Top Moments from APAC South Day 4

^{Image: Ubisoft/Eric Anamalay}

Here is how Day 4 of the APAC South Division looked like:

• Dire Wolves 7-2 Wildcard Gaming
• Gaimin Gladiators 7-5 FURY
• Knights 7-5 Tyde

Play of the day: Hovenherst pivotal 1v1

Aldi "Hovenherst" Firmansyah stood tall for Gaimin Gladiators yesterday in a pivotal 1v1 that eventually got his team three points against league leaders FURY.

It was a do-or-die match for Gaimin Gladiators, who needed the win to keep pace with the top two of Dire Wolves and FURY. But amidst a chaotic execute on their final attacking round, the Gladiators found themselves at threat of having to overhaul a 2-4 first half.

Pasatron "Darkk" Boonrubasb, who has been enjoying a strong stage so far, had the defuser in his clutches and was about to win a 1v2 for his team, but Hovenherst kept his cool to manage to get the Gladiators an even half. They later went on to win 7-5, leaving them just one point behind FURY, but with a game in hand.

Player of the day: Ape

Nigh-unstoppable in Stage 2, Razaan "Ape" Adiprakasa has had a far more muted Stage 3. He was the worst player by SiegeGG Rating in the loss against Dire Wolves and had a middle-of-the-pack 1.08 Rating in the opening win over Wildcard.

Yesterday, however, he seemed back on form. The Indonesian player was more than a handful for FURY to deal with and finished with 17 kills; four of them on an unbeaten entry. A 1.42 kills-per-round frequency was the highest on the day, evne though his 1.53 SiegeGG Rating was beaten by Wu "Reeps96" Weichen's 1.78.

In a match as closely contested as this, and under pressure, Ape delivered and was no doubt the best player on play day four.

Surprise of the day: Knights

Even though it has only been four weeks, the refrain that Knights are underperforming is fast becoming a tired one. The Australians should have upgraded with the signing of Invictus Gaming's star player, Matin "SpeakEasy" Yunos, but have struggled to make their mark in Stage 3.

Yesterday, though, they got their first win in regulation time and looked better than they had before. While Knights securing a win is not surprising per se, given the quality of the team on paper, their recent results have been less-than-inspiring and three points (or even two) were never guaranteed.

They are only two points behind second-placed FURY, but only have two games left in the stage and are significant outsiders in the race for a Jönköping Major berth.

Top moments of the day

Here's a quickfire rundown of other top moments in APAC South yesterday.

Dire Wolves win seven in a row

Dire Wolves looked somewhat shaky on their first two rounds against Wildcard Gaming -- not the greatest of signs for a team fighting to go to the Major against the weakest team in the history of the league.

But that proved only to be a false dawn for Wildcard, as Dire Wolves procedeed to blitz them with seven round wins in a row.

Reeps96 is unstoppable

Reeps96, who had the highest SiegeGG Rating yesterday with a 1.78, was unstoppable and once again the focal point of Dire Wolves' strength.

The Chinese player reeled off entry kill after entry kill, finishing with a 6-0 Entry record and a 12-3 K-D. Amazingly, he largely played Sledge and Castle, and even managed to plant the defuser once.

Due to his efforts, Dire Wolves are one step closer to returning to the international stage. All he has to do is mop up the similarly weak Tyde and Knights rosters in the final two games.

APAC may have four teams at SI 2023 yet

FURY's loss was APAC's gain.

Assuming Dire Wolves keep up their momentum, having already seen off the threats of Elevate and Gamin Gladiators, they will be headed to the Jönköping Major. SI Points gained there should keep them safe in the Global Standings top 16, thus securing them a Six Invitational 2023 berth.

CAG could well be the lone direct-qualifier team from APAC North, leaving one more possible entry from APAC South. That team will likely have to be Elevate, after the Thai qualified (but could not attend) the Charlotte Major and made it to the playoffs of the Berlin Major.

Losing to FURY had put their qualification under grave threat and the issue was compounded as they now have to play with substitute Pirapat "AnGryX" Pimthanapoonporn in place of Atibordee "Sapper" Noichan. However, should they manage to make it to the Jönköping Major anyway, the SI Points could work out to see them through to SI 2023 as well.

As a result, with one team from APAC set to come from the qualifier, the region could see four teams at SI 2023 -- though both CAG and Dire Wolves will also likely have to ensure that they do not finish last in their groups.