The big Twitch Rivals tournament took place at Apex Legends over the weekend. During TwitchCon 2019 in Berlin, there was a prize pool of $500,000 in the shooter. But this time, star player Dizzy did not take the victory; a clever team secured the high ground and thus the best placements.
These were the rules of the tournament: The series “Twitch Rivals” is somewhat like its own e-sport series of the streaming service Twitch.
- For TwitchCon in Berlin, they had put up a prize pool of $500,000. The tournament took place on April 13.
- A total of 144 players participated: 48 teams with 3 players each.
- In the qualifier, 20 teams competed against each other in 2 leagues. They played 4 matches. The best 6 teams advanced.
- 8 additional teams were directly invited to participate in the finals.
- In the finals, the 12 best qualifiers and the 8 invited teams competed against each other. In this “Grand Final”, 3 matches were played.
- It was played in “Private Games”. There were no randoms involved, only the “Top Teams” played against each other.
- The prize money was evenly distributed for the best placement and for the most kills per match. The teams with the most prize money at the end would receive even more money as a bonus reward.
Who were the stars? There were two outstanding teams, both of which clearly won their qualifiers.
One team was the previously dominant team “NRG”: The 18-year-old Coby “dizzy” Meadows and streamer King Richard, along with Twitch star Ninja, dominated the first tournaments of Apex Legends in February 2019.
Ninja was not in Berlin, however. The third player on NRG was aceu.
Team NRG won all 4 games in the qualifier and achieved an impressive 98 kills for $11,200. Therefore, NRG looked like the clear favorite.
The “raw shooter skill” of the players is simply extremely high, as has been repeatedly demonstrated.
The other strong team was “Rogue”, consisting of Jordan “HusKers” Thomas, Chris “sweetdreams” Sexton, and Mark “Dropped Thees.”.
They secured two victories in the qualifier and a total of 37 kills for $7,400. They were clearly on everyone’s radar after such good performances.
The Rogue team played more for victory than for kills in the qualifier – this strategy would pay off in the finals.
Who won the finals? The final indeed came down to a competition between NRG and Rogue.
- NRG had significantly more kills but could not win the matches. Despite 57 kills in the 3 final matches, the squad only placed 7th, 8th, and 9th. They go home with $41,000.
- Rogue, on the other hand, achieved 31 kills, won two matches, and finished second in the third match. Thus, they won the tournament and around $75,000.
- The large difference in prize money is due to the “bonus money” that was added. Originally, both teams were close together. However, Rogue received $50,000 in bonuses, while NRG only received $20,000.
This is what the matches looked like: The key for Rogue seemed to be better positioning. While Dizzy’s team got fully consumed in fights, Rogue rather secured the “high ground”, utilized the death zone better for themselves, and was able to exert pressure on others without coming under pressure themselves.
“Proper” Tournament with Custom Games
How was the tournament received? According to initial reactions, players like Dizzy were quite impressed to play Apex Legends at a LAN in person and in custom matches. This is a very different Apex Legends from what is usually played.
The earlier tournaments were held on public servers and the teams just racked up kills like crazy.
However, Dizzy also had a critique: It was extremely cold in Berlin. He apparently was not prepared for that.
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