5 Winners and Losers from the group stage at the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs

With the group stage at the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs coming to a conclusion, we've got a good glimpse at the pecking order. It's been an exhilarating two days at the Copper Box Arena in London for Apex Legends pros, and it's interesting to see how some teams are performing (while some aren't). On the one hand, we have a few usual suspects showing up and doing their thing as usual. There are, however, a few teams that haven't quite managed to meet expectations. Let's take a look at the winners and losers of the ALGS Split 2 Group Stage!

The Split 1 champions continued their juggernaut at the Split 2 group stage with a dominant showing that sets the benchmark for the rest of the teams. What looked like an outing that would otherwise meet expectations, having comfortably secured a spot in the Winner's Bracket, the NA giants turned up the heat in the final BvsC group, bagging two wins. They currently lead the overall points table by a hair's breadth, sitting pretty with a 197-point haul from the group stage. It's safe to say they're determined to retain their crown, having set the pace during the Split-1 play-offs as they fight for back-to-back championships.

It's been a year since Furia showed up at a LAN. They were among the marquee teams at the 2022 ALGS Championship. However, they've had a drastically different 2023 so far. After failing to even qualify for the Split 1 playoffs, expectations with Split 2 Playoffs marking their return to mainstream LAN were understandably high. For a brief moment, their fans felt they were back to their best and stood a good chance at laying down the marker at the Split 2 playoffs. However, that was not to be, as Furia were among the worst-performing teams through the Group Stage, dropping into the loser's bracket round 2 without a single sign of resurgence. On the bright side, at least their social media manager has a sense of humor, right?

Another team that came into this LAN with a lot of hype behind them is Alliance. The EMEA Pro League champs are recognized alongside TSM as among the best teams at ALGS. Alliance showed no signs of slowing down at the Split 2 playoffs, securing their Winner's Bracket slot quite early. There were some questions about their new 18-year-old recruit's nerves through LAN. As it turns out, the talented youngster is perfectly fine taking the mainstage, delivering one of the most prodigiously confident showings at ALGS we've ever seen. Effect completed the group stage as Kill Leader, above the likes of Verhulst and ImperialHal. Alliance also nearly matched TSM's points tally, coming in 2nd at 194 overall. Needless to say, Alliance and TSM are expected to be frontrunners through the tournament.

Northeption went into the final round of the Group Stage looking comfortable, placing 2nd in their opening BvsC game and winning the next one. However, the Japanese team quickly fell off the momentum train, struggling to find points through the remaining rounds. They ended up on the outside looking in, missing out on the Winner's Bracket by a mere 2 points at 90 points. While they had their moments and won a few games, it simply wasn't enough and they fell into the loser's bracket. They'll be hoping to pick up the slack there and fight their way into the Elimination Round.

Like Furia, NRG struggled to find momentum throughout the group stage, facing genuine concerns on their ability to make the Winner's Bracket. However, Unlike Furia, they did manage to pick up some momentum through the final round. They secured their spot in the Winner's Bracket in some style, with a brilliant clutch from sweetdreams. In a do-or-die game, NRG lost sweetdreams just before the final ring but managed to secure his banner.

Not only did they have the audacity to use one of the mobile respawn beacons in the final ring, but Sweet had the perfect setup for a picture-perfect finish. As the ring closed in on the chaos, Sweet, playing Rampart, grabbed a couple of ultimate accelerants from the Loba Black Market and charged up his ultimate. With Sheila ready to go, he tore into the remaining opponents, clutching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Aurora headed into Split 2, beefing with DarkZero who share the same LZ and keep contesting them for it. With both teams constantly taking jabs at each other on Twitter, everyone was excited to see the result of their little mini-competition unfold at LAN. While DZ comfortably found their way into the Winner's Bracket, Aurora dropped into the loser's bracket with some dismal showings, despite winning some entertaining fights against DZ. While all is not lost for them, and they can fight their way back into the finals through the Elimination Bracket, they did lose some ground in their little banter war.

Expectations were high from XSET after they won the NA Pro-League, but it wasn't quite smooth sailing for them through the group stage. They found themselves on the outside looking in, going into their final group stage game in a do-or-die situation. It appears they got the memo as Nocturnal led his team through a fantastic final-round victory to comfortably slip into the Winner's Bracket. Needless to say, XSET will be proud of themselves for showing up at just the right moment and securing their position in the tournament.

Vexed Gaming had arrived at the Split 2 playoffs with something of a point to prove after a dismal 31st-place finish at the Split 1 Playoffs. Having placed 2nd at the EMEA Split 2 Pro-League behind Alliance, Vexed had some high hopes for better performance at the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs. However, this performance simply didn't materialize and Vexed dropped into the Loser's Bracket at the end of a challenging group stage. This is despite a talented roster featuring the likes of Matafe, TylerFPS, and Unlucky. Vexed are among the teams that will need to pick up the slack and find their mojo.

Fnatic delivered a group stage performance that perfectly summed up the APAC resurgence at this LAN. The Japanese juggernaut delivered exceptional performances through their opening group stage round, with 55 points to show for it. While they had a quieter AvsC round, they turned up the heat again in their final group stage round, securing 3rd place on the overall points leaderboard at 143 points. While their points tally is far off the top two, they'll be happy with their chances so far, having comfortably secured the Winner's Bracket as the top APAC team. The highlight of their group stage was when they used a clutch Skyward Dive from low ground to secure victory in the fourth game in the final group.

Another team that will find themselves disappointed with their performance are the Fire Beavers. Having arrived at the Split 2 Playoffs with a reputation for an aggressive playstyle, the Fire-Beavers delivered some mesmerizing performances. However, these performances simply weren't enough as they weren't consistently scoring enough points on the board to make the Winner's Bracket. They missed out on it by just 4 points despite climbing their way through the table in the final group stage round. Nevertheless, they find themselves in a prime position to make a comeback through the Loser's Bracket.

The ALGS Split 2 Playoffs are taking place at the Copper Box Arena in London and Apex Legends fans around the world have their eyes peeled for some exciting games from their favorite players. Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest ALGS updates and esports news.