EMEA teams looked to secure spots at the $1,000,000 Stockholm LAN as pro Apex Legends action continued Saturday afternoon. In the clash between groups A and D, K1CK won a series of games full of Bangalore smoke and highly aggressive play.
The top 10 EMEA teams will go to Stockholm at the end of April to represent their region, marking a return to global LAN competition for Apex esports after a hiatus of more than two years. With only three days of Pro League competition remaining, the pressure was on for teams to crack the top 10 and for leaders to keep their spots.
Acend Club, the former NEW roster and recent playoff winners, won the first game with 10 kills for a 22-point win. They have a big comeback still ahead of them if they want to earn a place at LAN. K1CK started strong as well, with a third-place finish that also netted them 22 points.
In game two, Kungarna, Acend, and T-Rex made it to the final three in a zone that pulled to the little outpost between Fragment East and Overlook. Acend played without a Gibraltar and couldn’t survive in the tight endgame while Kungarna lost theirs, leaving both teams vulnerable, giving T-Rex the win.
Game three went down around Fragment West, where only 11 teams remained at the end of round two. That gave the rest of the lobby plenty of space and their choice of strategy heading to the endgame, which pulled toward the narrow bridge between the center of Fragment and the broken building there. Natus Vincere looked good in the endgame with fully leveled shields while five squads tried to share the broken building. But the game finished in a heal-off, where 69iQ, playing Caustic, prevailed.
After the World’s Edge matches, the competition moved to the less familiar territory of Storm Point. Game four went down outside Shipfall, where the zone provided little reliable cover. K1CK, Kungarna, and T-Rex survived to play the endgame. Bangalore smoke and bombardments filled the final circle, which collapsed on a piece of debris. Kungarna triumphed, but K1CK came away with more points overall in another strong performance from them.
K1CK, Acend, and Kungarna were the top three with two games to go. Teams battled for territory around Barometer in game five. GMT fought off Acend for their perfect spot in the final circle, leaving GMT against K1CK in a fair fight. K1CK had no Gibraltar and no cover, and GMT took an easy win.
Still, K1CK were more than 20 points ahead of second place going into the final game. They were eliminated early in the finale, but the big lead made it unlikely that any other team could catch them. As the game developed east of The Wall, Acend and Kungarna battled for second place. But Kungarna fell to Horizon and Acend died right after, leaving Underrated to take the last win of the day.
The overall scoreboard for the top teams remained unchanged since the end of game four: K1CK in first, with Acend in second place and Kungarna in third. The win brought K1CK to second place in the league standings. Acend and Kungarna are still fighting for a place in Stockholm, just one and two points respectively from the tenth-place 69iQ.
EMEA Pro League continues its sprint toward playoffs tomorrow, with another two lobbies set to play at 11am CT.
