The World of Tanks‘ WGL Grand Finals 2016 has concluded with challengers Na’Vi managing to take out reigning champions, Hellraisers (pictured above). The final battle went into overtime, with Hellraisers finally succumbing after a costly gamble by once-hero ApplewOw meant his tank was quite literally caught between a rock and a hard place.
A gamble by ApplewOw (pictured above, third from right) on the map Cliff caused his tank to slide down a hill and become trapped on a rock. On the attack in the overtime round and unable to move for over three of the match’s ten minutes, ApplewOw could only watch in frustration as Na’Vi’s only remaining player, Inspired, cruised to an easy victory. The anti-climatic win was in stark contrast to the evenly-matched, hard-fought series as a whole. The Hellraisers took early victories in the match before losing successive games. Losing 2-4, Hellraisers came back and tied things up before both teams essentially traded off wins, forcing a final overtime round.
ApplewOw proved invaluable to Hellraisers, overcoming a 1v3 situation early into the series to keep his team competitive. In the end, it wasn’t enough; Esports powerhouse Na’Vi and its experience secured the overall victory with strong performances from the likes of SL1DE (pictured below, second from left), Rhino (below, far right) and TheAnatolich (below, third from left).
Na’Vi walk away with $150,000 in prize money, and Hellraisers with $75,000. UK team Wombats on Tanks managed to secure a third place finish against Not So Serious to round things off. Congratulations to the top three teams.
You can watch highlights from the Grand Finals’ second day below:
You can also relive the action of Grand Finals series, below:
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Finally, here’s a handy infographic that shows off the series’ myriad stats:
Stevivor was flown to Warsaw, Poland for the WGL Grand Finals 2016 by Wargaming.
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