5 Top Takeaways from ALGS Split 2 Playoffs
The Apex Legends Global Series wrapped up the Split 2 Playoffs with DarkZero Esports earning their second major title victory (3rd for Zer0 counting his win while on Team Reignite). It was a grueling yet exciting day of Apex Legends with major upsets and heartbreaks for some legacy squads like TSM. Along with DarkZero Esports win, there were plenty of other lessons to take away from the ALGS: 2023 Split 2 Playoffs.
Catalyst Is Back
Image courtesy of EA/Respawn
At the start of the Split 2 Pro League, we saw a lot of Catalyst play earlier on thanks to the great cover she provides with ultimate ability, Dark Veil. But because of how easily Seer could counter her with his own ultimate ability, she started to fall off by the end of the Pro League Season.
It turns out that since her release, the interaction between her and Seer wasn’t quite functioning the way it was supposed to. During the last big collection event when Horizon’s Heirloom was released, Seer got nerfs and changes so that his ultimate and scan abilities couldn’t see through Catalyst’s Dark Veil.
These changes brought Catalyst back in a big way as she was now a direct counter to Seer’s dominant scan meta playstyle. Throughout the tournament, Catalyst had a 43.58% pick rate, the fourth most popular character at the London LAN.
Japanese Teams Show Promise
The APAC North region showed up to prove something at the ALGS: 2023 Split 2 Playoffs, even though the finals would be dominated by a small handful of teams, early group stages proved that the Japanese teams have just as much promise as any other region.
In group stages, the Japanese teams showed some early dominance with PULVEREX, Fnatic, and Riddle all placing in the top 5 of Group C vs D, even ahead of TSM. In Group A vs B Team Naked came in second just under Alliance and ahead of Oxygen Esports and DarkZero Esports.
In Group B v D, FC Destroy placed second under Oxygen and secured two first-place finishes throughout the series. In the final group stage, Group B vs C, Fnatic and PULVEREX both placed in the top 5 alongside XSET and TSM.
Of the five teams from Japan, all of them except for Team Naked made it through to the finals, though none of them managed to break the 10 ten. They’re all still teams that you should keep an eye on going into the ALGS Championship later this year.
New Teams Rocked the Boat
When the major LAN events happen all eyes are normally on the usual suspects, like TSM, DarkZero Esports, FaZe Clan and other legacy brands. But that didn’t stop some of the newer, or less well known teams from rocking the boat.
We saw moments of greatness from Team’s like Realize and GoNext, Aurora Gaming contested DarkZero throughout the entire group stages on World’s Edge and while it didn’t work out for them in the long run they got plenty of clips for their frag reels.
Most impressive was Moist Esports, formerly Team Burger from the 2022 ALGS Season. They topped the winner’s bracket and ended up in 7th overall on finals day. But their performance here compared to their 2022 placements shows impressive growth and an upwards trajectory.
Major Divide at the Top Remains
Despite one of the best LANs in Apex History with a showing of incredible talent from around the world. There’s a major gap between the select few at the top and the rest of the ALGS ecosystem.
TSM had such an incredible game one that if they had replicated it in game two, they could potentially have won the whole thing in game three. DarkZero Esports was another dominant team that just kept rolling over teams whenever they got close. Both of these teams achieved match-point status in just three games. It took the other three teams who got there twice as many games to do so.
Even teams considered to be top-tier struggled in some cases at the London LAN. Fnatic and 100 Thieves didn’t even make 10 top. FURIA went out in the first losers bracket and now HisWattson has announced he’s retiring from professional play. Element 6, DreamFire and Complexity Gaming didn’t make it to the finals, falling in the second losers bracket.
Overall, this shows a healthy level of competition in the majority of the Apex pro scene, but the few still rule the top of the mountain.
Seer Still King of the Scan Meta
Despite the recent changes and nerfs to Seer, he’s still one of the strongest Legends in the game. While some of his changes impacted his ability to scout as efficiently as he used to, he’s become even stronger in combat scenarios and initiating fights.
Seer saw a 55% pick rate in the ALGS: 2023 Split 2 Playoffs with a total of 66 picks. Meanwhile, his scan rival Bloodhound, was selected only 7 times at 5.83%. Even though Seer no longer counters Catalyst, teams are still choosing to run him because his abilities are still extremely strong.
