ALGS Preseason Qualifier One sees familiar names advance and aggressive meta swings

In the first official action of the third year of the Apex Legends Global Series, familiar names dominated the headlines. Year two Pro League mainstays Esports Arena and Les cités de France officially punched their tickets into the new season’s Pro League in North America and Europe, Middle East, and Africa, respectively. 

While the names that won the first Preseason Qualifier for ALGS year three were familiar, the play didn’t really resemble year two of the event at all. After years of a meta defined by defensive characters, their ability to hold down positions, and enable teams time to reset, the first Preseason Qualifier showed off just how far pro play has shifted, even from the ALGS Championship a few months ago.

While a short time ago you most likely would have seen Gibraltars, Caustics, Newcastles, and even Wattsons dominate pro lobbies, the meta has swung hard in the opposite direction, with very few defensive characters to speak of. Instead, Seer dominates the pro ranks with his abilities to detect enemies through walls at any time thanks to his passive, as well as his ultimate showcasing all enemy movements and his tactical canceling heals and revives. Alongside Seer, most teams have opted for legends with high engage and damage potential. Horizon is now incredibly popular in the pro ranks, while other attacking legends are also getting runs by teams. Indeed, the only character that seems to have maintained her place in the meta from last season is Valkyrie, whose ultimate is still a vital rotational tool for squads.

On the North American side of things, ESA opted for the popular Valkyrie, Seer, and Horizon composition on both World’s Edge and Storm Point. The team that many NA fans think should’ve been invited straight to Pro League proved why so many hold them in high regard with some dominant performances, particularly on World’s Edge. The team managed to stave off a late challenge on Storm Point from free agent squad Slept On and hold onto the lead for the win and the automatic Pro League berth.

Outside of the team composition, this was also the ALGS debut for Caprah. Still only 16 years old, this is the first year in which Caprah is allowed to play in ALGS competition, and the mouse-and-keyboard player looks to be settling in nicely as a consistent fragger for ESA. He finished the Preseason Qualifier with 16 total kills, good for third-most in the finals lobby.

In EMEA, LCDF were unafraid to mix things up and run some off-kilter compositions on their way to victory. While the Valkyrie, Seer, and Horizon composition was also popular across the pond, there were several teams using defensive legends like Wattson and Newcastle still. Accordingly, LCDF brought out a Fuse pick on both maps, ignoring Valkyrie completely. 

What the team lost in rotational ability, they gained in firepower. And despite the team composition giving them some up-and-down placements throughout the day, they picked up two big game wins and secured multiple kills in every single game of the finals lobby. Those points were vital as LCDF managed to win the final and the Pro League spot by just one point over former TSM coach gdolphn and his squad ToBeDecided.

Taking advantage of circles that pulled away from buildings that left Wattson Interception Pylons vulnerable, LCDF created enormous pressure on enemy squads with Fuse’s knuckle clusters, grenades, and Horizon’s Black Hole ultimate. From there, it was a simple matter of whether the enemy team preferred to die to the grenades or die from being flushed out into the open, becoming easy pickings for the French team.

As fewer Pro League spots become available and more teams face all-or-nothing pushes for wins in these Preseason Qualifiers, fans can expect more squads to adopt damage-heavy compositions and riskier play. If one thing is certain about the state of pro Apex in year three, it’s that the FURIA effect is real: teams are betting on taking fights, getting kills, and aggressive play over passive position-holding to grab wins.