Element 6 book tickets to London with dominant showing

Element 6 secured their spot in the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs with a strong performance in the ALGS Pro League. They won two Worlds Edge matches, and now sit comfortably in the top 10.

It has been a topsy turvy split for Element 6, with roster changes and input changes disrupting their flow at times. However, they will be delighted to be once again heading to LAN.

Elsewhere, Vexed Gaming previewed their strategy for the upcoming playoffs reintroducing Caustic and Gibraltar to the ALGS.

Element 6's success today was in no small part down to their use of Horizon. The gravity defying legend took heavy nerfs at the start of Season 16. Prior to those changes, she was a mainstay of a lot of teams legend compositions due to her extreme aggressive power.

The changes she received massively changed what she offers to teams. Instead of pure aggression, her kit is more suited to repositioning, information gathering and playmaking. Her Black Hole ultimate is still strong, but no where near as oppressive thanks to line of sight changes.

The strength of Horizon was on full display today in the final game. JLingz, who also performed well today, had set up shop in the 'Broken Building' early on and remained their the entire game. Their Wattson fences and Pylon preventing teams from fighting them at close range.

But, KSwinnie took full advantage of the upwards mobility that Horizon offers.

The old Horizon could have dealt major damage from inside her Gravity Lift, however this accuracy was nerfed. Instead, Kswinnie took perch on top of JLingz wall, and was able to rain down significant damage from above. Element 6 have long been a strong fighting team, and they pinched JLingz and capitalised on the chaos and pressure that Kswinnie caused with his height angle. This is not a situation that JLingz were prepared for, and Element 6 took full advantage of this and took the front foot in this engagement.

Horizon allows Element 6 to take a lot of space, according to Kswinnie, and they showed exactly how her mobility can create opportunities in this end game.

Element 6 have uncovered countless talent in Apex Legends over the last few years, and Kind4_ seems to be just the next in a long line of controller talents that has been given a platform on this roster.

He has played two weeks of the ALGS Pro League, and has two Monster MVP nominations to his name from the ALGS broadcast team. That is no mean feat, and he has adapted to stepping up from the Challenger Circuit far better than would have been predicted.

The key for Element 6 is now to prepare their latest addition for the pressure of the Global stage.

Elsewhere, Vexed Gaming threw a large spanner into the meta. Caustic and Gibraltar have hardly featured in the ALGS Pro League this split, until this weekend.

This classic composition dominated several months of the game, only falling away after the ALGS Championship in Raleigh. However, it is not a huge surprise to see Vexed Gaming run this composition.

On Storm Point they have ran a Bangalore Wattson combination for several weeks. The Caustic Gibraltar combination fits the same formula. Both compositions might seem very different on the face of it, but deep down they are two faces of the same coin.

Both compositions are flexible. They work if you get inside a building and bunker down. But, they also work if you are out in the open taking fights. Bangalore and Gibby provide cover in open spaces, and have ultimates that can force teams back. Meanwhile, Wattson and Caustic have strong utility in enclosed spaces.

Vexed found great success with this classic combination. They dropped a huge 15 kill win on Worlds Edge. But, at one stage they were almost dead to rights. Only that Gibraltar Dome of Protection saved them.

The ability to reset in safety inside the Dome is very strong. No other legend in the game gives such guaranteed protection as Gibby does. Legends like Catalyst, Bangalore and Rampart offer some protection, but nothing as close to full safety.

With Vexed Gaming trying to rotate faster with LAN in mind, running two flexible compositions that give them aspects of edge and zone gamestyles makes complete sense for them. Barring any Season 17 Legend changes, we could well see these legend setups in London on LAN.

Several teams have now confirmed their spot in the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs from the EMEA Region. The top nine teams, plus the winner of the Regional Finals, will qualify. If the Regional Finals winner is in those nine spaces, the tenth team will qualify in their place.

Vexed, Acend, 2R1C and SAF have all played six game days. The other teams will play again tomorrow, and then all of the regions top 20 teams will play for a final time in those Regional Finals.

For full ALGS Pro League results, check out our ALGS Score hub here.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more ALGS coverage and esports news.