The 2023 ALGS Split Two Playoffs kicked off today with the group stage, pitting all 40 participating teams against each other across 18 total matches. And one of the most impressive highlights from the first day of the event showcased how important movement can be in the endgame.
EMEA darlings Alliance have already started the competition off with a bang. After the first two group stage blocks, they have managed to wrack up a total of 45 kills and are sitting at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to playoff points.
While the team’s Oscar “Yuki” Jiang may be a fan favorite (and one of ours, too) there’s no denying that Miron “Effect” Novikov has been the one lighting up the scoreboard for the squad during the group stage. After only two blocks, he’s sitting at the top of the kills leaderboard with 23 kills across six games.
But beyond being an extremely deadly opponent, Effect also showed off how good at in-game movement he can be during the final circle of the sixth match of the A vs. B group. This endgame face-off was between Alliance and APAC South’s Onic Esports.
During the final fight, Effect warned his teammates about an opponent on the top left before jumping down from a staircase and using Horizon’s Gravity Lift. When the enemy team started firing at him before he could use it, though, Effect instead climbed around the exterior railing and popped out on the other side safely within the circle. This saved his life and allowed his teammate John “Hakis” Håkansson to fire at their opponents while they were distracted.
Though this move was impressive, it ultimately wasn’t enough to keep Onic at bay. The Australian squad were able to knock Hakis and Effect down, leaving Yuki in a final showdown as Caustic that most would have expected him to win. But it was Onic’s Lachie “Rakiiii” Bruke who came away with the victory in the end, giving his team a nice point boost to close this block out.
