The first event of the 2023 Apex Legends esports season has just wrapped up and TSM are back on top and a few fan favourites fell out of the tournament earlier than expected.

Check out the results of the entire tournament here

After an eight-game finale at the Copper Box Arena in London, the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) has come to a thrilling conclusion. TSM has emerged as the Split 1 winner, reclaiming the championship title from DarkZero Esports, who dominated LAN tournaments in 2022.

TSM is widely recognized as a prominent team in the Apex Legends scene, known for their dominance in the North American region. During the competition, they maintained their consistency, advancing from the Group Stage to the Winner’s Bracket and consistently placing in the top 10 to avoid elimination. Their toughest competition came from NRG, their North American rival, and the EMEA team Acend.

The ALGS LAN Playoffs consisted of three parts, starting with the Group Stage where 40 qualifying teams were divided into groups A-D and played from 2 to 3 February. On 4 February, the Bracket Stage took place. JLINGZ Esports, a UK esports organisation and rising EMEA team, impressed the London crowd but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the finals.

The Bracket Stage also saw one of the North American fan favourites, 100 Thieves and APAC North’s NORTHEPTION from Japan fail to make it to the Finals stage. NORTHEPTION put on quite the showing during the Group Stage but failed to continue that momentum going into the bracket as they placed bottom of the Winners’ table.

The eventual winners, TSM dominated the competition, finishing first in the Group Stage and remaining in the top 10 in the Bracket Stage to secure their place in the final. Their rivals NRG followed close behind, ending the Group Stage just a few spots behind TSM and outperforming them in the Brackets on Day 3.

The ALGS LAN finals were played in Match Point format, where teams had to earn at least 50 points (the match point) to have a chance at winning. Once they reached this point, they needed to win a game outright to claim the championship title.

In Round 8, with four teams at match point, TSM executed a well-timed late-game Valkyrie sky-dive, giving them the advantage to eliminate the remaining teams and secure the trophy.

As the ALGS Split 1 winner, TSM have set the bar high for the Apex Legends competitive scene. Split 2 begins in only a few weeks, and the team will start the long journey to defending their position as LAN champions.

This win is a major statement for TSM as for the longest time, they dominated the Apex Legends scene. Last year saw them begin to slump from that glory due to an ever-changing meta and also their long-time third, Eric “Snip3down” Wrona leaving to return to compete in Halo Infinite at the end of 2021.

The boys in black and white recruited Evan “Verhulst” Verhulst, an incredibly talented controller player to replace Snip3down’s likeness.

In August of last year, the team decided to pick up a coach/analyst in the form of “raven” who played a crucial role in this tournament win. After winning the LAN trophy, he stated that their plan is to “just keep winning.”

Despite their achievement, raven showed appreciation for their North American rivals NRG, acknowledging their impressive performance in the tournament. He stated, “I will obviously shout out NRG too – they played a phenomenal tournament. I’d like to think that in Match Point, sometimes there are two winners.”