XSET come out on top of NA Pro League day four

XSET took home day four of the NA ALGS Pro League today.

The set of six games featured teams like veteran controller squad G2, Complexity, SHEEEEEEESH (with popular streamers Jack “NiceWigg” Martin and Timmy “iiTzTimmy” An at the helm), Sentinels, defending ALGS champions 100 Thieves, and Spacestation Gaming—who, after a strong result today, increasingly look like the team to beat in North American pro Apex. 

Related: Spacestation Gaming’s Frexs talks ALGS, input wars, and building a winning team

In game one, Spacestation, who won their debut weekend matches, set the tone by continuing to demolish the competition. Joseph “Frexs” Sanchez, Angelo “xenial” Cadenas, and Mark “Dropped” Thees made it look easy in a final circle outside Countdown. Sentinels, the other winner of the Pro League’s debut matches, went out early.

Early in the second game, Sentinels were killed again after taking a bubble fight they couldn’t end cleanly. The Mexican squad Estral Esports won the game, which ended near The Tree, while defending ALGS champions 100 Thieves took second.

Complexity, a team that hasn’t met the high expectations many have for them in the Pro League so far, took the third game with an easy win near Launch Site. But it was SXG’s 16-kill third-place finish that earned the most points. SXG moved into third place, while unsigned team Sign Us Please and Spacestation stayed in the top two spots. 

In game four, Spacestation did well again. The endgame saw 100 Thieves perched above their opponents in a final circle that ended directly on the tower outside Countdown. 100 Thieves couldn’t clutch up from the high ground, though, and XSET, huddled near the base of the tower, hung on for the win.

With two games to go, Spacestation and XSET were tied for first place, but neither could afford any complacency. Both slumped in game five, while Esports Arena dropped a 12-kill win. Furia, running a team with a Fuse on it, took second place. The penultimate game wasn’t enough to radically change the math, and XSET and Spacestation continued to lead the field.

Going into the final game, it seemed like any team in the top five could easily overtake the leaders with a dominant win. XSET, only a few points ahead of the field, ran into trouble early, losing one of their players. But they got a revive, and the game developed in a dense and chaotic Fragment ending. XSET survived into the final circle with good positioning and outlasted the rest of the field, putting a stamp on their first victory in the ALGS. 

The popular team SHEEEEEEESH couldn’t repeat their strong performance from the Pro League’s debut weekend, finishing the day almost on the bottom of the field. Sentinels, who dominated their matches last week, couldn’t deliver the same consistency today. Veteran squads G2 and Complexity finished eighth and ninth.

In the overall standings of the league, the best teams so far have begun to create distance from the rest of the field. Spacestation is on top, with Esports Arena in second and Cloud9 in third. The popular TSM, a major draw for competitive Apex viewership on Twitch, are struggling in tenth place. One good day can bring teams like TSM and NRG within spitting distance of first place, but other Apex fixtures like G2, defending champions 100 Thieves, and Team Liquid are a bit further behind.

The $125,000 prize pool North American Pro League season continues next weekend, starting on Saturday at 3 PM CT.