NA ALGS Championship Preview: Group B

The Apex Legends Global Series is finally coming to a close next week. Leading up to the June 2nd clash, we are previewing each group and breaking down the storylines. As always drop spots and legend compositions are subject to change while squads continue to map out their plan of attack before the big day. Today we're looking at Group B lead by NRG. For more info on Group A headlined by TSM click here.

1. NRG

Roster: SweetDreams (Octane), Rocker (Gibraltar), Nafen (Bloodhound)

Drop Spot: Staging

NRG are breathing rare air shared only with TSM. Both orgs have a rich history in the young scene and showcased consistency head and shoulders above the rest of the competition this year. NRG took home gold in the Winter Playoffs and then finished 2nd to Team Solo Mid in GLL Masters Spring.

NRG have always been a good squad, but the addition of Sweet prior to the Winter Circuit elevated them to the next level. His IGL skills and high game IQ frequent leads NRG to powerful positions late in games. Of course they don't always need smart rotations to land favorable positioning. Amid the height of ongoing controversy about zone logic, 3 of 7 zones pulled directly outside of Staging in Playoffs. The Championship offers them a chance to prove they can win a major tournament even without good RNG.

More often than not you can find Nafen, Sweet, and Rocker taking a fight. The trio racked up 25 kills in the last 2 games of their Playoff victory. Aggression carried over to GLL Masters where they averaged slightly over 5 kills a game. More impressively, NRG finished top five 9 times in the 16 game series. If they can maintain that kind of consistency, there is no question that they will be the next champions.

2. Renegades

Roster: Bowswer (Gibraltar), PowPow (Valkyrie), Sauceror (Bloodhound or Wraith)

Drop Spot: Tree

When orgs started to re-enter Apex, Peanut Butter Sandwiches (PBS) signing with Renegades was one of the first moves and deservedly so. Despite forming just before the Winter Circuit, PBS still managed to put together 9th, 16th, 4th, and 6th place finishes. They've slumped a little, ending 13th at Playoffs and 22nd in GLL Masters, but Renegades is comprised of proven players who can easily bounce back.

Bowswer and Sauceror both qualified for last year's cancelled Texas LAN on separate teams. Sauce then went to grab bronze in the Summer Playoffs with Teq's team. Meanwhile, PowPow dominated in his time with CLG. He helped them earn 1st in Summer Playoffs and the PGL Championship as well as 2nd in GLL Masters Summer.

Renegades' trademark is their cucumber cool comms. If you listen in, you'll catch Bowswer making measured decisions with input from his team. Even under pressure they remain unfazed and logically make the best of bad situations. This approach was critical when Dudes Night Out started contesting them at tree. During E Series a few weeks ago, Renegades triumphed in 6/6 fights to effectively end the contest. Continued success in 3v3s will coast them easily into finals nest week.

3. TSS

Roster: BlurrFlavorz (Bloodhound), HisWattson (Octane), Sung (Gibraltar)

Drop Spot: Overlook

TSS are badly missing Keeon after the star of Rare Xcellence retired in March. Keeon contributed big fragging power and was the best player on this team in the Winter Circuit. Sung, Autumn Circuit #2 winner, is a high quality replacement for them. He joins one of the few duos to compete together for over a year: BlurrFlavorz and HisWattson.

Securing 9th place in GLL Masters is a huge accomplishment for a brand new trio. Masters finals is almost as tough as the Championship and TSS won 2 games in the 16 game series which bodes well for their odds next week. Rare Xcellence was the most underrated team in Apex and it looks like TSS might be even better. If they are anything like the team in Masters, they'll likely make top 10 with disciplined play.

4. ESA Black (MST)

Roster: Sickks (Gibraltar) , Metro (Bloodhound), Pandrxz (Valkyrie)

Drop Spot: Thermal Station

Sickks has been a figure in the scene from early on. His smart, gritty style led the Pittsburgh Knights at Poland. MST has needed that grit lately as they faced numerous challenges and didn't even have a constant drop until very recently. The squad won an Esports Arena qualifier and an Intel contract in their first tournament with Pandrxz. Pandrxz is a mechanical talent who looks comfortable switching to Valkyrie. Metro and Sickks have thrived after Pan replaced Tempest.

MST absolutely dominated last night's Series E open tournament with a staggering 49 kills in the 1st 3 games. Granted it was lower level competition than the Championship will be, but any team capable a performance like that can be competent in a top tier lobby. The only concern is that Sickks, a veteran Wraith, moved to Gibraltar. However, Hal for a brief period and now Retzi set a precedent for smooth Wraith to Gibraltar transitions. Maybe we're overrating them a bit, but it feels like this is the moment their potential is coming together and ESA Black could be a real dark horse.

5. Bottom 20

Roster: Onmuu (Gibraltar), Scruwy (Bloodhound), Vein (Wraith)

Drop Spot: Launch Site

Bottom 20 is another group of players that seem to be on the rise at the right time. Unlike other squads languishing in the tier of inconsistency, Bottom 20 has produced some great tournaments. Although their time with Altiora Esports was brief, had nothing to do with the players and everything to do with the questionable nature of the org.

Vein's Wraith play was a huge factor in their best results: 10th place at Autumn Playoffs, 3rd in Teq's Throwback Tournament, and 11th at GLL Masters Spring. Even when they 're on the back foot, Vein is so slippery and can secure valuable placement if fights go wrong. Gibraltars are often over looked, but if Onmuu was absent it would leave them lost without his consistent utility.

