So I want to start a new series of articles here on our website focused on giving a high-level overview of what's happening each week in THE FINALS Esports scene.
But before we look ahead, we need to talk about last week-because there was a LOT going on.
So first up: The Finals Contender League (FCL) made their return on Wednesday, April 8 with familiar teams including Ignite Gaming, Team Burrow, Auntie's Goo Bois, Atlas and Glitch. Casted by Proto and Hyperactive, the event lasted for about an hour as teams battled it out over games of Cashout. Below are the current standings after Wednesday's Matches, and if you want to get involved in FCL, head over to their Discord .
Next up was one of the headline events for the week which took place on Thursday, April 9: Ape Squad Classics. I recently wrote up a few articles talking about the event itself and also what teams I'm keeping my eye on during the league's run. This is the first time we have gotten to see the top Americas pro teams battle it out and the matches did not disappoint. The event was hosted by Bepic and casted by WhySatanWhy, TFC Cody, Vee, and Proto. As much as I'd love to break down all of the matches, this article would just be too long, but if there are some matches that maybe YOU would like to break down, definitely submit us your article! Ape Squad have also put together a highlight video for both NA and EMEA which you can watch here ! The main takeaway is that there's actually a tie for first place between ENVY and NTMR. I also want to shout out Vanguard NA as they debuted their new roster consisting of Brendy, Docc, and Limp which are currently in a 3 way tie for 5th along with Glitch and Pioneers. Below are the top 5 teams from the first Americas playday, and you can view the full leaderboard here .
Our next event was The Heist Games' Qualifier 3 which took place on Saturday, April 11. As we started to enter the second half of Heist Games the standings are interesting and proceeded to get even wilder as the format was changed to a round-robin cashout-only format. I got to cast this event alongside the one and only ArdyIRL which was an amazing experience in itself. On top of casting, the matches were absolutely electric, especially Match 9 which consisted of Glitch, 1UP, Team Retwist, and Ultralight. I HIGHLY recommend you go back and watch this match as Ardy and I both were losing our minds on the broadcast at how close this was. You can catch the VOD right here . Below are the points each team earned from this past weekend's qualifier.
And finally, Sunday brought us back to Ape Squad Classics but this time for EMEA. Just like NA, this was the first time we got to see a lot of the signed teams for THE FINALS compete since TGM25, but we also got to see a lot of new rosters as well. Hosted by Kelly from Alliance and casted by Yung, Hyperactive, Merch, and Dread, the event was action-packed and reached a viewership of over 300 viewers for most of the day (we are so back). Once again, I recommend watching the highlights that I linked above and maybe even recommend watching the VOD back if you have some time on your hands. What is interesting about EMEA is that we actually have a tie for first place (same as AMERICAS), with Frenchfried and Team Secret both at 30 points. Personally I would have expected to see Five Fears up here at the top, but they are currently holding fourth place with 26 points. Below are the top 5 teams from EMEA.
Okay, now that we are all caught up with last week's craziness, let's talk about what's coming up this week in the scene. First up, TONIGHT (Tuesday, April 14th) is TFC PUG Night. This is your chance to play some games with the TFC community and have them casted. We also typically do a bounty or some sort of way to earn you some multibucks. The action starts at 8pm EST in the TFC Discord: https://tfcgg.com/discord . Next up is FCL Week 2 on Wednesday starting at 9pm EST. You can catch the action on the FCL twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/fcltf_ . Thursday is playday 2 for Americas for Ape Squad Classics. You can catch the action on https://twitch.tv/apesquadorg . On Saturday is the final qualifier for The Heist Games which kicks off at 12pm EST on https://twitch.tv/the_heist_games . Finally on Sunday is playday 2 of EMEA for Ape Squad Classics which kicks off at 1pm EST again on https://twitch.tv/apesquadorg .
Along with all of these events there's some other awesome news to share. Today, a new matchmaking platform has been released in beta called Brawlr . We will have a more dedicated article showcasing Brawlr soon, but this is an AWESOME project that will help elevate THE FINALS competitive scene to a new height.
Also Ape Squad has another exciting announcement which is the signing of Ekazo as a partnered creator. Along with this announcement, there has been ANOTHER announcement: Ape Squad and Ape Squad partnered creators will have exclusive Twitch Drops in collaboration with Embark Studios and THE FINALS. The announcement image is below and you can view the announcement tweet here .
And finally I believe it is expected to hear about Embark's further plans with THE FINALS Esports this week per this clip from their previous community stream. Sounds like this is a packed announcement with a blog post, video, and live Q&A. As a reminder, the community stream is typically on Thursdays at around 11am EST on https://www.twitch.tv/thefinals .
One more thing before I wrap up. There is currently a DESPERATE need for more observers in THE FINALS Esports. As tournament operations continue to ramp up, TOs are actively seeking new talent to help man the cameras in the virtual arena. If that sounds of interest to you, please feel free to reach out to me on Discord (tfcsam) and I will try and get you connected! There's more and more news developing every few hours at this point so expect even more exciting things coming to THE FINALS Esports very soon!