This weekend, the best World of Tanks Gold League teams from North America, Europe, and APAC headed to New York City to battle in the Challenger Rumble. After the teams representing North America and Europe battled their way out of the group stage, it was the European teams that were left standing in the finals, with DiNG hoisting the NYC Rumble trophy. If you missed the action you can watch the VODs on Wargaming Europe’s Youtube.
GROUP STAGE
Group A consisted of a team from each of the three participating regions, with DiNG, eClipse, and B-Gaming battling their way to the semifinals. Going into this group, DiNG were favored to not only win the group, but the entire competition. Eclipse were thought to have an advantage over B-Gaming with their international experience, but no one really knew what would happen since these regions had not played each other since the last Grand Finals. Unsurprisingly, DiNG emerged 2-0 from the group with a 5-2 win over B-Gaming and a 5-1 win over eClipse, which left Eclipse vs. B-Gaming to decide who stayed and who went home. Eclipse won the deciding match 5-0 with a strong victory, which advanced them along with DiNG to the semifinals.
Picking up the win, @Ding_wot get the 1v1 ram kill! #NYCRumble @WorldofTanks pic.twitter.com/75IQGn5JhV
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) November 19, 2016
In Group B, there were three real powerhouse teams; Kazna Kru, Apex, and El Gaming. All of these players have had a lot of experience on the international stage with multiple Grand Finals appearances. This group was a toss up as to who would advance with no real standout, but Kazna Kru emerged as the victor with a 5-1 win over El Gaming and a closer 5-2 win over Apex. In the deciding match, Apex battled El Gaming, defeating them 5-2 to accompany Kazna Kru to the semifinals.
Dodoma wins the clutch 1v1 for #APEX! @WorldofTanks #NYCRumble #WGLNA pic.twitter.com/2CtenqaKtr
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) November 19, 2016
SEMIFINALS
The first semifinal match was between the undefeated European powerhouse DiNG and the North American champion Apex. The match started with DiNG going up 4-0 very quickly before Apex were able to pick up a single game. Apex were unable to change the momentum and DiNG soundly defeated them with a 5-1 scoreline that stifled North America’s best champion in their attempts to get into the finals. You can find the VOD for this semifinal match on Twitch.
Apex get a quick pick on a tier 10 from @DiNG_WoT! #NYCRumble @worldoftanks pic.twitter.com/qSzFuTRkat
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) November 19, 2016
The second semifinal match was between Kazna Kru and eClipse. eClipse were North America’s last hope to prevent an all-European finals between Kazna Kru and DiNG. Getting off to an impressive start, eClipse pulled off a significant 2-0 lead after winning both games on Mines. Unfortunately, this is where eClipse’s luck ran dry as they lost the next five matches, including matchups in their favor like Ruinberg defense and Murovanka defense. Kazna Kru joined DiNG in the finals with a 5-2 win over eClipse making it an all-European final. You can watch this second semifinal on Twitch!
Winning the second semi-final, @KaznaKru secures the 5-2 win over @eClipse_WGLNA! #NYCRumble @WorldofTanks pic.twitter.com/FZ40kQvkMZ
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) November 20, 2016
FINALS
These were easily the best matches of the entire competition with a rematch of the European finals between DiNG and Kazna Kru. The match started off with the teams splitting the matches 1-1 on Murovanka, Prokhorovka, and Himmelsdorf to make the score an exciting 3-3. However on Mines, everything changed.
Kazna won the first game on Mines after DiNG weren’t able to defeat Kanza Kru’s sound defense, which put Kazna Kru on match point. All appeared to be lost for DiNG in the next game, with only Positive remaining against three tanks of Kazna. However, with everyone low on health, Positive was able win the 1v3 in his batchat after a miracle bounce that left him alive and was able to force overtime on Himmelsdorf. After a crushing defeat on Mines, DiNG used the momentum of their last win to lead them to victory in the overtime match and leave a stunned Kazna Kru in second place. This is one match you don’t want to miss, so be sure to relive the action by watching the Twitch VOD.
Positive makes a crazy play to force the 1v1 to keep @DiNG_WoT alive! #NYCRumble @WorldofTanks pic.twitter.com/9SHJbUFu4B
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) November 20, 2016
COMING UP
Next month the two finalists of the Challenger Rumble, DiNG and Kazna Kru, will take on Na’Vi and Hellraisers in the Champion Rumble where the best of the best will meet on the international stage for matches you usually won’t see outside of the Grand Finals.
Keep an eye on the ESL World of Tanks Twitter and Facebook for more details about the Champion Rumble in the coming weeks. Also, if you have the need to watch more Wargaming.net League, remember that there are VODs from the previous matches this season running 24/7 on wgl.gg/watch!
