The Apex Legends Global Series Split One Playoffs are on the rise, and the LAN tournament is again demonstrating once more how exciting Apex esports can be. Every game, moment, and even every bullet can make the difference between winning and losing everything—and, as TSM and Alliance discovered, it literally can come down to every single bullet.
TSM entered their final lobby of the Group Stage with qualification for the Winners Bracket tomorrow pretty assured. Still, the team is led by one of the most dynamic players in Apex, ImperialHal, and anything less would be considered a failure. Alliance had also struggled through the Group Stage, on the other hand. Big-point games proved difficult to come by when both teams met as the last two remaining during game four of their lobby.
Oscar "Yuki" Jiang and ImperialHal traded kills back and forth as the TSM season nears, both players coming off the front foot. Both were eager to give their opponents an advantage.
ALGS Split One Playoffs 2023: Scores, standings, and results
Instead, both players woven in and around their teammates' knockdown shields and the one-line fence that separating them. Hal initially received some Flatline sprays, but Yuki responded quickly with shots of his own from the CAR SMG. And with no shields remaining on either player, Hal suffered the fatality.
Hal began punching Yuki, and actually managed to land two melee strikes for 60 damage while avoiding taking any additional damage to himself, effectively leaving both players in one-shot territory. However, Yuki eventually found the opening he was seeking—with the last six bullets in his revolver.
Even the casters seemed confused, initially unaware that neither player was so short on ammunition. The crowd couldn't seem to believe it either, as UK-native Yuki triumphed against one of NA's top teams on home soil.
Alliance got three more points than second place would have given them when the last member of TSM was pulled out. PULVEREX, the 20th placed team, was just below them with 100 points. To start the Bracket Stage, Alliance would have to fight for their lives in the Losers Bracket.
The one-vs-one approach reduced Apex to one of its purest forms, a game that often involves a lot of maximum chaos and large numbers of players fighting at the same time. It required every bit of their skill, guile, and inventory, and for many viewers, it might have reminded them why they fell in love with Apex in the first place.