Everything you need to know about the 2022 ALGS Championship

June 30, 2022

by Brian Bencomo

The Apex Legends Global Series Championship takes place July 7-10 and is the culmination of the ALGS 2021-22 season. There will be 40 teams from around the world dropping into the competition in Raleigh, North Carolina, to determine the championship Apex Legends squad. The teams come from the following regions: North America (NA), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC) and South America (SA). Not only are the teams competing to be crowned champions, but they are also vying for a share of the $2 million prize pool, with $500,000 going to the last team standing. Before the competition kicks off, here’s everything you need to know including the qualified teams, how to watch, schedule and format, and storylines to watch.

Qualified teams

North America

Team Liquid, OpTic Gaming, TSM, NRG, Luminosity Gaming, Cloud9, 100 Thieves, Spacestation Gaming, FURIA Esports, Elev8 Entertainment

Europe

AYM Esports, Alliance, GMT Esports, Acend, FA Kitties, Element 6, Invictus Gaming, SCARZ, ZETA DIVISION

Asia-Pacific

DarkZero Esports, PULVEREX, esports team aD, Fnatic, Team Burger, DreamFire, Sutoraiku, DetonatioN Gaming, FENNEL, REJECT, FOR7, Crazy Raccoon, ORTHROS FANG, Buriram United, EXO Clan

South America

GODFIRE, Team Singularity, ODDIK, Infinity, Fenix Team, 1iQ

How to watch, schedule and format

You can watch the ALGS Championship on EA’s Apex Legends Twitch channel and Apex Legends Youtube channel.

The ALGS Championship schedule and format will be similar to that of the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs. The group stage will take place on the two days of the tournament (July 7-8). The 40 teams have been divided into four groups of 10, and each group will play a series of six games against each other group. Each team will play in three series (18 games) during the group stage. All teams from the group stage will advance to the bracket stage, and performance during the group stage will determine a team’s place in the upper or lower bracket.

The bracket stage will begin on the second day of the tournament, and teams will advance through a double elimination bracket over two days to determine the 20 teams that will compete in the finals on the last day of the tournament.

During the bracket stage, teams will play a series of eight games across each of the upper bracket and lower bracket rounds. Of the 20 teams in the finals, 10 will reach the finals via the upper bracket and the other 10 will come from the lower bracket.

In the finals, the 20 teams will play an unlimited number of games until a team reaches 50 points and becomes “match point eligible.” More teams can become match point eligible in subsequent games, and the first team to win a game after becoming match point eligible wins the tournament.

Additionally, the top 10 teams who advanced to the finals from the upper bracket will start with a points advantage, with the top team starting with 10 points, the second team with nine points, the third team with eight points, and so on.

Storylines to watch

Which teams are being affected by visa/travel issues and COVID?

Almost half the teams will be playing with substitutes due to visa/travel issues or players testing positive for COVID.

Some of these travel issues are related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Team Empire, a Russian team, will not be at the event at all due to all three players being denied visas. It’s unfortunate because Team Empire was one of the best EMEA teams this season and a real threat to win the ALGS Championship. They finished eighth in the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs. AYM Esports has been invited to take Team Empire’s place but has to play with a sub due to travel issues.

Besides Team Empire, whose entire team was denied visas, the following teams all will have to play with substitutes due to one or two players having visas denied (as of July 7).

Luminosity Gaming
AYM Esports
GMT Esports
DreamFire
FA Kitties
Element 6
1iQ
Buriram United

Among these teams, the biggest surprise is Luminosity Gaming because the players unable to secure visas to the United States are from nearby Mexico. Luminosity finished fifth in the Split 2 Playoffs, so it’s a major blow to a team that would have been a championship contender. FA Kitties are actually the roster formerly playing for Gambit Esports, and it is the one Ukrainian player on the roster who was unable to leave the country because of the war. Gambit finished third in the EMEA Split 1 Playoffs.

The following teams will be playing with subs due to players testing positive for COVID (as of July 7).

Invictus Gaming
GMT Esports
Crazy Raccoon
FOR7
Fennel
PULVEREX
DetonatioN Gaming
ODDIK
Infinity

Which teams are the favorites?

With Team Empire out and Luminosity Gaming playing at a severe disadvantage, that narrows the field of favorites to win the ALGS Championship. Looking at the final placements at the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs, the only other LAN event this year, is the best place to start when looking for favorites. The first team to look out for is DarkZero Esports (formerly Reignite), the champions of the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs. You also have to consider Team Liquid and PULVEREX (formerly Team UNITE), the teams that finished second and third, respectively, and who also were match point eligible when DarkZero won.

Beyond those three teams, the other trio of teams to keep an eye on are North American powerhouses OpTic Gaming, TSM and NRG. OpTic (formerly Esports Arena) and NRG were two of the best teams during the NA season, and TSM won the NA Split 1 Playoffs and have lots of LAN experience and have won and placed well at multiple big events in the past.

Which region has the strongest teams?

Based on the aforementioned six favorites, you’ll notice that they’re either from North America or Asia-Pacific. Teams from these regions generally did better at the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs over teams from EMEA and South America. Eight of the top 20 teams were from NA, and eight of the top 20 hailed from the APAC region, including the champions and third-place finishers. That means only four teams outside of these regions were in the finals: Team Empire, GMT, Elevate and Alliance. With Team Empire absent and GMT having to play with a substitute, NA and APAC teams will be in an even better position to win the ALGS Championship.

Have any new orgs dropped into the championship?

It’s often the case that organizations pick up unsigned rosters just ahead of major events. OpTic Gaming picked up the old Esports Arena roster and Luminosity Gaming signed SCRY ahead of the Split 2 Playoffs. Even more orgs have pounced on the opportunity to try to sign a winning roster ahead of the ALGS Championship. These are the new orgs and the rosters they have signed: