Team Liquid Alienware vs Team Falcons: What is happening in the ALGS battle of IGLs?
Following Rhys ‘Zer0’ Perry’s departure from Team Falcons to join Team Liquid, Apex Legends Esports fans have awaited the return of his long-standing rivalry with now ex-teammate Philip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen.
Before the two signed to Team Falcons’ debut Apex roster, they engaged in a consistent struggle for status as the best ALGS IGL.
However, the ALGS Year 5 Championship may have finally answered the question: Who wins the battle of the IGLs?
Team Liquid crashes out in 33rd at the ALGS Championship
Such prominent players nosediving out of an ALGS Championship in the first Elimination Bracket is rare. Doing so with Zer0 at the helm is almost inconceivable.
Team Liquid Alienware struggled to find any footing in Sapporo 2026. ENUK’s ALGS Year 5 Championship Day 1 analysis quickly identified their lack of synergy, with each individual feeling like a lost cog rolling down a hill rather than a well-oiled machine.
The disappointment over their slow start in the tournament was palpable.
On Day 1 of the ALGS’s B-Stream, host NiceWigg commented on Team Liquid’s lack of prominence, saying that they would bring clips of Team Liquid communications to broadcast, but the communication itself didn’t seem to be there.
Repeatedly, the team either overextended or failed to make an impact in the lobby, leading to crash-out after crash-out.
Even their wins had to be fought with dogged style, rather than the effortless confidence many viewers are used to seeing from Zer0 as an IGL.
Meanwhile, Team Falcons enjoyed a comfortable Group Stage, sailing into the Winners Bracket in first place in the overall standings.
Thanks to the incredibly high level of competition in Sapporo, combined with a challenging Year 5 Championship competitive meta, even the Falcons had disappointing games scattered through their sets.
However, no setbacks seemed to damage the team’s internal solidarity.
For the first time, a significant gap has opened up between the two best IGLs.
So, what does this gap really look like, and why has it opened at the ALGS Year 5 Championship?
Team Falcons soar through to the Championship Match Point Finals
While Zer0 must come to terms with one of the worst LAN performances in his career, ImperialHal is celebrating a return to undisputed greatness.
From lobby to lobby, game to game, ImperialHal has effortlessly manoeuvred his players around the map, with expertly selected fights, minimal recklessness, and a confidence reminiscent of his most dominant TSM days.
After finishing the Group Stage with a whopping 166 points, they continued their tournament success by comfortably advancing through the Winners Bracket, sitting at the top of the leaderboard.
ImperialHal simply appears superior to every other IGL.
In the ALGS Year 5 Championship so far, he appears to simply understand the game to an unbeatable proficiency. From recon and consoles to identifying clear areas and carefully traversing the map to find the perfect fights, his knowledge and experience shine through.
As noted by the official B-Stream cast, he also appears to be working extremely well with the insights from the famously brilliant analyst, Privacy.
His path to the Match Point Finals has been textbook.
Where did Team Liquid and Zer0 expose their current flaws: A closer look at Losers Bracket Round 1
While Team Liquid’s Group Stage performance was certainly disappointing, it is their final Championship set, Losers Bracket Round 1, where their current flaws are most clear.
Firstly, they were incredibly late to leave the gate, sitting with no points on the board after the first two games. As noted by B-Stream host NiceWigg, it was “a very unusual stat for someone of Zer0’s status and importance.”
Secondly, even when they began to wake up in Game 3 of the Losers Bracket Round 1 set, they seemed to stumble over navigating to beneficial fights or positions.
During Game 3, they earned a clean wipe against Cupid Esports, but were soon attacked by SBI e-Sports and were not well-positioned for the fight. They struggle in the ensuing fight, then get a third-party attack from FaZe, and just seem stuck in one corner of the map.
Thirdly, they were unable to build momentum from their Game 5 win.
After disappointing game after disappointing game, they finally secure a win, building from well-placed Kraber shots from Zer0. However, they loaded into Game 6 only to crash out on yet another zero-point game, sealing their fate and eliminating them from the Year 5 Championship.
Their inability to build on success is a notable difference between Team Liquid and Team Falcons.
ImperialHal has won several LAN tournaments by building momentum after late wins, including the 2023 Year 3 Championship. However, Zer0 was not able to harness that quality in the Lower Bracket Round 1 games.