Scuwry is no stranger to Bloodhound. He has been laying down scans in finals lobbies since his time on Skrt (Madness's team before becoming the official CLG team). After leaving Skrt, Scuwry teamed with Onmuu in September and they added Vein in December. Given that this group built chemistry for 6 months now, it would be massively disappointing to miss out on finals, but an outside possibility if they have an off day.

World's Edge offers a diverse selection of drop locations for competitors.

6. Absolute Monarchy

Roster: SirLifty (Gibraltar), SleepyPanda (Wraith), FatFruitNinja (Bloodhound)

Drop Spot: Train Yard

Absolute Monarchy showed up in a big way at GLL Masters. 7th place was much more than anyone expected, but the question now is was it a fluke? SleepyPanda dropped 23 kills, 11th most in the lobby. AM put up a 12 kill victory which is something we usually only see the top five teams.

Two major concerns threaten their ability to repeat their Master performance. First is dropping at Train Yard. Train Yard is known as one of the worst POIs for loot and Absolute Monarchy are all too familiar with leaving with three white armors. Playing consistent with worse loot is one of toughest things in a BR. The second worry is their legend composition. So many squads have opted for an Octane over the Wraith or even included a Valkyrie. AM might find themselves behind with an outdated lineup. A lot fans would love to see this team do well, but they could fall back into their old ways. Regarless, Absolute Monarchy will be one of the most interesting teams to monitor.

7. ESA Red (Team Superior)

Roster: Rakkinishu (Gibraltar), Joeyblackout (Bloodhound), ProdigyAces (Octane)

Drop Spot: Lava City

ProdigyAces has been in Apex from the very beginning. In fact he even played with Hal and Thump for TSM during very early queue snipe scrims. He's been competing all long but didn't return to major relevance until his 4th place in GLL Masters Summer alongside Joeyblackout. The duo added Rakkinishu for the Winter Circuit and finished 14th in the Playoffs. They managed to win the first game of Playoffs, but struggled to get anything going after that.

ESA Red looks great on paper and has a secure drop at Lava City, so this squad should be performing much better than they are. ALGS Championship might be Prodigy's big break, but if they cannot even manage top 10 on Series E Pro Nights, chances look fairly slim.

8. Dudes Night Out (DNO)

Roster: Rolders (Gibraltar), Doop (Valkyrie), Aves (Octane)

Drop Spot: Countdown/Refinery

Dudes Night Out is one of the longest standing teams in the scene. In Apex rosters change up rapidly, but the Dudes have been together for almost a year now. In spite of well-established chemistry, They often struggle to create favorable situations for themselves, but can take advantage in a huge way if they luck into a good position.

The story of DNO has been qualifying for most finals and ending in the bottom five in those tough lobbies. A big problem that they may face again at the Championship is not having a set drop. After failing to take Tree from Renegades, they've settled for Countdown. However, 2B1C will have priority on Countdown when Groups A and B, so Rolders and Co. will need to look elsewhere on that day.

Putting Aves on Octane and Doop on Valkyrie marks a drastic change for this team. Hopefully a new legend comp can finally remedy their issues when competing against the best in Apex, but if not it could be a grueling tournament for them.

NRG triumphed over a stacked lobby in the Winter Playoffs. Can they do it again in the Championship?

9. AMV (Vibez)

Roster: AckBTW (Octane), Moohnee (Gibraltar), Itsvoltic (Bloodhound)

Drop Spot: Uncertain (Dome in GLL Masters)

AMV qualified for the Championship through the last chance qualifier and are a bit of a wildcard. The trio did not qualify for Winter Playoffs, but managed to make it to GLL Masters Finals where they ended 19th. All three member have heavily ranked grinded at various points; Voltic even queued with Snip3down the past few days. Zero, Dropped, and Rogue proved ranked grinders can compete in major tournament with Ranked is Harder's shock 2nd place in Winter Circuit #1. Perhaps Voltic and crew can follow in their footsteps.

Everything about AMV's game is a question mark at this point. In GLL Masters they ran Horizon and Caustic. Other than one day of experimenting, it's been Gibby, Octane, and Bloodhound in scrims. They've also been dropping at Thermal Station in scrims, but ESA Black (MST) has recently claimed it. Maybe we will see a 50/50 there or more likely the teams have worked out alternate drops. Either way this team could be interesting to watch.

10. FYP

Roster: Forcee (Gibraltar), Yubn (Bloodhound), Depressly (Valkyrie)

Drop Spot: Skyhook

It's tough to put any of these teams at the bottom because there aren't any terrible or unheard of squads in Group B. But ultimately, FYP is the least impressive. Most of Pressly's experience comes from playing on Team Pringles in Esports Arena with Phony and Fury. Forcee has always been more focused on ranked. Yubn has the longest competitive resume of the three by far as a former Godsent and Team Cruelty member.

FYP placed 18th in GLL Masters and spent much of the day losing 50/50s to Sentinels at Sorting Factory. It seems they've decided to leave the area alone and moved to Skyhook in scrims. There's a small chance that Pressly surprises us on Valkyrie and lead FYP to success, but otherwise it may shape up to be a rough tournament for them.

Look for the other group previews throughout the week. The full power ranking will be released on Monday May 31st!