While Split 2 playoffs are still to come at the end of this month for qualified teams from the Apex Legends Global Series Pro League, the hunt for the ALGS Year 2 Championship has already begun. Some of the biggest names in the Apex landscape are still very much alive, as well, as streamers like iiTzTimmy, NICKMERCS, and NiceWigg all qualified for Last Chance Qualifier via the ALGS Challenger Circuit.
The Challenger Circuit, functioning as the division below the Pro League in ALGS, qualifies 22 teams in total for the first Last Chance Qualifier, whereby teams can keep their hopes of qualifying for the Year 2 Championship alive. Teams competing in the Challenger Circuit had four tournaments to collect points, with the top 12 teams after four tournaments qualifying for the winner’s bracket in LCQ 1, and the bottom 10 teams being placed into the loser’s bracket. Despite Challenger Circuit being a lower level than Pro League, the presence of so many popular streamers in the final tournament meant the combined viewership from players’ streams and the main broadcast for the event surpassed 100,000 concurrent viewers.
The fourth and final Challenger Circuit tournament of the split began with several popular content creators on the outside looking in, but by the end, most all of the popular names earned a spot for themselves in the LCQ 1 winner’s bracket.
The improvement of NICKMERCS, alongside his teammates Deeds and Lewda, was marked across the span of the four Challenger Circuit tournaments. After not qualifying for the finals of the first tournament, the team known as “Tripods” qualified for finals in the second, only to finish last. The team followed those performances with a second-place finals finish in tournament three, and a fifth-place finish in the final tournament to secure their place in winner’s bracket.
SHEEEEEEESH, the streamer dream team comprised of iiTzTimmy, NiceWigg, and Complexity streamer Apryze, also managed to qualify for winner’s bracket, although with no shortage of drama. Needing a good result in the final tournament to guarantee themselves a spot in winner’s side, the team was beset by technical issues, with NiceWigg suffering from disconnect issues.
Despite the DCs, the team managed to accrue enough points for 16th place. That placement got them the 12th and final winner’s bracket spot available in the Challenger Circuit by the skin of their collective teeth, with several teams in the finals lobby incredibly close to them.
The group is joined in winner’s bracket by more familiar faces, including the first-place finishers in Challenger Circuit: TSM streamer Noko, with his teammates in Wingman season, former Pro Leaguers Stuhni and Xednim. The only team to beat Wingman Season also has plenty of Pro League experience, with ex-members of Torrent, Furia, and Atlanta Premier forming HCH: Hill, mrhackulo, and Crook.
An intriguing mix of pro Apex veterans, streamers, and relative unknowns stand ready for the first Last Chance Qualifier. The lobbies on the horizon, however, will be much more difficult, with Pro League teams eager to claim their own Championship spot, and a chance at the biggest prize pool of the year.
