Hardecki leads ex-Gambit roster to victory in EMEA Day 1 after relocating to Turkey to compete

EMEA Pro League finally returned, as a bumper 6 day schedule started on Wednesday. All 40 teams are playing every single day over the course of five days. The day truly belonged to Hardecki and the former Gambit roster, now known as Players, as they dominated from start to finish.

This was the first time that EMEA region teams had competed on Storm Point in ALGS.

Several teams had been replaced, due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. Several players had also relocated, assisted by some amazing work and generosity. In particular, Kralexxd has worked day and night to assist many of the Russian players relocating into Turkey so they could compete.

It was a truly incredible performance by team 'Players', who are no longer competing under the Gambit name. Despite having to relocate from Russia to Turkey at just a few days notice, the EMEA Pro League champions took victory in their usual style.

Less than 10 days ago, Hardecki was suggesting he would not even play this split of Pro League.

The trio had not played together for over a month, and one of Hardecki's teammates had not even held a mouse since February he said.

However, class is permanent. The Players roster were red-hot from the word go, cruising to victory on Storm Point with a 15 kill victory. Their ability to pick up where they left off is incredible. Overcoming all the obstacles and still being able to perform at their very best. They dropped another 15 kill win on World's Edge in Game 3.

The clear MVP of the day was Hardecki, he dropped an incredible 28 kills. On his day, is Hardecki the best player in the world? The Players roster can clearly handle pressure, so if they can get Hardecki to LAN - you'd bet he'd show up.

The ALGS broadcasters were quick to note that some teams did not achieve as many points as an overall team as Hardecki did just from his kills.

In the D vs A lobby, it was Invictus Gaming who snuck to victory in an incredibly tight lobby. iG, who made the bold decision to drop Blasts, will feel validated. Replacement Urban was on top form all day, and the iG roster had fantastic chemistry.

Notably, iG have moved away from their 'classic' Crypto composition and changed their gameplan.

They will be absolutely delighted with the start that they made. They will surely benefit from a packed schedule, momentum will be easy to maintain and other teams will not have any time to practice between tournaments.

iG, much like in their strong playoff performance, made a blistering start winning Game 1. Their newfound aggressive style saw them drop 8 kills on the way to victory. iG also secured victory in Game 5. They will be very pleased with how fast they have gelled as a team, but also their strength across both maps.

Blasts told esports.gg that one of their primary reasons behind the roster change was to adapt to the new map. While eyebrows were raised, if iG carry on in this vein, it will be a near-perfect decision.

ShivFPS has returned to Bangalore. DiffQ explained to esports.gg before their relegation playoff that they were moving away from Bangalore because she was not competitively viable. Then, Storm Point was announced to be joining the ALGS map rotation.

Bangalore fits Storm Point a lot better, and several teams either picked her today, or have been experimenting with her in scrims. This has given Shiv the chance to return to his natural legend choice.

This appeared to pay off, as SoloQGoats earned a 3rd place. Including an amazing duo win in Game 3. They struggled during the first split of Pro League. They will be confident that they can avoid relegation this time around.

SoloQGoats have famously been extremely stubborn over their drop spot. They started an all out war with the former K1CK roster to keep Skyhook, even when this was costing them the chance to progress in tournaments.

However, today SoloQGoats relinquished their spot on Worlds Edge to 69iQ. This perhaps shows how their confidence and stature has been affected by that relegation last split.

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ALGS is back tomorrow, March 24th, with two more lobbies of EMEA. With so much Apex to take in, be sure to keep an eye on esports.gg, we have you covered with recaps of the key moments in both lobbies every single day.