ALGS Championship 2021 Power Rankings
Competitive Apex Legends’ inaugural season is soon coming to an exciting close, with the ALGS Championship beginning play this Saturday, May 22nd. Lengthened due to the global COVID-19 situation of the past year, the Championship marks the end of a whopping 24-event season, between the four ALGS Circuits — the initial Online Tournaments, followed by the Summer, Autumn, and Winter Circuits — as well as other Tier 1 competitions in GLL Masters Summer, Spring, and PGL Showdown. And with the biggest prize pool of the season on offer at $1 million (which could rise even further through Respawn’s recently announced crowd-funding efforts), it’s safe to say viewers will be in for a treat as teams do everything in their power to come out on top.
With that in mind, I’ll take a stab here at ranking the strongest teams in the APAC North, EMEA, and North American regions as we head into the Championship. Let’s establish the ground rules:
1. As they say, you’re only as good as your last performance. That might be a tad too restrictive for this exercise, so let’s widen it a bit: I’ll be considering performance over the most recent tournaments, meaning the Winter Circuit events (Online Tournaments 1 through 4, plus WC Playoffs) and GLL Masters Spring.
2. In addition to tournament results, I’ll be incorporating team performance profiles (in terms of average points, kills, and placement per game) to separate one team from the next. These will be percentile-based scores versus other teams in the same region, and looking only among teams that qualified for at least 3/6 Grand Finals from the aforementioned events (or, at least 18 games played). These profiles can be found at my Team Evaluator dashboard on Tableau.
3. General consistency will be taken into account, but this is the Championship we’re talking about: you want to win it. Therefore, a proven ability to win will be important in bumping a team higher up the list.
Now that we’re on the same page, let’s dig into the rankings. With APAC North beginning Group Stage play May 22nd, they’re up first, followed by EMEA (starting June 1st) and finally North America (June 2nd).
APAC North Power Rankings
5. Reignite North
Japanese organization Reignite kicks off the Power Rankings with their North roster of DizzyMizLizy, sano874, and 788. The Reignite squad showed solid consistency across the Winter events and GLL Masters Spring, placing Top 10 in four of six Grand Finals, and posting an average tournament result of 8.7th place. Perhaps surprisingly, Reignite grades out as the best team in the region over recent events by avg. placement per game, though comparatively struggling in the kill department. It will be interesting to see how they adapt their playstyle at the Championship with the new Season 9 patch in play. I’ll also be watching to see if long-time Pathfinder specialist 788 sticks with the friendly murderbot, or if the new patch brings about a change in composition for the squad.
4. Fennel Korea
Next up is Fennel Korea, featuring Dogma, Minseong, and JungHee. Regular APAC North viewers will be familiar with this former OP.GG roster, and their well-established reputation as a top team in the region. Despite a very impressive avg. tournament result of 6.0, I have to bump them a bit lower in the rankings than I otherwise would due to their having zero wins over recent events (albeit with two 2nd place finishes). If they can figure out a path to more game-to-game consistency in this new meta, and improve upon their relatively weak placement — just 35th percentile among top APAC North teams since WCOT1– then you should see them vying for the top of the Championship leaderboard.
3. Fennel Gaming
Occupying 3rd in the APAC North rankings is Fennel again, this time with their Japanese roster of Pinotr, Curihara, and mo-mon. Funnily enough, their profile looks quite similar to their Korean counterparts: a fearsome team-fighting squad that has had mixed results in terms of placement (though, it must be said, coming out slightly ahead on both fronts). Crucially, Fennel Gaming has posted two recent wins, back-to-back in Winter Circuits 3 & 4, which solidifies their 3rd place spot.
2. Crazy Raccoon
All right, we’ve made it to #2 on the APAC North Power Rankings, and that’s where we get to the big boys. It was close — very close — but I have to go with Crazy Raccoon. The CR roster of Ras, Cpt, and Selly put up monstrous numbers, with the region’s best per-game profile, averaging 5.9 kills a game and 8.3 in placement, good for nearly 10 points per round (9.7 to be exact). What’s more, they managed an eye-popping avg. tournament result of exactly 4.0, and despite a few heartbreaks — three 2nd place finishes! — still came away with a win in Winter Circuit OT2. The intrigue with Crazy Raccoon as we head into Championships comes from outside their play — Cpt has unfortunately had to back out from the squad, with the organization picking up Zeder in his place. Additionally, since WCOT2, CR has had Ras exclusively on Horizon, and to devastating effect. With both Season 9’s Horizon nerf and a new team member in play, Crazy Raccoon will need to maneuver around a few obstacles on their way to a Championship victory, but there’s no question they have the talent to do it.
