South Africa’s talented esports players are getting the opportunity to compete at the highest level – on the global stage – at the World Electronic Sports Games 2019 in China!
China – In March 2019, the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), one of the biggest international esports championship tournaments, will take place in China. Thanks to official qualifiers that were hosted by Mettlestate for South Africa, some of SA’s best Dota 2, CS:GO, Hearthstone and StarCraft II players will represent at the tournament and compete for their share of the $5.5 million tournament prize pool.
The qualifying teams and players are:
- Wynand “ViViD” Meiring – Hearthstone player for Nibble Esports
- Edwin “Drager” William – StarCraft 2 player for Goliath Gaming
- Ryan “ChiDoWi” Lancaster, Mark “Frank” Lehle, Charl “Welp” Geldenhuys, Travis “Castaway” Waters, and
- Aidan “Depp” Marshall – LeetPro Dota2 squad
- Roberto “BlackpoisoN” Dall’Occo, Dominic “Domster” Sampaio, Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek, Johnny “JT-” Theodosiou, Rhys “Fadey” Armstrong, and Tiaan “T.C.” Coetzen (Coach) – representing SA for CS:GO
Barry Louzada, co-founder of Mettlestate, is looking forward to showcasing South Africa’s esports talent on the global stage.
“South Africa has some immensely talented esports players, but these players don’t often get the opportunity to compete at the highest level – on the global stage. We’re very grateful to WESG for permitting us to host official qualifiers for South Africa, as it’s provided the opportunity of a lifetime to these players! I’m really excited to see the magic they bring to their respective titles and flying the SA flag high,” says Louzada.
Wynand “ViViD” Meiring, Hearthstone player for Nibble Esports, still can’t believe that he’s secured his spot and will be off to China in a few weeks’ time.
“I’m super excited, but also super nervous because it’s one of the biggest opportunities to play against the best players from around the world. I will do my best to make SA proud,” affirms Meiring.
Edwin “Drager” Williams, StarCraft 2 player for Goliath Gaming, has represented SA at WESG for the past two years and is looking forward to the competitive environment and electric atmosphere he’s come to know of WESG.
“Competing in a big tournament like WESG is something words can’t describe. Representing SA on the global stage (and on stream) is a huge honour, and it’s an amazing feeling, especially knowing that all my friends and family back in SA is cheering for me. I’m really looking forward to it (and being able to meet and talk with the pro players that I only ever get to see on stream!)” says Williams.
World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) was established in 2016 as an international esports tournament by Alisports. WESG currently possess the highest prizepool of any third-party tournament. The competition differs greatly from that of other commercial tournaments by following the Olympic standard, emphasising on national pride, and encouraging fans to partake in the competition. Each year WESG grants various countries permission to host official WESG qualifiers for their region. The qualifiers for South Africa took place in December 2018, and was hosted by Mettlestate.
Quintin Bennetts, Manager of LeetPro Dota 2, affirms that global tournaments like this that provide qualifiers for SA are a great opportunity, giving South Africa the exposure it needs to prove that our players are able to compete with the best in the world.
“As we saw with some of the players last year when they competed at WESG, they were able to win against some big names in the scene, which is a great sign of the progress of South African esports. Performing well at these international tournaments will help to get Africa noticed and create better esports opportunities for us in the future,” Bennetts adds.
For the latest Team SA WESG updates, connect with Mettlestate online by clicking here.
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