The last in-person Apex Legends event of the year has ended with Spacestation Gaming on top. SSG has won the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs after a 10-game Match Point Finals. In a year of firsts for Apex Legends esports, this win marks the first time a different team and different region has won every LAN in a calendar year.
Image Credit ALGS | Joe Brady
Spacestation’s run through the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs began in Group A. They finished fourth overall in their first series with a 17-kill win. A second consecutive top-five finish in their second series had them locked into a Winners’ Bracket spot right away. Though their final set of Groups left much to be desired with a 15th place, SSG was moving on as expected.
In Winners’ Bracket, SSG showed some inconsistency in finding their way to the end game. Their first two games on World’s Edge resulted in just five points. Luckily, SSG managed to claim game three with eight kills, putting them in a decent position.
Their struggles continued on Storm Point, where they again only accrued six points through two. Needing some security points in the last game, SSG made their second top-five finish of the day to lock up a spot in the Finals.
Slow Start for SSG
Championship Sunday had arrived, but it seemed that Spacestation was a bit late to the party. In both games one and two, they fell in 20th place with no kills. The problem here stemmed from SSG being forced to play from Landslide. Though it’s a familiar POI for in-game leader Josue “Phony” Daniel Ruiz from previous teams, their rotations were cannibalized by other squads around them.
At the bottom of the standings, SSG needed to play catch up if they wanted to hit match point in a reasonable time. Game three didn’t go their way either, ending in 16th place with two kills. At the same time, Gaimin Gladiators hit the 50 required points for MP at a record pace. The series could crown a winner in any game from here on out, and SSG was still in the dumps.
Game four would be the start of the turnaround. Landing Launch Pad, SSG had decent priority onto the edge of the zone outside of West Command. They played their spot well and hit a perfect third party to wipe GG, deny the trophy win, and get themselves on the board. SSG went from 20th to 12th in one game.
Points Start Rolling In
SSG needed This momentum builder to get going in the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs Finals. Back on World’s Edge, SSG realized that playing for early rotation in a lobby where many teams were on different POI’s would be inconsistent. They embraced the edge playstyle and fought for kill points. Though they finished 13th and 5th in these games, their 15 combined kills helped them rise in the standings. SSG was now in 8th with 37 points.
They still needed 13 points before they hit Match Point, though. Fortunately for SSG, only one more team had joined GG at that mark up to this point. The series was now wide open for the taking. And after the game seven zone pulled to Echo HQ right next to SSG’s Launch Pad, things looked even better for them.
SSG played a perfect game, racking up 13 kills and their first game win of the Finals. Just like that, SSG skyrocketed to second place with 62 points. With them alongside five other teams all on Match Point, this tournament could end any game now.
Yet, things would drag on for a bit longer. TSM and Team Liquid got their hands on a game, extending the series and adding even more teams to the potential winner list. By game 10, over half of the teams were now eligible to win the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs.
The Winning Moment
The tenth and final game of the series saw the zone shift to Skyhook. Skyhook is a notoriously difficult zone to play edge on as the city is compact and hard to enter through chokes. SSG chose to rotate early and got a spot in the Respawn Zip building.
As the zone shrunk, it pulled northwest of the central tower. During the second to last ring close, SSG identified a clear low ground and slid into it uncontested. Playing under the tower, SSG was uncontested until the final ring. Walking in with the zone to their back, SSG kept all the chaos in front of them. They wiped Guild Esports, another match point team, then watched as TSM died on the other side of the fence. All that remained was cleaning up the remnants of Alliance.
Spacestation Gaming has been one of the top cores in North America over the past year of play. But if you asked whether or not they were a major contender for an Apex LAN win, responses would be mixed. Once they acquired up-and-coming Controller prodigy Israel “Koyful” Lawrence in late May, their stocks rose even more. Still, being able to do it is different from actually doing it.
After winning the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs, SSG has solidified their place at the top of the Apex Legends pecking order. On top of Phony earning his flowers as a world-class in-game leader, Koyful has become the youngest player ever to lift an Apex Legends trophy. Brody “Xynew” Geissler joins the exclusive club of players with multiple Apex LAN wins.
No doubt that SSG will continue being a dominant force in Apex and a favorite when the ALGS Championship rolls around early next year.
