Throughout the years, the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) has crowned numerous teams as the best in the game’s ecosystem.
Whilst formats have shifted, the Apex Legends esports ecosystem ultimately concludes with the ALGS Championship, and so far, no team has yet to take home the trophy twice.
The ALGS is the premier esports scene of Electronic Arts’ (EA) battle royale game. Split into four pro leagues — EMEA, Americas, APAC North and APAC South —currently over 120 teams flood in and out of the ecosystem in a bid to be crowned world champion.
From DarkZero Gaming in 2022 to Oblivion’s recent 2026 win, history has been made time and again in the Apex Legends’ most elite tournament. Esports Insider breaks down the story of every Championship winner and how ALGS became what it is today.
The ALGS’ First Champions
EA and Respawn Entertainment initially announced ALGS back in 2020, with the first season intended to run until 2021. However, the planned major was postponed due to the pandemic, which subsequently forced the entire season to be held online.
With in-person events and travel off the table, ALGS Year 1 concluded with five regional championships in North America, EMEA, APAC North, APAC South, and South America. This meant that five teams would technically share Apex Legends’ biggest crown.
North America
Kungarna NA entered the North American championship as an underdog, having qualified by placing 17th in the region’s ALGS Rankings, determined by performance-based points gathered from esports events throughout the year. In the face of household name teams such as Team Liquid, TSM, and G2 Esports, Kungarna NA was a team many assumed would be eliminated early doors.
Kungarna NA placed seventh in the Group Stage, but the Finals revealed the team to be a true dark horse of the competition. After a rocky start at game one, placing 14th, Kungarna NA stole the show after placing first in game nine and winning the tournament.
South America
South America was won by Paradox Esports, which was expected by fans considering it had placed third in the regional Winter Circuit Playoffs, and second in the region’s ALGS Rankings.
It kick-started the tournament by topping the Group Stage with a landslide 218 points gathered from matches played. The team showed no signs of slowing down in the Finals either, claiming an early first-place win in game three and securing the champion title by game eight.
EMEA
SCARZ prevailed in EMEA that year, snatching the title from Kungarna’s EU team among other established organisations such as Natus Vincere.
SCARZ started the Group Stage placing fifth overall, but flipped the script in the Finals. Despite a rocky start at game one, it placed third and fourth in the next four games and secured a first-place win in game seven.
APAC North
APAC North saw fierce competition, with well-known teams such as T1 and Crazy Raccoon going head-to-head for the lion’s share of the prize pool. However, it was FENNEL, a team that had barely qualified after placing ninth in the regions’ Winter Circuit Playoffs, that became the underdog winners.
FENNEL started off as the runners-up of the Group Stage, falling behind Crazy Raccoon. The Finals saw Crazy Raccoon and T1 in contention to win, but FENNEL triumphed after placing first in game two and seven to shut down the two giants of APAC North.
APAC South
WOLFPACK ARCTIC, the runners-up of the region’s Winter Circuit Playoffs, became the first championship winners of APAC South, falling in line with fan expectations heading into the event. WOLFPACK ARCTIC ended the Group Stage as the runners-up, but dominated in the following stage.
It started the finals with a first-place win in game one, but started to lose momentum between games four and six after placing as low as 19th. Just when things seemed over for WOLFPACK ARCTIC, the team was able to find its footing and secured a first-place win in game eight.
The North America and EMEA regions awarded its champions $265,591 (~£197,000) each, APAC North and South gave away $177,319 (~£131,400), and South America awarded its winner $109,333 (~£81,100).
DarkZero Gaming Win ALGS Year 2 Championship
The scene saw drastic changes during ALGS Championship Year 2, uniting the previously fragmented championships into a single international LAN event, which would become standard in the years to come.
For 2022, the best teams around the world would gather in person for the first time in the PNC Arena in Raleigh, United States.
The competition was ultimately won by DarkZero Esports, which took $500,000 (~£371,400) in winnings. DarkZero had joined the tournament at the last second after signing the winning team of APAC South, Reignite.
Ahead of the championship, the trio had established themselves as strong contenders in the region, coming first in the Pro Leagues of both Split 1 and 2.
Even so, the odds were stacked against DarkZero as it faced several heavy hitters, such as North American giants Team Liquid and TSM. The difficulty was apparent as the organisation began the tournament by placing 13th out of 40 teams during the Group Stage. In the Winners Bracket, DarkZero Gaming managed to place sixth despite not winning a single game.
The team was barely hanging on, and the Finals saw DarkZero Esports begin with a rocky start, placing 12th and 16th in the first two games with no kills secured. However, the organisation was able to make a huge comeback, placing second in game seven. After reaching the 50-point threshold, it secured ALGS’ first international title after winning game nine.
TSM Dominate Year 3
The 2023 ALGS Championship was won by TSM, which had entered the tournament as one of the favourites to win after dominating the North American scene.
Ahead of the championship, TSM was ranked first in Playoff Points, with 920 points gathered from events such as the Split 2 Playoffs and Split 2 NA Pro League, among others that year.