Even other reputable teams that struggled in earlier games, such as Crazy Thieves, have achieved successful bounce-back victories through effective momentum building.
Confidence, ego, or disconnect?
One of the most pressing questions is why there has been such a drastic change in Zer0’s success.
His status as ImperialHal’s greatest rival was certainly well-earned. He has an incredible success rate as an IGL throughout his career and is known for his precise, aggressive control of strategy and his players.
However, he is also known for being an emotional player, with widely shared clips from past tournaments showing him screaming at teammates, chastising their errors, or even insulting their abilities.
As a result, he has also become a more controversial player compared to ImperialHal.
His past suggests three potential reasons for Team Liquid’s shaky performance at the ALGS Year 5 Championship.
Perhaps the shift away from his previous position on Team Falcons knocked his previously unshakable confidence. Alternatively, his notorious ego could have limited his ability to adapt Team Liquid’s strategy to the hyper-aggressive Year 5 Championship lobby.
He may also simply be falling foul of a disconnect within the wider team.
Team Liquid Alienware’s Year 5 Championship formed in the post-Split 2 offseason. This means that they did not have proper ALGS experience as a newly formed trio before the tournament.
Zer0 may be more reliant on his team’s dynamic than some would assume.
Where does Zer0 and ImperialHal’s past factor into the widening IGL gap?
This late-formed Team Liquid roster was born from Zer0’s bitter departure from Team Falcons, where he was competing alongside ImperialHal instead of against him.
When the debut Team Falcons roster was first announced, fans were desperate to know who would fill the role of IGL – ImperialHal, or Zer0. Ultimately, Zer0 emerged as the IGL, with ImperialHal playing alongside Zer0’s long-time DarkZero teammate Noyen ‘Genburten’ Ozkose.
Controversially, the longstanding Zer0-Genburten duo split after struggling to achieve synergy.
Ben ‘Wxltzy’ Walton joined the team for the ALGS Open. Suddenly, it appeared as though the trio had found their stride with Zer0 at the helm, with Team Falcons taking the LAN trophy.
However, their performance plummeted once again for the Midseason Playoffs, and it became clear that the fractures were too great to overcome. Clips of Zer0 lashing out at Wxltzy during practice games circulated online, prompting fans to seriously doubt whether the team could survive.
Survive, it did not.
Zer0 openly celebrated his benching from the Team Falcons roster. Despite seeming gleeful regarding his transfer to the now-Team Liquid roster, similar-looking cracks have re-emerged.
This prompts the question: Did Zer0’s strength as an IGL feed on the team structure scaffolded around him in his DarkZero days?
Zer0 and Genburten’s move to the Falcons and the forced integration of ImperialHal into a non-IGL role seemed to be the trigger that sent that scaffold crashing down.
From public crashouts of increased intensity (not that they didn’t exist before) to disappointing results, Zer0 is still searching for a functioning team dynamic.
If Zer0 doesn’t bounce back, perhaps a new IGL will take up the rivalry…
Sometimes, the battle between the North American IGL giants overshadows others who deserve to be included in the debate.
Team Falcons show patience with their fights – considering all the angles and what they can use in their surroundings, taking over other Rampart walls and manipulating height.
Alliance echoes this strategy, playing more slowly but also more deliberately.
With both Alliance and Falcons, every decision feels like a confident choice, not a reach.
Therefore, the most notable IGL deserving to join Zer0 and ImperialHal is Alliance’s John ‘Hakis’ Håkansson.
During the ALGS Championship’s Day 1 Group AvC Game 2, in an extreme crunch in rotation to zone, Alliance were the only team with advanced knowledge of the impending pressure on all other teams in the lobby due to Hakis’ scouting and info sourcing.
Hakis feeds information to Unlucky and Effect, like the handler of well-trained attack dogs.
When Effect goes down, Unlucky is never far behind to carry over the attack. When Unlucky goes down, Effect is always close by to resume firepower. The only times the system fails are if one strays too far.
In the meantime, Hakis will be orchestrating the attack while landing long-range damage to keep the pressure on other teams.
Alliance’s dynamic simply works.
In the words of B-Stream caster Greek, “They play to their identities.”
Perhaps Team Liquid crashing out of the ALGS Year 5 Championship marks a shift toward a new epic rivalry.
For now, ImperialHal finally claims the title of best IGL with complete confidence.
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