Kungarna and Kawhi Win the 2022 WOW AWC Grand Finals

The World of Warcraft Arena World Championship (AWC) Grand Finals are in the rearview mirror, with Kawhi and Kungarna emerging as the newest champions. Kawhi edged out the victory with 4-3, while Kungarna swept 4-0.

Competing in the European region, Kungarna achieved what many believed was impossible, but through perseverance and team play, the Scandinavian squad pulled through and emerged as the newest AWC champions.

Kungarna qualified for the big event as one of the top European WoW teams alongside SK Gaming, Casual Dads, and GCN Esports, with the teams competing for the lion’s share of the $150,000 prize pool.

Kungarna kicked off their campaign against CGN Esports, who beat the Scandinavian squad 3-2, pushing Kungarna into the elimination bracket. There Kungarna battled Causal Dads, who proved to be no match for the Holy Priest-Fire Mage-Outlaw Rogue combo, and lost 0-3.

With the wind in their sails, Kungarna advanced into the second round of the Loser’s Finals, where they played a rematch with CGN Esports, who lost against SK Gaming (1-3) in the Winner’s Finals.

But despite losing their first affair, Kungarna were better prepared this time out and stomped the international roster 3-0, achieving what seemed to be impossible. With that, Kungarna qualified for the AWC 2022 finals, where they met with SK Gaming, who were up to that point near-perfect, winning their last two series 3-1.

After winning two straight series with clean sweeps, Kungarna proved that they’re the real deal, and they did not hesitate to show that on the big stage.

Again using the Priest-Mage-Rogue lineup, Kungarna did not struggle against the Shaman-Warlock-Druid lineup of SK and took the series lead on Nagrand Arena. SK Switched up its lineup for games two and three with Druid-Mage-Rogue, but they couldn’t find any success, finding themselves 0-3 down with no response ready.

Things did not improve in the final map either, despite SK Gaming mimicking Kungarna’s Priest-Mage-Rogue lineup, losing their fourth map, and giving away the 2022 AWC title.

The North American AWC was just as competitive, if not more competitive, than its cross-Atlantic counterpart. Featuring some of the world’s best WoW Arena teams in Cloud9, Team Liquid, and Three and a Half Men, The NA AWC 2022 Finals produced a closely-contested battle for the crow, which eventually landed in Kawhi’s hands.

Kawhi kicked off their road to the title against Three and a Half Men, who they beat 3-0, albeit needed over 23 minutes to do so. Still, their Holy Paladin-Outlaw Rogue-Shadow Priest lineup was the superior combo on the day, despite Two and a Half Men switching up its team composition after the first map.

In the Winners’ Finals, Kawhi faced the tournament favorites Cloud9, who entered the match with a Priest-Warlock-Rogue lineup, which proved efficient in stopping Kawhi, winning the first two maps. However, with their backs against the wall, Kawhi found their stride and clawed back a reverse sweep, taking down Cloud9 in Dalaran Sewers, Empyrean Domain, and Ashamane’s Fall to book a ticket for the grand finals.

In the finals, Kawhi would again meet with Cloud9, who defeated Team Liquid (3-2) for the second time in the tournament with a unique Priest-Monk-Rogue lineup, which Cloud9 would switch back to Priest-Warlock-Rogue for the finals.

Like in their first meeting with Kawhi, Cloud9 got off to a strong start and took a 2-0 lead before losing the next two maps, which included a 1:42 defeat on Hook Point.

Leveled at 2-2, Kawhi and Cloud9 looked evenly matched, and while Cloud9 got ahead on Ruins of Loaderon, they couldn’t keep their wheels spinning. Kawhi turned on their jets and took down Cloud9 4-3 with two convincing performances on Tol’Viron Arena and Blade’s Edge Arena.

By defeating Cloud9 (4-3), Kawhi secured $70,000 in tournament winnings, proving that the former Method roster is just as deadly as it was in 2021.