1. T1 Korea
With Crazy Raccoon out of the way, that leaves only one choice for #1: T1 Korea. While they do place below CR in counting stats (5.3 in avg. tournament result, 8.9 pts/game, 5.2 kills/game and 8.9 avg. placement/game), one thing is clear: these guys know how to win. Not only did Parkha, KaronPe, and obly snag three tournament wins, but they head into the Championship with momentum on their side, having won both Winter Circuit Playoffs and GLL Masters Spring. T1 Korea has favored Horizon as well, as has been typical for the region, so they also have some navigating to do on that front, but when Grand Finals are winding down, this a team that will have near-certainly put themselves in a winning position.
EMEA Power Rankings
5. Alliance
Swedish mainstay Alliance have had some up-and-down performances, missing qualification for Grand Finals of WCOT1 and 2, then claiming consecutive 3rd places in WCOT3 and 4, and finally an 8th place finish in GLL Masters Spring. It reads like a resume that would please many teams, but we know Hakis, Vaifs, and iPN-k0u’s ceiling is much higher — certainly high enough to pose a major threat heading into Championships. Ultimately, Alliance beats out other winless competitors for 5th here, such as Totem Esports (Amaazz, ShRP, JSavageW) and GYD (Gnaske, Yuki, SirDel), thanks to a very respectable average tournament result of 6.8 from the Grand Finals they did qualify for, and solid, if not spectacular, per-game results.
4. FlavorOfTheMonth
Competitive Apex’s longest-tenured roster of Taylor, noth, and Pjeh snagged a well-deserved first-ever win in WCOT3, and wasted little time in building off it as they came away WC Playoff champions. What keeps FotM from climbing even further up the rankings is their less-impressive results from the events they did not win: two 11th places and one 13th, plus missing GLL Masters Spring Grand Finals. On their best day, expect to see this squad fighting for a podium finish — it just remains to be seen whether they can manage enough “best days” in the Championship.
3. NaVi
Landing at 3rd in the EMEA Power Rankings is Ukrainian organization Natus Vincere, or NaVi. Led by MaxStrafe and joined by Kouhia and Nesh, NaVi put up some incredible performances over the Winter Circuit — performances marred only by a smaller sample size (failing to qualify for WCOT1 and GLL Masters Spring) and failing to secure a tournament win. With their 4 Grand Finals appearances, NaVi put up the best overall per-game results in the region, averaging a placement of 8.0 and 4.6 kills per round, good for 8.5 points per game. NaVi had a slow start following MaxStrafe’s joining the team back at the beginning of the Autumn Circuit, but the later addition of Kouhia, as well as more games under their belt, seems to have allowed them to really hit their stride. The only question is whether they can put it all together to finally emerge victorious.
2. Gambit
A hair off the top spot in the EMEA region is Russian outlet Gambit and their roster of Artyco, Leogri3x6, and fan favorite Hardecki. With three Top 5 finishes since WCOT1, five Top 10s, and having qualified for all six recent Grand Finals, Gambit has shown remarkable consistency. Not just that, but they’ve hit highs too: a couple 3rd place finishes, and, crucially, a win in WCOT4, which pushes them above NaVi and into the 2nd spot. That wasn’t just any win, either — it was the 4th-most dominant single tournament performance ever in the EU/EMEA region. Supremely talented and on a good run of form, Gambit has to be one of the favorites heading into Championships.
1. Nessy
Finally, holding down top spot on the EMEA Power Rankings is the maydeelol, Jmw, and Graceful trio of Nessy (soon to be known under a different, and likely much more familiar, name according to recent reports!). Originally, I was poised to break my own rule here in giving the #1 spot to a team without a recent tournament win. That has since changed, with Nessy retroactively being awarded 1st place in GLL Masters Spring following the disqualification of Avangard, but check their performances and I’m inclined to say you’ll agree with my original thought: five of six Grand Finals qualified, a Top 5 finish in each of them (two more than each of their closest competitors, Gambit and NaVi), and a region-best average tournament result of 3.6 (before the retroactive change). With a Championship format that will be heavy in games, Nessy is also well-positioned to rack up points as the top placement-securing team in the region, having averaged a placement of 7.6 per round.
