Gaimin Gladiators make dream start to ALGS Split 2

Gaimin Gladiators made a dream start to their ALGS Split 2 Pro League campaign, taking an opening day victory to kick off the second half of the season. The team, recently signed from OMiT, held off a strong NextUp to take first place by four points.

Elsewhere, PassionUA staged a huge comeback, dropping a gigantic 27 points in the final game to sneak their way into fourth.

This was the first weekend of the EMEA Pro League since the introduction of the new POI Draft system. Teams landing positions can be seen below:

When Gaimin Gladiators picked up this roster, they couldn't have asked for a better start. This ALGS off season, with the impending Esports World Cup looming, has seen lots of roster changes and organisations shuffling teams around.

Their top eight last split under the OMiT banner earned them an EWC spot, and thus attracted the attention of Gaimin Gladiators, who are a partnered team in the event.

Gaimin fought really well today, picking up more kills than anyone else in the lobby. Blasts was in especially good form, snagging 15 kills across the days six games. This came after an off season role swap between him and Lufka. The Brit has moved into a fragger role, and that seemed to have paid off.

Notably, the Gladiators were able to win the days lobby without winning a single game. They consistently found kills, consistently made late games but were unable to close out a win.

In some ways this will be seen as a positive sign. There is clearly more room for improvement from this roster, and they hope to keep improving as the league goes on.

Landing at Launch Site and Echo HQ, you can't even argue that Gaimin Gladiators success came as a result of the much discussed Draft system. Neither of those spots are terrible by any means, but neither are they considered amongst the best spots to land either.

However, Gaimin Gladiators have experience from Launch Site, and that could have made a difference in how prepared they were for the days action. Seeing if teams lean towards familiar spots, or the same spots week to week, is something worth following.

Elsewhere, NextUp (formerly Made In Heaven) also performed very strongly. They took second place in their first match day since picking up Naghz.

This squad were the surprise package of Split 1, and despite a roster change will look to fight off 'second split syndrome'. Often, Split 1 surprise packages can struggle under the weight of expectation in the subsequent split. However, there was no sign of that here and NextUp feel like a strong contender for LAN.

Perhaps one advantage this roster has is with a large support team. Coach Caffe, with Analyst Lumdum will be a crucial combination in this new era of POI Drafts. Teams only found out their drop spots on Thursday. Having a large support team seems to be a huge boost for a team, and NextUp are a team to watch closely this split.

For more coverage of the ALGS, stay with esports.gg.