Esports Arena win the North American Pro League Split 2

The North American Pro League drew to a tense conclusion on Monday night. Esports Arena, who had dominated from the first week, secured first place. Elsewhere, the tense battle to reach the top 10 was won by Team Liquid, CLG and SCRY.

There was disappointment for defending champions Sentinels, and Complexity who will both miss out on the Playoff LAN. They will enter the LCQ in hopes of making the end of season Championship LAN in summer.

Esports Arena, who dominated all split, secured 1st place and $30,000. Dooplex, Skittlecakes and Knoqd have been lurking in the overall top 3 all split and are the deserved champions.

Esports Arena started the split by breaking the record points total for a team in Pro League, then followed that up with another victory. They also defended the Mill from Sentinels, helping sink them to 11th. This means that they have seen off one of the threats to their Storm Point drop at LAN before they even arrive.

It wasn't that long ago that Dooplex and Skittlecakes weren't household names in the Apex scene. Competing in the Esports Arena weekly tournaments with Verhulst. However, they have risen to fame and are currently the most dominant team in North America.

Even when star player Verhulst was poached by TSM, Esports Arena quickly adapted to new teammate Knoqd and have since risen to an extra level.

Notably, rumours suggest that their contract with Esports Arena is up in April. Surely their dominance in the region has drawn the eyes of some of the biggest teams in eSports. Could OpTic or FaZe be looking for a team to compete at the Apex LAN? They couldn't do better than this talented team.

Full standings on Battlefy.

Team Liquid started the day needing an impressive performance to lock in their top 10 position. Liquid absolutely delivered, winning 3 games in a row. They almost made it four wins in a row, but were denied by Cloud9.

Team Liquid used Wraith on Worlds Edge, going back to the more 'classic' composition of Wraith, Gibby and Valkyrie. Then on Storm Point they are one of very few teams to use Loba. Coach Hodsic told the ALGS broadcast that the team felt this was their best version of themselves.

Team Liquid very comfortably won their group. Most notably, they performed when it mattered. Can they harness this performance at LAN when he pressure is really on?

The biggest shock is that defending Pro League champions Sentinels have failed to qualify for LAN. They will be incredibly disappointed in their performance.

Critics will look to their decision to contest Esports Arena. Esports Arena were one of the most successful teams this Pro League. Could Sentinels have put their ego to one side and changed drop spots on Storm Point?

Their two weakest gameweeks were week 2 and week 5. Finishing 16th and 15th in those two lobbies. That netted them single digit points. It is not surprising to note that those are the two gameweeks that Sentinels were contesting Esports Arena. When Sentinels finished just 7 points behind CLG, just one improved week from the two would've netted them a LAN spot.

However, you cannot look past the fact that they also performed poorly on Worlds Edge compared to their Split 1 performance too. Sentinels would've been one of the top teams for LAN and many teams will be quietly pleased to see them stay home.

It was also a disappointing Pro League split. Playing with Muffins instead of Reptar, Complexity never quite got going this Pro League split. While they started the day in the top 10, frankly they crumbled under the pressure today. Finishing 19th, they earned just a single point towards the overall standings. Eyes will be on if Complexity keep Muffins, or look for a new permanent replacement for Reptar.

One of the biggest underdog teams this split has been RCO eSports. The trio of Nand2o3, Holliday and iSleepyPanda put down some incredibly consistent results. They came through the challenger circuit qualifiers.

It is credit to their work ethic and mentality that they adapted to the top level so quickly. They will be dark horses for the next split of the Pro League and the upcoming LCQ's.

CLG have completed their comeback story, squeaking into LAN with a 10th placed finish. The trio of MaliceMamba, Vatroh and Nanofrys have been steadily improving. Their performance in the Knights Carnage Cup showed positive signs that CLG were especially strong on Storm Point.

Don't forget, CLG were relegated last Pro League split, and after a small roster change fought to regain their Pro League status. It is testament to their quick adaptation to Storm Point and the hard work they put in to improve their Worlds Edge that they have completed their amazing turnaround.

SCRY also flew into the top 10 under the radar. While focus has been on big names like Sentinels, Esports Arena and NRG, SCRY have quietly improved week by week. Their 2nd place yesterday, followed by their victory today has seen them into 9th place.

For coverage of the ALGS Playoff LAN, and all other things Apex Legends , stay tuned to esports.gg.