NRG put together back-to-back wins in last night’s North American ALGS matches, earning more points in each of those games than most of the lobby could manage over six. They finished in first with a healthy 82 points, while rivals TSM had to settle for second with 75 points.
Much has changed in the ALGS since 2020. The introduction of the new map, Storm Point, has shifted the meta and allowed new strategies to flourish. Even the format of the ALGS is different. But some parts of competitive Apex seem destined to stay the same for eternity. At this point, it’s difficult to imagine that TSM and NRG, the top-earning teams in Apex by a country mile, will ever stop demolishing lobbies of other pros. While both of those dynasties have had their ups and downs, last night’s matches demonstrated that there’s still a big difference between the elite of pro Apex and everyone else.
On a good day, the controller squad G2 can stop TSM or NRG from running amok. G2 did not have a good day. The lobby was thin on other potential rivals: Esports Arena and Sentinels play today. CLG are having a bit of a renaissance after the addition of Sebastien “Mamba” Cabrera, but they still struggle with consistency. XSET had their hands full fighting Charlotte Phoenix for control of the area around Storm Catcher. Many of the other teams in yesterday’s matches either have new roster formulations or were recently promoted from the Challenger Circuit, freeing NRG and TSM to fight like lions over their pick of kills.
But NRG got out to a slow start. It looked like they got a lucky break in game one, with a zone that landed near their home base at Checkpoint. But it was CLG who triumphed, notching 18 kills for a 30-point win in a relatively open late game fought around the trenches of North Pad.
TSM won game two with a brilliant extended push in the final moments of the game outside Barometer. The face of competitive Apex, Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen, bullied opponents with withering sustained fire from the classic Wingman-R-99 combo.
NRG took game three with great positioning. Chris “Sweetdreams” Sexton, NRG’s in-game leader, got his hands on a Kraber. In the end game, they wiped Atlanta Premier from th high ground without dropping a single player, putting together 17 kills total.
After the Storm Point matches, CLG were still leading on the strength of their opening game. NRG and TSM lurked close behind and the field sat around 10 points behind those leaders.
The World’s Edge matches began with a Lava City zone. NRG won a second consecutive game with highly aggressive play, farming weaker teams for points. In the late game, they took the high ground on the slope overlooking the area and got an easy clean-up against a TSM squad in disarray on their way to the win. With 19 kills, these three players were just shy of dispatching an entire third of the lobby on their own. The consecutive wins left NRG 20 points ahead of the competition.
Though RCO esports jumped into sixth place with a win of their own in game five, that didn’t change the math much since they had been well in the back of the pack. The final game of the day ended outside Overlook, where the underdogs Nightmare took a win. NRG’s Aidan “rocker” Grodin suffered a disconnection, leaving the team a player down. Atlanta Premier overtook CLG to grab third place.
TSM and NRG are atop the league standings for now. The other half of the Pro League plays today starting at 7pm CT on Twitch.
