TSM win Apex Legends Preseason Invitational, establish top spot

Team SoloMid has defended its X-Games Apex Legends EXP title with a resounding victory at the massive 80-team Apex Legends Preseason Invitational. 

The official preseason for Apex Legends is now over, and more information about the upcoming regular season will be announced at a later date, according to a Respawn representative who spoke at the tournament. 

Heading into the regular season, TSM’s squad of Jordan “Reps” Wolfe, Mac “Albralelie” Kenzie Beckwith, and Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen certainly seemed like the team to beat. All the same, the victory at the Preseason Invitational didn’t come easy. 

The hearts and minds of fans were captured by Russian team 789, who stormed to a sixth-place finish at the Invitational. The unsigned team bested many squads with greater prestige and more financial backing, and were definitely the feel-good story of the tournament. 

TSM bested Natus Vincere, Wyvern, GamersOrigin, and Sentinels en route to winning the lion’s share of a $500,000 prize pool, with $105,000 going to the winning team.

No member of TSM received the Apex Predator award for most eliminations, as that honor was a tie between Na’Vi’s Nikita “clawz” Marchinsky, his teammate Kirill “9impulse” Kostiv, and An “Selly” Jeong-hwan of Wyvern. 

TSM are now the reigning back-to-back champions, but they’re not quite as dominant as some might have expected. The tournament was a hotly contested affair, with two teams finishing within 10 points of TSM in the final standings. 

The competition in the opening days of Apex Legends esports is still fierce. The off-time between now and the beginning of further online and live tournaments will likely be huge for those teams looking to bridge the gap between themselves and TSM. For now, TSM are the reigning Apex Legends champions, and we’ll have to wait for a brand new season to potentially see another victor crowned.