The Apex Legends Global Series Championship feels a lot more real now. Sixty players, half of those who made the journey to Japan for ALGS Champs, have now booked their flights home.

The third day of action began with the lower (losers) bracket, where Crazy Thieves did just enough to keep their comeback story going. Team Liquid failed to get things together, though, and the hyped trio went home in 53rd place. 

Sad news as well for Men of Culture and those of us wanting the ultimate underdog story. Despite a spirited comeback in the final two matches, the reunited trio couldn’t do enough to reach the second losers bracket semi-final.

The only other notable action in this round was Riddle’s Takamasa “Meltstera” Kawai performing a Grand Theft Auto-worthy heist on not one, but two Tridents in order to resurrect his teammates.

There were few surprises in the winners’ bracket. Team Falcons led the pack from the off, with third, second, and first placements and a combined 25 kills in the first three rounds.

TSM seemed to find form when it mattered to secure third place going into finals, and both Alliance and Supernova continued their form from the group stages to make it into the top ten, albeit the latter leaving it until the final round to do the business. 

I’d also like to shout out Hotdog Mafia, who finished the winners bracket in an impressive fourth place. One of only two unsigned teams to make it into the final at all, an impressive performance tomorrow will surely put them on a few organizations’ radars.

The real excitement came in the final round of the day, the lower bracket final (AKA the second losers’ bracket). Citadel Gaming couldn’t continue their excellent group stage form and crashed out with just four points, while Wolves Esports, who had been knocking on the door of the top ten throughout the competition, couldn’t muster enough to make finals. Crazy Thieves, however, completed the next stage of their comeback story as Legacy and home favorites Fnatic also made it through. 

Just three teams came through the losers bracket to earn a place in Sunday’s final, fewer than ever before in ALGS LAN history.

Looking to tomorrow, Falcons are in a prime position to take home the trophy as the first pick in the draft secured them their preferred Skyhook West drop spot on World’s Edge. However, Alliance had a very strong POI draft (including Energy Bank, Outpost North/North Pad, and Survey Camp), and most eyes will be watching Crazy Thieves, just in case they can pull off the comeback of all comebacks.