DarkZero win ALGS 2023 NA Apex Pro League Regional Finals
DarkZero win the ALGS NA Regional Finals for Apex Legends
- DarkZero Esports won the ALGS North American Regional Finals for the Apex Pro League. This is the 3rd major win in the ALGS for Zer0 and Genburten.
- DarkZero Esports have been playing with a substitute player since Sharky stepped down in April during the Apex Pro League.
- Former Sentinels player RamBeau who filled in during the regular season was replaced with Xynew, formerly of Meat Lovers, for the regional finals.
The Apex Legends Global Series held their EMEA and North American regional finals this weekend for 2023 Split 2 Apex Pro League. The DarkZero Esports roster once again proved their worth and took a 3rd title by winning the 2023 ALGS Split 2 North American regional finals, earning their place in the upcoming London LAN in July for the Split 2 Playoffs.
The DarkZero Dynasty
DarkZero Esports was born in early July of 2022 when the organization signed the then roster of Team Reignite, winners of the ALGS: 2022 Split 2 Playoffs. Originally located in Australia, DarkZero Esports relocated to the North American region in hopes of finding bigger challengers and pushing their team to new heights.
Following the signing of Reignites roster to DarkZero Esports, the team consisting of in-game leader Rhys "Zer0" Perry, Noyan "Genburten" Ozkose and Rick "Sharky" Wirth went on to win the ALGS 2022 Championship.
A force to be reckoned with, it’s no surprise they’ve won the North American Regional Finals as well setting them up with even bigger expectations come the London LAN in July. What makes this feat even more impressive is that they were able to do it without their all-star roster from their last two major wins.
Sharky left the team in mid-April stating a loss of passion and love for the game in a TwitLonger post, though he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning in the future. So DarkZero has been playing with a substitute player since mid-April in the Apex Pro League.
DarkZero’s Drama-Filled Road to Regionals
Despite the Championship pedigree, the road to the regional finals has been slick with drama for the DarkZero roster. They had a great start to the Apex Pro League season with a first place win on Day 1, and a fourth place win on Day 3 and they came in only 12th on Day 4.
Following Sharky’s departure, the team needed a substitute and replacement at the mid-season break for the Apex Legends Global Series Pro League. Around the same time, former Sentinels player Beau "RamBeau" Sheidy had just announced his retirement from professional Apex Legends. Despite the retirement, he was still playing in the Realm League.
It came as a surprise to all of the professional Apex community when a week and a half later, RamBeau joined DarkZero. This led to quite a bit of drama and many professional players voiced their own opinions of how RamBeau and DarkZero handled the situation.
Following the end of the ALGS Pro League’s regular season, RamBeau wasn’t to be included in the roster for the North American regional finals. Instead, DarkZero picked up Brody "Xynew" Geissler from Meat Lovers, leaving in-game leader Will "TeQ" Starck less than a day to find a replacement before the team lock deadline.
Neck to Neck with XSET
Despite the short amount of time DarkZero had to play with their new third, they performed excellently in the North American regional finals. They had a slow start in the first three games with placements at 16th, 8th and 14th, while Team XSET hit match point in only three games.
Following a third place finish in game four and a first place finish in game 5 with 22 kill points between the two, they hit match point in game 5.
The regional finals would go a full 8 games with 8 teams hitting match point status, but DarkZero finally found a win in game 8 with 10 kills. Their final total for the day was 82, the same amount of points as XSET, but their win secured them their LAN spot.
Meanwhile, Meat Lovers ended their season 2 points shy of qualifying for LAN. Their former teammate, Xynew, was the top kill leader in North America with 82 kills, followed by Zer0 in second with 78 and Genburten at 6th with 65.
When is the London Apex Legends Global Series: Split 2 Playoffs?
The continuation of the ALGS 2022-2023 season will take place in London the weekend of July 14th through the 16th at the Split 2 Playoffs. 40 teams from the North American, EMEA, South American, APAC-N and APAC-S regions will compete for a $1,000,000 prize pool with the winners taking home $300,000.
You can make sure to watch the competition on the official Play Apex Twitch Channel or the official Apex Legends Esports Channel on YouTube.
