The playoffs for the WGLNA World of Tanks Gold League have been completed. Two teams will be joining Elevate and eClipse in the live finals in Burbank, CA at the ESL Studios! The matches last night were intense, so if you missed them you should go back and watch them on YouTube!
DARE RISING VS O7 GAMING
This match looked eerily similar to last year, where the 6th place o7 Gaming upset the third place Aquatic M60s to punch their ticket to Burbank. Dare Rising proved to be a tougher opponent as the tried to secure their tip to Burbank for the second season in a row.
.@o7meadowhawk strikes gold again in his faceoff as he make a shrine to @SimplyJsmooth! #WGLNA @WorldofTanks pic.twitter.com/UcCovnHhOd
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
This match started off with a twist as o7 Gaming dominated on Steppes. Arclit and Fosta threw some curveballs at Dare in the form of an Object 261 artillery piece and secret UDES 03 positions that were able to give o7 the surprise 2-0 lead! Up next was Mines, which was one of o7’s best maps of the season, at this point people were beginning to wonder if Dare had tilted and if we were beginning to see o7 pull off another huge upset.
On the first game of Mines, o7 tried to force Batchats down the 1-2 line, but Dare were ready for them and the Batchats were systematically destroyed in the open. This undid o7’s entire strat and Dare wiped o7 out without losing a single tank. This game was huge for Dare as it completely erased the momentum o7 had gained on Steppes. Dare went on to barely beat o7’s Mines defense after the T95 of Makos couldn’t quite hold on against the hyper mobile Batchat and TVP of Dare.
This battle on Mines couldn't have gotten much closer but @DareRising squeaks out the win! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/oD4L9cxzwD
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
Now the momentum was with Dare and they started to use it on Murovanka. On their attack, Dare correctly predicted o7 would try and flank from the east. Dare positioned a couple Mauses in the middle of the city instead of the cap and were able to fast cap with their super heavy screen. On their attack, o7 didn’t seem to have the answer as they were quickly surrounded and destroyed by the tanks of Dare.
.@DareRising win a Murovanka attack with a fast cap as @o7Gaming aren't able to respond! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/Il7FYbgQwy
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
With the score 4-2 in favor of Dare, o7 had to attack on Ruinberg, which is one of the lowest percentage wins in the league. Using superheavy Type 5 and Maus tanks, o7 tried to surprise their opponent with an east play. Even though the Tanks of Dare were set up to deal with the North play, o7’s tanks were so slow that Dare were able to adjust with time to spare. The tanks of o7 were massacred as they tried to cap out. Dare won the series 5-2 and will be joining Elevate and eClipse at the live finals in Burbank!
AQUATIC M60S VS TOP TIER
Everyone thought this battle would be close beforehand as the WGLNA freshmen, Top Tier, prepared to take on the veteran team, Aquatic M60s. Neither team has been to the live finals before as this is Top Tier’s first season in the league and Aquatic had never quite made the cut.
Aquatic got off to a good start on the first map of Himmelsdorf as they took the hill to set up a two cap play. The Object 263 was the big surprise of the first map as Felix used the 263 to outplay Pompous in the JPE100 and lead Aquatic M60s to a 1-0 lead. Top Tier were able to strike back the next game as their super heavy Maus tanks secured the courtyard and then drove a wedge right through Aquatic M60s lines down the three line. Aquatic had too many tanks out of position and Top Tier tied the series 1-1!
Next on Ghost Town, Top Tier’s Mauses once again lead the team to victory. Both games on Ghost Town, the Mauses got right in Aquatic M60s face and were able to out trade their opponents. Aquatic M60s didn’t seem to have an answer for Maus play on Ghost Town.
The Mauses of @Top_Tier_WoT are able to overpower @AquaticM60s to take the lead 3-1! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/38akPcVWLl
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
With Top Tier looking strong headed into Muro, Aquatic M60s were unable to break the rock solid defense of Top Tier. Aquatic tried to push three mice onto the one cap but they were surrounded as Top Tier abandoned the west side and chose instead to take the eastern side of the map and spread out to surround Aquatic M60s. Aquatic were now on match point, 1-4, and they knew they had to make something happen. The next game on Murovanka, Aquatic M60s boldly took the eastern forest and destroyed the two Batchats of Top Tier. After the loss of their scouts, Top Tier couldn’t break Aquatic’s defense and Aquatic lived to fight on Mines.
Heading into Mines the score was 4-2 in favor of Top Tier, but Aquatic weren’t done yet. The first game on Mines, the M40/43 artillery piece driven by Felix was the star of the show as he drove fear into the hearts of Top Tier while doing 3k damage in a tier eight tank. Aquatic were able to successfully defend against Top Tier the first match and had to win one more to force overtime.
.@Top_Tier_WoT tries to makes an epic comeback happen on Mines! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/2p6V0LVjF4
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
This is the game that people will be talking when they remember this series. Aquatic started off the game with a 1-2 line push and both teams traded pretty evenly as Aquatic slowly took ground in the south. Almost all the HP of both teams was gone with 2:30 to go as both teams had less than 1500 HP. Aquatic M60s took the middle hill and put one 200 health Batchat on cap while Top Tier had a two shot batchat hiding in the Northeast and another Batchat floating in the Northwest corner.
After Top Tier moved into reset and the dust settled, all that was left was a 86 HP batchat of Top Tier and a reasonably healthy Maus from Aquatic M60s. With one minute to go Mereelskirata started to run west to hide until time ran out, but he made the decision to double back thinking the Maus was still on the hill. Little did he know that the Maus of Aquatic M60s had dropped off the back and Mereel ran right back into his sights! The Maus of Aquatic was able to kill the batchat and force overtime!
.@AquaticM60s tie the series! That game is going down in #WGLNA history as one best battles ever! @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/3P1SvG9exj
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
After such a nerve racking game beforehand, the overtime match on Prokhorovka was mostly straightforward. Aquatic M60s attacked on the eastern side but Top Tier were expecting the move. Top Tier quickly moved their tanks around the south while holding the train tracks in the west and Aquatic M60s were completely surrounded. Top Tier were able to take the match and book the last ticket to Burbank in a heartbreaker for Aquatic M60s.
TUNE IN
The finals are happening soon! Tune into wgl.gg/watch on April 8th to watch the four best teams in North America face off to see who gets the biggest chunks of the $325k prize pool!
Remember there will be a special fantasy event for the finals so get your lineups set at fantasytanks.com.
As always, follow WGLNA on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date on all the latest #WGLNA news about the league, fantasy, and more!