North America Power Rankings
5. Spacestation Gaming
In some ways, I found #5 on the NA Power Rankings to be the most difficult decision of any in this exercise. Unlike other regions, where they seemed to be a bit more delineation between top teams and the rest, I found myself considering a fair number of squads for this spot. Ultimately, and with apologies to Charlotte Phoenix (Bronzey, mercyonlyy, Pride), Cloud 9 (zachmazer, Knoqd, StayNaughty) and especially CLG (ImMadness, Vaxlon, lou), I had to choose Spacestation Gaming. Making their return to competitive Apex by picking up the MouseAndKeyboard squad of Frexs, Xenial, and Claraphi, the Spacestation Gaming roster is notable for their great ability in making it to late-game scenarios, with a regional 2nd-best avg. placement of 8.5 per round. Spacestation had Claraphi on Caustic throughout the Winter Circuit events, being one of the few NA teams to use him; it will be interesting to see what they do in terms of composition for the Championship given the new patch.
4. NRG
Already we’re down to splitting hairs in NA at #4, where I’ve placed NRG. Big things were expected of NRG when they announced the addition of Sweet to the duo of rocker and nafen, and they’ve delivered recently, coming off a win in Winter Circuit Playoffs and a nail-biting 2nd place to follow in GLL Masters Spring. They certainly are heading into Championships with momentum and confidence on their side. What keeps them from rising higher in the rankings is some inconsistent earlier results; while they did place 2nd in WCOT2, it was sandwiched between rough WCOT1 and WCOT3 performances. I’ll have to leave them at 4th for now, but make no mistake, NRG is a good bet to be at the top of the leaderboard when all is said and done.
3. TSM
Coming in at #3, I have the darlings of competitive Apex themselves, TSM. Somewhat similarly to their rivals in NRG, TSM — ImperialHal, Reps, and Snip3down — had a bit of an up-and-down Winter Circuit, with fairly solid performances at WCOT1 and 4, and middling ones for WCOT2 and 3. But their strong recent play is enough to place them at #3, with a 2nd place finish at Winter Circuit Playoffs and a big comeback win at GLL Masters Spring. Both TSM and NRG qualified for all six Grand Finals, and both have 1 win under their belt, but ultimately, I have to bump TSM ahead thanks to their superior overall tournament placings, and very strong per-game results. Viewers will be in for a greatly intriguing narrative if TSM and NRG are once again trading blows near the top of the leaderboard in the Championship Grand Finals.
2. AimAssist
In the penultimate spot on the NA Power Rankings I have the controller boys of AimAssist. This one will perhaps be a bit of a surprise, but I don’t think it should be given their results — I’d venture to say they’ve just been a bit less top of mind lately, having unfortunately missed the most recent Grand Finals in GLL Masters Spring. The AimAssist squad of Gentrifyinq, Resultuh, and Dezignful finished equal with Spacestation Gaming for 2nd-best average tournament result among qualifying teams at 5.4. Their only real miss was WCOT4, a disappointing 16th place performance; this was well off the impressive standard they had set in previous Winter Circuit events, with a win at WCOT1, 5th at WCOT2, and 2nd at WCOT3. And they rebounded well, too, placing 3rd at Winter Circuit Playoffs. With the highest avg. points collected per game in the region, they are a worthy #2.
1. Team Liquid
Leading the pack in North America as we head into Championships is the Nocturnal, Flanker, and Albralelie roster of Team Liquid. This roster has put together an incredibly impressive resume of late: 6/6 Grand Finals qualified, Top 5 in five of them, the best average tournament result in the region by some distance at 4.2, and a win in WCOT3 to cap it all off. If that wasn’t enough, they also grade out as the best NA team in terms of placement per game, and 2nd-best by points per game. There is also the potential meta shakeup of Season 9 to consider, and Albralelie’s propensity for toying with and quickly mastering newly-released Legends — Valkyrie in this case. It’s possible this gives Liquid a bit of an edge, and given their recent play, that’s all this team needs to come out on top.
