Now that you’ve learned a little more about the Battle.net World Championship and the great World of Warcraft events that will be occurring, it’s time to introduce you to the teams that will be competing in the World Championship World of Warcraft Arena Global Finals. Get out your sharpies and poster board; you’ll want to be prepared to root on your favorite teams. (You can never go wrong with a little extra glitter too, or maybe some scrolling text on your tablet.)
North America
The 2012 World Championship World of Warcraft Arena North American Invitational was hosted by Curse Network and took place Friday, August 24 through Sunday August 26. Eight of the top teams competed to see who would hit the road to Shanghai later in the year. When the dust settled two teams stood victorious.
Bring It
Mage - Venruki
Warlock - Snutz
Shaman - Kollektive
"Bring It" is a team who is doing just that. Snutz, no stranger to the big stage, has made a name for himself at previous BlizzCons. Joining with the talents of Venruki and Kollektiv, this group looks to build on that experience and show everyone that their place in Shanghai is well deserved.
Evil Geniuses
Priest - Talbadar
Shaman - Cdew
Warlock - Azael
With an incredible showing in the round robin event of the North America Invitational, Evil Geniuses carried that momentum into the finals. Emerging the victors and securing their spot among the elite in Shanghai, this trio has moved one step closer to the goal of all evil geniuses: World Domination.
Europe
The 2012 European World of Warcraft Invitational took place this year at Gamescom at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. Sunday, August 19, eight of the best teams in Europe battled it out with six out of the 24 players emerging victorious in their bid to make it to the world stage at the Battle.net World Championship.
I’m Just Being Honest
Warlock - Bluckstak
Shaman - Boetar
Shaman - Swapxy
The ever-smiling trio ‘I'm just being honest’ fought their way through the European invitational valiantly, claiming second place to venture on to the Battle.Net World Championship in Shanghai. Their team consists of Warlock ‘Blukstak’ and Shamans ‘Boetar’ and ‘Swapxy’.
Yaspresents
Priest - Zunniyaki
Death Knight - Another
Paladin - Câra
Yaspresents, a team of confident players, that were determined to prevail at the European Championships. They pushed their way through the tournament in the upper bracket and defeated every opponent they crossed. With ‘Zunniyaki’ on his Priest, Death Knight player ‘Another’ and ‘Câra’ with his Paladin, they managed some incredible team play and co-ordination, making them a team to be watched in Shanghai.
Korea
Early August proved to be a fortuitous time for the two teams from Korea, LG-IM and Delirium Termans who took the top two spots in the 2012 World of Warcraft Arena KR National tournament.
LG-IM
Warlock - Adouken
Shaman - Shotky
Mage - Avenger
Adouken is not just a fan-favorite in Korea, but has support worldwide due to his many videos, and now he’s coming to you live at the Battle.net World Championships. Last year, he was active in the Korean Nationals under the team name “Kimchi Man,” taking the trophy, but falling short at the Battle.net World Championship. The team is now with LG-IM, and has added a new mage to the team that goes by the handle “Avenger.” This will be their chance at a second shot at conquering the arena.
Delirium Termans
Warrior - Tatu
Death Knight - Must
Paladin - Ardent
Team Delirium Termans participated in the 2011 Korea World of Warcraft Battle.net Invitational and ran into a road block thus finding themselves unable to make it past the 5th place slot. They were not discouraged however, nor did they give up, and they are now back again for another shot at being world champions. With a lineup with more than five possible combinations of classes, the team promises versatile deployment and engagement strategies to whoever may challenge them.
Taiwan
The WoW-Cup Championship (World of Warcraft Arena Tournament Invitational Final) was held at the Taipei Computer Applications Show on Sunday, August 5 resulting in AHQ eSports Club and Team ROCCAT SYI, holding on to the hopes of the Taiwan community to bring home a win.
AHQ eSports Club
Warrior - WANFU
Warlock - DEC
Shaman - IVAN
You may remember AHQ eSports Club as ROC – that’s the name they went by at BlizzCon 2011. This year, they’re landed a sponsorship with AHQ for their fourth chance to represent Taiwan in one of Blizzard’s Arena finals events. Warrior ‘WANFU’ and Warlock ‘DEC’ are both veteran players, having racked up experience during the Invitationals. They’ve been joined by Shaman ‘IVAN’, and are ready to show their Arena skills in the Battle.net World Championship.
Team ROCCAT SYI
Priest - Syanzi
Rogue - Cureasy
Mage - Acedog
SYI won the sponsor of ROCCAT after they took the ticket to the 2012 Battle.net World Championship. Their excellent performance in the 2012 Battle.net Taiwan National Final impressed many. This will be their first time attending Battle.net World Championship for Taiwan and many look forward to seeing them take the battle to the next big stage.
China
In China, a series of tournaments pitted as many as 31 teams against each other between Saturday, August 4 and Thursday, August 31 resulting in just two teams emerging triumphant from a pool of talented players. Team Old Boy and DoubleG will make a showing in their home country in the hope of taking the top spot in the world.
Team Old Boy
Rogue - 寒剑
Shaman - Lareina
Warlock - 天堂之声
As the winner of the first China Arena Championship, Team Old Boy has made its return with a Rogue/Warlock/Shaman team composition. They reached rank 1 many times through season 3 to season 11, and entered the regional final with an undefeated record on the group stage. Among all the intensive match-ups in the final, the series against another great team, the DMC, put all others to shame. At the final match of the Best of three series, they had perfect timing and were able to quickly take out one of DMC’s players, thus opening up an opportunity to seal this important win. They continued their perfect match streak during the Final and took the Battle.net World Championship spot with an impressive ending record of 4 wins and 1 loss.
DoubleG
Shaman - Darkarchonyo
Warlock - Holylol
Mage - 霸气四射
These three names will be familiar to those who watched the 2011 China Battle.net Invitational – Dark and 霸气四射 both come from the top four teams last year, and Dark himself helped the once-glorious GOA dominate many 2011 arena tournaments with his legendary Shaman skills. They return for 2012, and have teamed with Holylol to form a Mage/Warlock/Shaman trio. They had an undefeated record on the group stage, equally impressive fights during elimination rounds, and awed everyone with a three win streak, turning the tide against War Never Change when they were behind by a score of 0-2.