Underdogs GoNext Esports crowned ALGS Year 4 champions

Tom Daniels
ALGS Year 4 Championship GoNext Esports
Image credit: ALGS, Joe Brady

European esports organisation GoNext Esports has won the ALGS Year 4 Championship, Apex Legends’ biggest event of the year. 

Taking place in Sapporo, Japan, the EMEA representative secured an unlikely underdog victory at the Daiwa House PREMIST DOME following a tense nine-map Grand Finals. 

After securing a map victory in game seven, GoNext Esports hit the fifty-point threshold, meaning that the team only needed one more map win to secure the championship. This happened in a dramatic game nine, which saw GoNext Esports ultimately topple Luminosity Gaming, which was also on match point, and Virtus.Pro.

Coming into the competition, GoNext Esports — which consisted of ex-2R1C players Jose ‘Uxako’ Llosa, Filipe ‘Hiarka’ Morgado and Kyllian ‘zhidan’ Brun — were ranked 29th in the ALGS Global Rankings. 

After winning two maps in the Group Stage, the European organisation secured a respectable seventh-placed finish. The team’s momentum also carried on in the bracket stage, with GoNext coming out of the Winner’s Bracket in joint eighth thanks to a map victory in game seven out of eight. 

Whilst GoNext Esports ultimately won the ALGS Year 4 Championship, yesterday’s Grand Finals saw nearly half of the 20 participants be in contention to clinch the trophy by game nine. With nine organisations hitting the 50-point threshold, it was Team Falcons and Alliance who were the first to hit Match Point in map five. 

From maps six to nine, the likes of Shopify Rebellion, Complexity, Luminosity Gaming, FURIA Esports, VK Gaming and Fnatic all hit 50 points, resulting in an incredibly tense last two matches. 

Taking second place in the ALGS Year 4 Championship is Swedish organisation Alliance. The roster, which topped the Group Stage earlier in the competition, where incredibly close to taking home the trophy with two consecutive second-place finishes in maps six and seven. Ultimately, the EMEA representative ended the competition with an impressive 95 points. 

GoNext Esports, on the other hand, ended the Match Point Finals with 68 points, less than three other teams in the series. 

Taking third place is Team Falcons (75 points), with Shopfy Rebellion (72) and Virtus.Pro (65) rounding out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively. 

As a result of GoNext Epsorts’ triumph, the organisation is walking away with $600,000 (~£487,200) in prize money. 

Tom has been part of Esports Insider's team since October 2020 and is currently the website's Editor. When not playing Football Manager, he enjoys reporting on the mobile esports scene, watching League of Legends and finding out about new esports ecosystems.