The LAN qualifiers in Dubai sent three representatives from Africa and the Middle East to the largest non-Blizzard tournament of the year.
With a six-figure prize pool rivaling that of last year’s world championship, more eyes ought to be on WESG. A collaboration between StarLadder and ImbaTV, the multi-game event is taking a trip across the world to select players from each region and have them compete for a $150,000 first place prize, whole $50,000 more than what world champions James “Firebat” Kostesich and Sebastian “Ostkaka” Engwall banked in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
First on the itinerary was Africa and the Middle East, considered the underdog region of the five. Players from Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, Syria and Algeria – not countries one generally associates with a powerful esports scene – were gathered in Dubai for a rather well-produced LAN qualifier. Of the eight who qualified through their regional preliminaries, only three will sling cards in Shanghai, China at the end of the year.
South Africa took the first spot as Th3Jok3r defeated Turkey’s SANVER in a close seven-game series. In the bronze final for the last seed, a group stage re-match between Lord from Egypt and Kingslayer from Syria saw the former take revenge, securing a spot in the biggest tournament of his career.
Next on WESG’s schedule are the qualifiers for Europe and CIS. Between September 3-17, fifteen regionals will be held, picking a total of 20 players to compete in the regional LAN final sin Kyiv, Ukraine. Of those 20, eight will advance to the grand finals, making Europe the most represented region in Shanghai.
Registration links can be found in our coverage hub here.
