The Apex Legends Preseason Invitational concluded on Sunday night after 11 rounds in the Grand Final. TSM closed out the tournament with a tremendous turnaround. They failed to get going early in the finals, but soon earned several top 5 finishes – launching into pole position and banking the team first place after an extremely close race. Due to their amazing performances at both the ESPN X games Minneapolis and the Preseason Invitational, TSM are now back-to-back champions.
TSM’s continued dominance isn’t the only major story from the tournament. The CIS and South Korean regions both packed a punch, showing that Apex Legends is not just a western game. Let’s take a deeper dive into all the action:
TSM Victorious
TSM have now won the both the ESPN X games Minneapolis and the Apex Legends Preseason Invitational. This easily makes them the most decorated team in the scene’s short history. As already stated, TSM started off slow, but as the tournament fired up, so did they. TSM demonstrated a great ability to come back into the event, and that’s a quality you want in a team with no previous esports experience. EA and Respawn announced at the event that there will be a pro season coming up, with more news to arrive shortly. Whatever the news turns out to be, it’s almost certain that TSM will be a vital pillar in the professional scene.
The CIS region shows up
The CIS region is relatively unknown to the rest of the world. The North American and European regions have the most hype surrounding them, due to the ESPN and Faceit tournaments demonstrating the region’s talent. The Preseason Invitational was a major opportunity for CIS teams to demonstrate their capabilities. Natus Vincere, one of the early investors into the CIS scene, finished second. The world is now fully aware of the Na’Vi juggernaut let loose over the weekend. Natus Vincere ended the tournament second place on 97 points, just behind TSM on 100 points. This earned them a cool USD $75,000 in prize money. Furthermore, Nikita “clawz” Marchinsky and Kirill “9impulse” Kostiv both earned elimination awards, granting them a further $2,666 dollars each.
In addition, Gambit’s roster also performed well. They made it into the Grand Finals, but failed to perform as well as their local rival, Na’Vi. As mentioned within our roster article, Gambit Esports signed a promising roster. Both teams are closely linked, as members on both have played alongside each other in the past. Gambit ended the tournament 11th, earning $9,000. Not bad for an organisation who only entered the scene a few weeks ago.
The CIS region had another surprise in store. 789, a team without an organisation, finished in 6th place. They earned themselves USD $30,000, making them the most successful orgless team at the event. The Apex Legends Preseason Invitational is the perfect place to be scouted by interested organisations, so it’s likely only a matter of time before they’re snapped up.
South Korea rising
Not to be outdone by the CIS, the South Koreans also brought their own talent. They too shocked the Western scene with their impressive teams frequently hitting the top of the leaderboard. Both MVP and Wyvern had many great rounds throughout the tournament. At points, MVP found themselves fighting both Na’Vi and TSM in duals to win the round. Overall, they finished 9th, earning USD $15,000. We have to wonder, if a few fights went differently we may have seen a totally different tournament finish.
Meanwhile, Wyvern awed the world with their crazy playstyle. In the very first round, the unknown South Korean squad took a surprise second place in a fight against Complexity, Fnatic NA and a few others. They definitely impressed from the start, with the hype continuing all the way into the Grand Finals. They eventually finished third, earning USD $60,000. Like 789, Wyvern is an orgless team. With Korean orgs Gen.G, SK Telecom, and MVP entering the scene, hopefully the members of Wyvern will be picked up so their obvious talent can be further nurtured.
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