long-range damage to maximise disruption.
The well-oiled Alliance machine finished Group AvB at the top of the leaderboard with 62 points, and claimed a respectable 8th position in Group AvC.
Placing fourth overall so far, they are also confident in a Winners Bracket placement for the Bracket Stage.
Citadel Gaming
For those outside of the EMEA region, Citadel Gaming’s strong Day 1 performance may have felt unexpected. However, the all-British roster has long been a powerful force.
Max ‘RemixPowers’ Creamer, Matthew ‘Zuni’ Archibald, and Kai ‘KaishiHaa’ Finch had a near-perfect two sets, a mirror image of ENTER FORCE.36’s success, finishing second in their first AvB Group, then first in Group AvC.
They also achieved at least one Game win per set and, several times, emerged with the most kills in their lobby.
Those who watched ALGS Year 4 will recognise RemixPowers from the Noctem Esports roster.
In 2024, Noctem Esports pulled off impressive Split 2 Playoffs and Championship performances that exceeded expectations, proving that RemixPowers comes into his best form under LAN pressure.
If Day 1 is anything to go by, he certainly hasn’t lost this quality.
UNLIMIT
A compilation of Day 1’s most impressive teams would not be complete without one of Japan’s home teams. UNLIMIT made a strong start in the tournament, continuing their success after winning Split 2 of the APAC North Pro League.
Yulariman, Peace, and Xtsuvi took some time to warm up to the top of the CvD leaderboard, an understandable struggle given the level of competitive prowess residing in Group C. However, they rounded out their first set in fourth place with a clean Game 6 win.
Despite not winning a game in their second AvC Group, they maintained a good record, finishing within the top ten in four of six games, including three top-five placements.
Their overall points total was also boosted by a more aggressive playstyle. They had the fifth most kills out of all competing teams at the end of Day 1, sitting behind only Citadel Gaming, Team Falcons, ENTER FORCE.36, and Alliance.
Honourable Mentions
Although finishing slightly lower in the overall leaderboard, both GROW Gaming and Legacy also warrant mentioning for their start to the ALGS Year 5 Championship.
GROW Gaming had a slow start in the CvD Group. Two top ten finishes and minimal kills left them in an unremarkable but satisfactory 13th position in the set’s leaderboard.
However, they found an impressively steady rhythm in Group BvD.
Across the six games, they won two games, placing in the top ten four times.
Meanwhile, Legacy appears to have achieved a return to old form on Day 1.
Saul ‘YanYa’ Ocampo Plascencia, Luis Enrique ‘Neazul’ Ramos Suarez, and Alexis ‘Jaguares’ Martinez, the ALGS’s Mexican trio, have an extensive history competing together. Uniting under the logos of both Team Liquid and Luminosity Gaming in the past, they now compete as Free Agents.
Their past performances have earned YanYa the nickname “El Presidente,” a spinoff from ImperialHal’s “CEO” nickname.
While the team has gone through rocky patches, their persistence and strong placements have landed them in eighth place after the first day of competition – a hopeful indicator of a long-awaited return to greatness during the ALGS Year 5 Championship.
Who was most surprising at the ALGS Year 5 Championship so far?
Apex Legends always stages thrilling underdog stories. Aside from ENTER FORCE.36’s surprising dominance, several teams have already emerged as unexpectedly successful during Day 1 of the ALGS Year 5 Championship.
HotDog Mafia
After qualifying for the ALGS Year 5 Championship, seeded 26th in Championship Points, few would have selected HotDog Mafia as a top ten team in Day 1’s overall leaderboard.
However, Beau ‘Rambeau’ Sheidy, William ‘skittleCakes’ August, and Mac ‘Albralelie’ Beckworth were able to do just that.
A 5th overall in Group AvB with two second-place games, combined with another second-place match and eighth overall in BvD, rewarded them with a healthy 7th place overall.
They might not be pulling off the most spectacular gameplay in their lobbies. Regardless, if they can maintain their quiet consistency, they could be an unexpected threat as the tournament progresses.
TSM
Over Split 2 of the Pro League, TSM were adjusting to their new roster of Ira ‘Dooplex’ Shepherd, Rigoberto ‘Gent’ Padilla, and Nathaniel ‘Panic’ Arthur, eventually finishing the Split in a disappointing 19th place.
Since then, the roster has clearly made strong efforts to improve player synergy, establishing a more noticeable team dynamic.
Both Dooplex and Gent bring a quiet, self-assured confidence to the roster. The two players have competed across numerous rosters since 2019, and their competitive maturity increasingly shines through as the roster develops.
Meanwhile, Panic is a less experienced competitor.
His professional journey began in 2023, and at 18, he is one of the youngest players at the ALGS Year 5 Championship.
However, what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in instinct and firepower.
Before Day 1 of the Championship, it appeared as though the trio were struggling to settle into consistency, particularly while supporting such a fresh-faced player.