Held at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, UK, fans were shocked to see TSM begin the tournament placing seventh overall in the Group Stage, a disappointing start considering its strong performance up until that point. TSM would continue to face difficulties in the Winners Bracket, placing fifth overall.
The organisation also saw a rough start in the Finals, placing 17th, 10th and 20th in the first three games. However, with nothing left to lose, TSM made the ultimate comeback. The North American organisation turned the tide of the competition and placed first in games six to eight, swiftly claiming the championship title with 83 points in total.
Taking home $600,000 (~£445,680) in winnings, TSM’s Phillip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen won his first international championship and was named the Monster Energy MVP of the event. The EA Positive Player award was also gifted to TSM’s Evan ‘Verhulst’ Verhulst.
Both of these players, alongside Jordan ‘Reps‘ Wolfe, have since gone on to become household names in Apex Legends esports and still compete at the highest levels of the sport today.
GoNext Esports Defy The Odds in Year 4
Traditionally, the ALGS Championship occurred in the same year as the Pro League Splits. However, for Year 4, the organisers moved the Championship to Q1 2025 to better align thematically with Season 24 and the sixth anniversary of Apex Legends.
As such, the Year 4 Championships took place from January 29th to February 2nd, in the Daiwa House PREMIST DOME in Sapporo, Japan.
GoNext Esports was crowned the ALGS Year 4 championship winners, but it entered the competition as a fairly underwhelming team in comparison to its competition. In events leading up to the championships, GoNext Esports placed fifth in the EMEA 2024 Split 2 Pro League, placed 19th in the Split 1 Pro League, and barely managed to qualify for the Championship on Playoff points as the 30th-ranked team.
At first, GoNext Esports’ championship run went as many expected, hanging on after placing seventh in the Group Stage. It scratched and clawed its way through the Winners Bracket, placing eighth overall. However, up until the finals, the team was often overshadowed by fellow EMEA teams Alliance and Aurora.
However, things took an unexpected turn in the finals. GoNext Esports began placing 11th in game two, and 18th in game four, but the team gradually picked up momentum after placing fourth in game five and managed to clinch a first-place win by game seven. It had reached the 50-point requirement by game eight and had quickly become one of the few teams on the cusp of winning the championship.
At this point, despite a very strong showing throughout, Alliance had dropped the ball after placing twelfth in game eight, allowing GoNext Esports to snatch victory away with a first-place win on game nine.
A shocking turn of events as Alliance had shown a strong performance throughout the tournament, placing first in the Group Stage and Miron ‘Effect‘ Novikov securing the MVP award.
Orgless Team Oblivion End Year 5 as Champion
The ALGS Year 5 Championship was expected to unfold like any other year.
However, amongst frontrunners such as Alliance and Team Falcons, it was an unlikely trio of players competing under orgless team Oblivion that cemented their names in history as champions.
Reformed after two players parted ways with Movistar KOI, the trio of Miguel ‘Blinkzr‘ Quiles, Bowen ‘Monsoon‘ Fuller, and Brandon ‘FunFPS‘ Groombridge qualified for the event after winning the Last Chance Qualifiers in the Americas.
Oblivion’s journey in the crowning event was not an easy one. The team barely avoided the Lower Bracket Semifinals after placing 19th out of the top 20 teams in the Group Stage. Even so, Oblivion struggled to keep pace in the Upper Bracket Finals and was at risk of elimination after being relegated to the Lower Bracket Finals.
After securing high placements in game two (second place) and game five (fourth place), Oblivion was able to secure enough points to reach the Finals.
The Finals unfolded as a desperate race to become match point eligible and secure the title. Despite Oblivion’s best efforts, going as far as securing a first-place win in game two, Team Falcons was the first organisation to become match-point eligible by game six.
Oblivion was the first team to be eliminated in game seven, and Team Falcons was set to win the entire tournament. However, after Team Falcons was eliminated and placed third, Oblivion, alongside several other teams, became match-point eligible. The race was still on.
Despite being the first team to be eliminated in the previous two games, Oblivion flipped the script and achieved 13 kills in game nine. By eliminating both Supernova and Hotdog Mafia in the final ring, Oblivion emerged as the champion of ALGS Year 5.
What to Expect in Year 6
The full roadmap of ALGS Year 6 has been shared, as teams once again compete in another season of Apex Legends esports to be crowned the next champion.
Teams from across the regions will compete in a variety of events, starting with the ALGS Online Open. Three LANs are planned in Year 6, including the Split 1 Playoffs during the Esports World Cup 2026, the Split 2 Playoffs that will be held in the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, US, before concluding with the ALGS Year 6 Championship.
Teams will strive to secure a place in the ALGS Year 6 Championship by either securing Championship Points accumulated through Pro League and the Playoffs, or winning the Last Chance Qualifiers.
By the end of the season, 40 of the best teams will play for the lion’s share of a $2m (1,49£1.49m) prize pool.