Team Falcons fly as Team Liquid and VK Gaming fail to qualify for ALGS Championship finals

Following a climactic Bracket Stage, Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Year 5 Championship heads to the Match Point Finals with Team Falcons once again being the team to beat.

Across both the Upper and Lower Bracket matches, there were surprise qualifications and disappointing eliminations from tournament favourites. 

Esports Insider breaks down everything that went down in the Bracket Stage of Apex Legends’ biggest event of the year.

The day consisted of the Upper Bracket and two rounds in the Lower Bracket. In the end, the top 20 teams, 10 from each bracket, moved on to tomorrow’s Match Point Finals (January 18th, 2026). 

The Upper Bracket featured the top performers from the first two days of the ALGS Year 5 Championship, all vying for a top 10 spot to guarantee a final place. However, whilst most teams scratched and clawed their way through the series, once again, Team Falcons came out on top. The team ended the series with 60 points, followed by GoNext Esports (48) and TSM (47). 

Team Falcons’ runwas in large part thanks to its standout performance in the first half of the series on World’s Edge. It reached a podium place in the first two games, and claimed a first-place win on game three after taking down past ALGS Championship winners GoNext Esports and TSM in the final ring. 

Another notable team that made it through to the finals via the Upper Bracket is Alliance, one of the top teams from the 2025/2026 global rankings. Overall, the team finished sixth (43) in the series standings. The roster was at its best in game two, winning a three-way gun fight against Wolves Esports and Team Falcons in the final ring, ending with 12 kills. 

The series ultimately concluded in a chaotic final game. In the last ring of Storm Point, five teams remained. Fnatic and S8UL Esports were the first to be eliminated, guaranteeing a place in the Lower Bracket. 

Supernova would then eliminate the weakened GoNext Esports, leaving only Virtus.pro remaining. But in the end, Supernova won the 3v3 gun-fight, going from 11th place in the leaderboards to seventh at the last possible opportunity. As a result, the American team no longer had to risk a Lower Bracket run and punched a ticket to the Finals. 

In the first Lower Bracket series of the day, the real risk of elimination began to settle in for some of the event’s tournament favourites. Claim top 10, advance to Round 2; fail, and the quest was over.

The round itself featured well-known organisations such as Mid-Season Playoff champions VK Gaming, Faze Clan, Crazy Thieves, and more. 

However, in an action-packed series across ALGS maps World’s Edge and Storm Point, it was Team Liquid Alienware that was surprisingly eliminated from the tournament. This will undoubtedly be a frustrating result for the roster, as not only did the squad achieve a first-place win in game five with nine eliminations, but it ended the series with a two-point deficit to 10th-place team, SYRALE. 

The elimination is also heartbreaking for fans of Rhys ‘Zer0’ Perry, who was formerly a member of Team Falcons earlier in 2025 during the team’s ALGS Open victory. As a result, the player will not face off against his former teammates in the Match Point Finals. 

Another upset that occurred in the Lower Bracket Round 1 was the exit of ROC Esports, the runner-up of this season’s Mid-Season Playoffs. Its highest placement was seventh in the third game of the series, but the team saw early eliminations frequently, losing the chance to earn vital points. In the end, the team could muster only 17 points in total, the second-lowest in the bracket. 

Everything was on the line during Lower Bracket Round 2, as this was the last chance to reach the Finals. Fans eagerly anticipated which teams, amongst the worst performers from the Upper Bracket and the best from Lower Bracket Round 1, would survive. 

Some big names that fell from the Upper Bracket bounced back in the final series of the day. UNLIMIT’s appearance in Lower Bracket Round 2 was a shock to many fans, and an underwhelming performance in the first three matches made its future in the ALGS Year 5 Championship uncertain. 

However, the Japanese team turned things around from game four when the series shifted from E-District to World’s Edge, claiming a third-place, 13-kill game on game four, a win on game five, and a runner-up in game six. UNLIMIT’s ‘Yulariman’ was also named the day’s kill leader with 67 eliminations. 

Crazy Thieves also qualified for the Finals. After narrowly missing out on the Upper Bracket to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Group Stage, the team had to claw its way through the Lower Bracket and fought viciously in Round 2. Kicking off the series with a first-place win and 12 kills in game one, and a runner-up 11 kill run on game four, Crazy Thieves secured its place in the finals. It’s a relief for fans of Evan ‘Verhulst’ Verhulst, who will get a chance to earn his second championship title.

Some major eliminations also took place in the Lower Brackets Round 2. Aurora Gaming, which consists of Year 4 champion players, Jose ‘Uxako’ Llosa and Filipe ‘Hiarka’ Morgado, failed to qualify for the Finals. A bitter end for the players, as their former organisation, GoNext Esports, qualified through the Upper Bracket. 

The other upset came from VK Gaming, the recent winners of the ALGS Mid-Season Playoffs. Despite managing to climb its way from the first round, VK Gaming failed to keep pace with the rest of the competition. By the time it placed fourth in the final game of the series, it was too little and too late for the team, and was eliminated after placing 15th with only 21 points accumulated.

One final day remains in the ALGS Year 5 Championship as the remaining teams gear up for the Finals. It is the most pivotal moment in the tournament, as it will decide the Year 5 champion and which team will receive the lion’s share of its $2m (~£1.48m) prize pool. 

The Finals will see a crucial change in format, shifting to the Match Point system. There is no match limit as teams strive to be the first to reach the 50-point threshold, becoming Match Point Eligible, by placing high and securing eliminations.

Multiple teams can become Match Point Eligible, but the first to secure a first-place win afterwards will become the Year 5 champion. 

These are all the teams that will compete in the Finals of the ALGS Year 5 Championship: 

The Finals will be broadcast through the official ALGS channels on Twitch and on YouTube. Additionally, co-streams will also run alongside the official livestream from a variety of content creators and casters, including Jack ‘NiceWigg’ Martin and Athanasios ‘Greek’ Alestas