World of Tanks eSports is back as Comets fly in ANZPL season opener

Brisbane Bulldogs and Cairns Comets show the rest how it’s done by being the two of only three teams to secure Attacking victories in the new 5v5 ‘State of Origin’ style eSports format brought to you by ESL caster Ben “Sandman” Green, joined by Kevin “Karath” Zhu and sponsored by HyperX ANZ.

Streaming to a live audience of 300+, the new format seems to heavily favour the defensive side as the first few rounds result in a 2:2 draw but in Round 3 it was the Brisbane Bulldogs led by captain Ravvi who managed to exceed expectations and take out a dominating win on their home map pick of Ruinberg before holding their defense on the Perth Panther’s home map pick, Sand River.

The Cairns Comets led by captain Darksider267 showed how some aggression can pay off picking up 2 attacking wins to lead the table although dropping a single defence game on Prokhorovka to the Melbourne Matildas, finding themselves unable to get a reset on the only base capture win for the night to still finish up in a 3:1 win to take out the round.

While the map and tank meta will develop over time, the opening round saw some patterns forming. Steppes was the most commonly picked ‘Home map’ with 3 teams, followed by a Prokhorovka pick for 2 and others choosing Sand River, Ruinberg and Murovanka.

The tank meta following a ‘Brothers in Arms’ style draft means that without the stale reward tank meta available to be selected, we saw a return of the Batchat 25t (41), Super Conqueror (36), Object 277 (24) and T-100 LT (20) all be regular fixtures in team line ups. Special mentions go out to the IS-7 (15), WZ-111 5A (13), STB-1 (12) and Progetto 65 (10) that all saw picks into the double digits. 

Wargaming amazed again with the awesome design of each team logo and great team camouflage designs on display prompting excitement from the audience at the prospect they may be able to share in their team’s look should the tank camouflage design ever become available.

I think tonight was a solid opening to the ANZ Premier League season for World of Tanks ANZ that brought hope for eSports to be a regular fixture back in the community and kept the audience engaged throughout the stream. I will certainly be looking forward to Round 2 on Friday night.

if you missed all the action then check out the VOD on the World Of Tanks ANZ Twitch channel otherwise join World of Tanks ANZ for Round 2 of the ANZ Premier League next Friday 18^th September at 18:00 UTC+10 for more ANZ eSports action!