In their opening CvD set, TSM were able to overcome the hyper-competitive nature of the lobby to end sixth overall, amassing a very respectable 54 points with 33 kills. While they were unable to replicate this as effectively in the equally intense AvC lobby, they still ended the day in 10th place on the overall leaderboard.
Panic was crucial to TSM’s point accumulation over the course of the day, contributing 22 kill points to the team’s total.
While some have doubted his ability to perform under pressure, it appears that Dooplex and Gent have worked out how to calm any nerves, especially since the team reportedly didn’t have a local bootcamp before the tournament began.
Team Mango
At first, 19th in the overall leaderboard might not appear notable. However, for Team Mango, it should certainly be recognised.
Gen Ghi ‘StrafingFlame’ Subroto is no stranger to high-pressure LANs. Individually, he has not missed an ALGS LAN since his first appearance in the 2023 Split 1 Playoffs for Iron Blood Gaming.
By the 2023 Split 2 Playoffs, he had united with fellow Indonesian Muamar Fahri ‘EzFlash’ Abrar under BLVKHVND, and the two have played together on several rosters since.
After Split 2 of the Year 5 Pro League, they reunited once again, alongside Australian player ‘crumbs,’ for the ALGS Year 5 Championship APAC South Last Chance Qualifier. LCQ teams typically struggle more at the Championship, as their Year 5 performance did not earn them enough Championship Points to qualify automatically.
Although they struggled in their first AvB set, they gained momentum in Group AvC to finish fifth in that set.
To end Day 1 comfortably in the middle of the overall standings, with a game win under their belt and several high-profile teams under them, is an achievement.
Oblivion
Team Mango were not the only LCQ team to surprise on Day 1. Oblivion, who qualified through LCQs in The Americas, also ended their first Group Stage games in the centre of the overall standings at 21st.
The trio of Miguel ‘Blinkzr’ Quiles, Bowen ‘Monsoon’ Fuler, and Brandon ‘FunFPS’ Groombridge was formed shortly after the start of Year 5’s Split 2 from KOI and Complexity’s former rosters after both organisations withdrew from competitive Apex Legends.
Before the Split ended, they were joined by British coach, RubyKaster.
With less than six months competing together and no organisation to represent, they are on their way to proving that their experienced roster can hold its own.
Like Team Mango, they struggled in their first CvD set. However, they found rhythm in BvD, claiming third-, fourth-, fifth-, and seventh-place finishes, with their third-place game also earning them a healthy number of kill points.
They might have a longer road ahead to secure a spot in the Winners Bracket, but it is certainly not impossible.
Honourable Mentions
It is also worth noting that, despite being forced to play as a duo, the LCQ team Men of Culture did not finish last on the overall Day 1 leaderboard.
The third player on the team was unable to compete on Day 1 due to visa issues. As a young player, he had to fight for his ability to travel to Japan. In a post online, he described how his parents were initially resistant to him going due to school and his grades “not being the best.”
However, he successfully convinced them to allow him to compete, and he updated to confirm that he should be present for Day 2 of the Championship.
Which high-expectation ALGS Year 5 Championship teams were the most disappointing?
Although there were a few disappointing performances, two stood out as particularly notable.
Both Team Liquid Alienware and Crazy Thieves would usually be expected to sit in the top 20, or even top 10, after Day 1. However, Liquid Alienware currently sits in 26th, while Crazy Thieves trails in 35th.
Across the two rosters, the players collectively hold 10 ALGS LAN trophies and 12 ALGS Regional Pro League titles. Despite this, none of the players seems able to perform.
So far in the ALGS Year 5 Championship, neither roster holds synergy. There is no well-oiled machine, only rolling cogs.
Liquid Alienware’s disappointingly disjointed Day 1 performance is more likely due to time rather than skill.
Each player has a wealth of competitive experience and success as an individual. Zer0 alone is considered to be one of the best IGLs in Apex Legends history, at times rivalling ImperialHal. In fact, their IGL v IGL head-to-head is infamous in the competitive scene.
However, the roster was thrown together in the offseason following Zer0’s departure from Team Falcons, making the ALGS Year 5 Championship their first official event competing together.
Having formed in March 2025, Crazy Thieves cannot lean on the same excuse.
Perhaps the fact that Noyan ‘Genburten’ Ozkose and Evan ‘Verhulst’ Verhulst once filled similar roles on previous teams works against them. Alternatively, perhaps the three players need a fresh direction overall.
Regardless, both Liquid Alienware and Crazy Thieves will need incredibly impressive performances moving forward to restore viewers’ faith.
With eliminations not beginning until Saturday’s Bracket Stage, redemption is always on the cards, but it will not be easy to attain.
Meanwhile, the strength of teams like ENTER FORCE.36 and Citadel Gaming will continue to challenge the status quo, hopefully promising a historic ALGS Year 5 Championship.
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