The WGL APAC Extended Season Finals for World of Tanks once again comes to Sydney this weekend where teams will battle it out for their share of $100,000 USD at ESL Studios Sydney on Sunday. With Chinese favourites EL Gaming attempting to claim their 4th WGL APAC title in a row, the other teams including Australian favourites Team Efficiency and Chinese teams Yato RSGaming and Seven Pirates will be vying for an upset. Ahead of the spectacle we caught up with Jini Jun, Wargaming’s Head of Competitive Gaming APAC.



With World of Tanks’ first release many years ago, the title has gone from strength to strength. Especially within the competitive scene. This means a shift towards a more country focussed effort from Wargaming. Jini Jun explains, “As all the cultures are different in each country in the region, including Australia and New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, the communities are a bit different too. So we’re trying to localise what we do to meet the needs of our players.”

For Australia and the rest of the world this has meant the introduction of more country-specific competitions including the recent country cups.

“We’re also planning on having training camps, where we invite pro-players like Team Efficiency and some of our players," Jini tells me. "And we can provide lectures or workshops about what’s fun about the game and how to improve your skills. And then what you need to do if you’re interested in tournaments and esports.”

“We’ve been doing training camps like this, starting in Taiwan three years ago, which we’ve expanded to Korea and Japan." Jini continues. "The reactions have been really good so if we have one in ANZ early next year it’ll be the first for the country.” Jini lets me know that the idea of a training camp for the ANZ region is still in the planning stage, so fingers crossed we get to see more of this in the future.

One element about competitive World of Tanks in APAC, as hinted at the introduction is the dominance of EL Gaming, who are aiming to nab their 4th consecutive title. Naturally, taking place in Syndey we'd love to see the locals, Team Efficiency take the crown in an upset.

Speaking of which, be sure to tune into the stream below as the actions kicks off this Sunday at 3:30PM AEDT.

Watch live video from wgl_en on www.twitch.tv

“Having underdogs go all the way is always a more fun story to watch play out," Jini agrees. "And to be honest watching EL dominate the league, it’s just not as fun as an organiser. But one team doesn’t get to dominate forever and there’s always going to be new teams with new skills and strategies coming up to try and be the next champions.” Jini is of course referencing other regions and the global stage for World of Tanks, where winners have come and gone thanks to the always evolving and changing nature of esports.

Which also begs the question, are teams in the APAC region ready to play at the world level? “Players in APAC, in preparation for grand final events, they usually practise with other region's teams in NA and EU," Jini says. "Just for APAC right now I think that they need a little luck, and maybe more practice to make it to that level.”

But, with 50,000 USD in prize money for the first place winners, it already sounds like the WGL APAC Season Finals will provide some pretty impressive moments.