The Apex Legends International Sequence (ALGS) 12 months 5 Championship has begun, kicking off with APAC North’s ENTER FORCE.36 topping the primary day of the Group Stage.
Happening in Sapporo, Japan, the Group Stage has already seen a number of groups stand out from the group, from early contenders dominating to shock underdogs difficult expectations. Esports Insider takes a have a look at a busy day one of many ALGS 12 months 5 Championship.
However first, right here’s how the format works. The ALGS 2026 Championship Group Stage options 40 of the world’s greatest groups. Divided into 4 teams of 10, every group will play towards the others in a round-robin format. Groups earn factors by outsurviving different organisations and by securing eliminations throughout matches.
Though there isn’t a elimination within the Group Stage, the standings have an enormous bearing on the general event. The Group Stage determines how groups are seeded within the Bracket Stage of the event, the place the primary spherical of eliminations will happen. The highest 20 enter the Higher Bracket, whereas the underside 20 be part of the Decrease Bracket.
ENTER FORCE.36 Challenges Crew Falcons
Because the competitors commenced, an surprising rivalry emerged. ALGS Open 2025 champion Crew Falcons discovered itself in a neck-and-neck race towards APAC North competitor ENTER FORCE.36 within the first collection of the Group Stage (Group C vs Group D).
Crew Falcons started its ALGS Championship quest with an explosive begin. After wiping out a 3rd of the foyer within the first sport on Storm Level, Crew Falcons was on the cusp of claiming its first win, however ENTER FORCE.36, with lower than half of the eliminations, finally performed the lengthy sport and received the ultimate gunfight towards Crew Falcons, 5 Fears and Virtus.professional.
The remainder of the collection would see each groups travel as ENTER FORCE.36 turned the primary surprising impediment for Crew Falcons.
Within the second sport, ENTER FORCE.36 tried the same technique — keep away from direct confrontations. Nonetheless, it positioned ninth after securing one elimination. In the meantime, Crew Falcons adopted a extra aggressive strategy, ending with 12 kills after defeating Liquid Alienware within the remaining battle.
After Crew Falcons received Sport 3, the end result of the primary collection appeared determined. Nonetheless, ENTER FORCE.36 made a significant comeback because the map shifted to E-District. Video games 4 and 5 would belong to the APAC North consultant, successful each maps as Crew Falcons struggled to maintain up.
In the long run, as a consequence of Crew Falcons’ sheer consistency throughout the 5 video games, the primary collection noticed the Saudi Arabian organisation come out on prime, ending with a rating of 91 factors and a staggering 51 eliminations. ImperialHal additionally topped the kill leaderboard regardless of his go-to controller being banned the day earlier than the ALGS Championship began.
Crew Falcons took the early lead following the primary collection of matches. However as the remainder of the Group Stage unfolded, ENTER FORCE.36 would finally claw its means again to the highest after an eventful second collection, securing a complete of 133 factors.
Because of this, the Asian esports organisation has put itself in a unbelievable place forward of day two, the place the Group Stage will conclude.
How the Second Sequence Flipped the Script
The primary collection noticed most of the greatest hitters declare battle royale victories, from Alliance and Citadel Gaming in Group A vs B, to Crew Falcons in Group C vs D.
GROW Gaming, a roster that did not make its mark within the preliminary collection, was a stand out workforce in Group B vs D. In Sport 1 on E-District, GROW Gaming was in a position to make use of Newcastle’s defend and Caustic’s gasoline within the remaining ring to nook the three different rosters, FYR Strays, Scorching Canine Mafia, and Oblivion, and safe a suprising victory. In Sport 4 on World’s Edge, the Japanese organisation was capable of outplay S8UL Esports and Supernova to additionally declare its second win of the collection.
Talking of S8UL Esports, regardless of not securing a single win within the first set, it showcased a dominant show in Sport 2 with a 13-kill run. Within the remaining ring, S8UL Esports capitalised on the gunfight between Shopify Riot and 12 months 4 champion, GoNext Esports, to take down the 2 weakened groups and safe a map victory.
In Sport 3 of Group A vs C, orgless Indonesian squad Crew Mango slipped underneath the radar to assert its first win within the event. Costreamers Jack ‘NiceWigg’ Martin and Athanasios ‘Greek‘ Alestas have been puzzled within the B-stream because the underdog workforce outperformed kill leaders Crew Falcons and different prime groups, equivalent to Alliance.
The second collection belonged to the underdogs, although the identical couldn’t be stated about their bigger friends. Many prime performers from 12 months 5 of Apex Legends did not stay as much as the hype on this planet championship, with some well-known organisations seeing disappointing outcomes after day one.
Fan Favourites Wrestle within the Group Stage
There have been many fan favourites heading into the ALGS 12 months 5 Championship based mostly on the outcomes of the Break up 2 Professional League. Nonetheless, all through the day, some struggled towards the worldwide competitors.
Shopify Riot is a North American powerhouse that was anticipated to brush the competitors. Nonetheless, the organisation didn’t have the strongest of begins, ending 18th in its first sport on Storm Level. The most effective efficiency from Shopify Riot was second place in Sport 3 of the primary collection, which noticed the trio safe 16 eliminations.
One other roster that misplaced its thunder was Gen.G Esports. The brand new APAC South roster returned to Apex Legends again in 2025 and immediately turned a noteworthy workforce after successful the Break up 2 Professional League within the area. There have been excessive expectations for the workforce because it featured gamers who beforehand broke data inside the ALGS scene.
Issues started as anticipated, with the roster successful Sport 1 in Group A vs D, although the whole lot would then go downhill. From then onwards, Gen.G Esports would not often break the highest 10 groups in each collection throughout ALGS maps E-Disctrict, World’s Edge and Storm Level.
What To Count on Subsequent From ALGS 12 months 5 Championship
The Group Stage continues on January sixteenth, 2026, the place the ultimate collection will likely be performed, that includes Group B vs C and Group A vs D. This may function the final probability for groups to safe as many factors as attainable, which can resolve the seedings for the Bracket Stage on January seventeenth, 2026.
The general Group Standings see ENTER FORCE.36 prime the rankings with 133 factors in complete.
That is adopted by Citadel Gaming(132), Crew Falcons (123), and Alliance (100).
Alternatively, prime rosters which might be falling behind within the rating embrace Shopify Riot at twentieth (65), Gen.G Esports at twenty seventh (58), and Mid-Season Playoffs champions VK Gaming at thirty fourth (49).
The ALGS 12 months 5 Championship will proceed to unfold as groups compete for a spot within the Match Level Finals, hoping to safe the lion’s share of a $2m (~£1.48m) prize pool and be topped the 12 months 5 champion.
Followers can tune into the occasion via the official ALGS broadcasts, that are livestreamed on Twitch and YouTube. B-streams additionally run alongside the official broadcast, hosted by quite a lot of co-streamers equivalent to NiceWigg.
