ALGS Group Stage – Optic Gaming top the charts after first round with 3 wins in a row

The first round of the ALGS Championship Group Stage is up and what a round it was! There was plenty of drama and intense competition to behold in an action-packed first round at the PNC Arena in Raleigh. Household names fumbled and stumbled as underdogs put in a good showing. The flagship Apex Legends championship is finally underway and there's plenty more where that came from.

Teams from groups A and B faced each other in six intense matches of Apex Legends while groups C and D participated in an all-action session against each other in the first round. A few upsets as some big teams struggled to make an impact, disappointing their fans around the world. We also saw some surprisingly good performances by unknowns and underdogs, setting the stage up for an interesting Round 2.

Popular Korean team, esports team αD won the Group A vs B table with consistent performances. They won the second game and placed 3rd in the third game. What really propelled them to the top was their performance in the sixth and final game of the round. The team had 18 kills and placed third, nearly killing a third of the lobby.

Optic Gaming didn't have the best start to their first round, getting eliminated at 17th and 18th in the first two games with only one kill point to their name. They really picked up their pieces from game three, winning thrice in a row and sitting pretty at the top of the table.

Optic couldn't quite keep up the same momentum in the sixth game, ending up 10th. But their winning streak was good enough to keep them in 1st place. This was despite a crazy push from EXO Clan with a strong win in the final game driving them to 2nd place.

Some of the biggest teams underperformed in round 1 of the ALGS Group Stage. Household names and class toppers like TSM, NRG, and Cloud9 all struggled to maintain their momentum.

TSM finished 10th overall in the Group C vs D table, below an independent Team Burger. NRG finished even lower in 13th and struggled to make an impact on the proceedings. Elsewhere, Cloud9 Gaming finished 17th in the Group A vs B table, failing to score kill points in their final three games.

Valkyrie straight-up saw a 100% pick rate in the first round at the ALGS group stage with every team picking her. She's among the strongest legends in the competitive scene because of her ultimate being the best rotation tool in the game.

Seer also saw a lot of popularity with many teams picking him because of his heartbeat sensor and strong recon abilities. Among other popular picks were Gibraltar and Mad Maggie. Gibraltar has always been among the most consistently picked legends in the competitive meta. Maggie's tactical ability and movement with shotguns make her a strong counter to teams taking cover for a breather.

Caustic, Crypto and Wattson were also among the more frequently picked legends, if not as much as the aforementioned ones. Caustic and Wattson are tried and tested legends for defensive gameplay and Crypto is a great counter to them.

There's plenty more to come from the ALGS Championship. Underperforming teams like TSM, NRG and Cloud9 will have plenty of opportunities to bounce back and everyone else will have to do everything in their power to stop them. You can keep a track of the proceedings on our live scoreboard. You can also catch the stream on the official ALGS YouTube Channel.