The final round of the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) tournament concluded in eastern China's Changzhou on Sunday. Pro gamers from all over the world shared prize money totaling 3.7 million US dollars. The event was funded by China's Alipay, the e-payment branch of Alibaba.
Dancers perform at WESG stage on January 15, 2017. /WESG
The feast featured four games: Defense of the Ancients 2 (DOTA2), Counter Strike: Global Offense (CS:GO), Starcraft II (SC2) and Hearthstone. The games represent four categories of e-sports gaming: multiplayer online battle arena, first-person shooting, real-time strategy and collectible card games.
Defense of the Ancients 2
DOTA2 was originated from a crowd-developed open-source game, which is a five-on-five arena for players to destroy enemy party's structures. All 10 players must control their heroic character to push an ongoing battle toward victory.
Philippine players hold up their trophy after winning the DOTA2 game at WESG in eastern China's Changzhou on January 15, 2017. /WESG
TNC Pro from the Philippines beat Cloud 9 from Denmark to claim the 800,000 US dollar prize.
Counter Strike: Global Offense
CS:GO creates a very realistic anti-terrorism scenario. Ten players are split into two squads, one trying to carry out an act of terror, the other fighting to prevent it from happening.
The award was also 800,000 US dollars. French team EnVyUs claimed the money, after beating Polish team Kinguin 2:0.
Name of Team EnVyUs is seen on a screen at the stage of the WESG final. /WESG
Starcraft II
Starcraft is a classic e-sports games. It requires the two players of each game to establish their own armies from scratch, and skirmish with each other.
South Korean players dominated this game for more than a decade, thanks to the country's well established e-sports ecosystem. The two players who competed in the WESG final, Maru and TYTY, are both from South Korea. Maru's performance at WESG is so marvelous that he didn't lose a single match before the final. But he was blocked by TYTY to claim the 200,000 US dollar prize. After a full seven-match final, TYTY beat Maru with a score of 4:3.
A skirmish between Maru and TYTY during the final. /WESG
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is a card game of precise calculation. Each of the two sides can form decks of 30 cards from a wide pool and then compete with each other. Monsters, spells and skills, all designed with math in mind, make players cautious on their choices.
After another prolonged seven-match dual, Philippine black horse Staz managed to bring down his Swedish opponent Orange to win a prize of 150,000 US dollars.
Philippine Hearthstone player Staz touches his trophy after winning the final. /WESG
