ALGS Year 5 details: New 160 team LAN, schedule, how to enter

The ALGS is officially back for Year 5. Building on from a record breaking ALGS Championship in Sapporo, Japan is a refreshed format with the largest LAN event that the programme has ever seen. We're getting some new mechanics, a fourth map and so much more.

Here is everything that the ALGS Year 5 has in store, including how you can enter and compete for a share of the $5,000,000 prize pool.

The ALGS has used the same format across Year 3 and Year 4. However, for the fifth year of competition there is a slight shake-up to the format. This still features a Challenger Circuit, Pre-Season qualifiers, two Pro League splits and of course, three LAN events. This year, the competition will come in a new order and the first LAN event will be like nothing we have ever seen before in the ALGS.

Step forward the ALGS Open. A brand new 160 team LAN event. It will feature every Pro League team, in addition to 40 teams that can qualify from the Preseason Qualifiers. That means YOU could play in this LAN event.

Then, Pro League Split 1 will feed into the Mid Season Playoffs, with the second Pro League Split feeding into the ALGS Championship. Both of those LAN events will be the more 'traditional' 40 team LAN events that we are used to.

There are some other changes, including more teams getting prize money, changes to how points are carried between teams as well as a change from Playoff Points to Championship Points.

Here are some of the most notable format changes:

Like we saw in the BLGS, North and South America will compete together in ALGS Year 5 competition. That gives South American teams access to a Pro League, but there will now, of course, be no guaranteed South American representation at LAN events.

Also coming in Year 5 are Legend Bans, building on the POI Drafting that was added to the game during Year 4. The ALGS team are hoping to increase the number of Legends featured in competition, and challenging teams to have a greater versatility. But how will it work?

After each match, the most picked Legend will be removed from the pool of avaliable Legends for the remainder of the series. However, there is a limit. If an entire Legend Class is set to be banned, the longest banned Legend will be reinstated.

As a result, teams will always be able to pick at least one Legend from each class.

Legend Bans apply to the Pro League, Pro League Qualifier, Last Chance Qualifier and of course, all three ALGS LAN events.

After the popular addition of E-District, the ALGS map pool is expanding once again. Broken Moon is being added to the ALGS map rotation.

However, this won't apply to all competitions. Only Storm Point and Worlds Edge will feature in the Preseason Qualifiers. It is expected that E-District and Broken Moon will be held in reserve until the Pro League kicks off.

EA have shared some of the first dates for ALGS Year 5. Stay tuned, as always, for subsequent dates as things get locked down.

That means that action gets under way in just a couple of weeks!

As always, the ALGS is open to ANYONE to play, all you need is an account that is Level 50 or above. Registration is open now for the Preseason Qualifier, which is the first chance for you and two friends to take a chance at going all the way to LAN.

You can register for the ALGS Year 5 Preseason qualifiers here.

This year, there is more than ever riding on the Preseason qualifiers. There isn't just Pro League on the line, you can now qualify directly to LAN from the open Preseason qualifiers. Here's who's heading where:

Could you be the next ALGS star? Stay tuned to esports.gg for all your ALGS coverage.