The Pacific Championship will return with a second season starting on the 18th August, as per an announcement by Blizzard Taiwan today. Last season saw Flash Wolves secure first place in the tournament, and the $100,000~ USD prize that came with it, after defeating Australian team Blank Esports.
The tournament has retained a 8,300,000 TWD prize pool ($290,000~ USD), for which eight teams from the Asia-Pacific will compete over three months of play. Regular season games will be played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4-11 PM CST.
The competing teams are sourced from the top six of the inaugural season of the Pacific Championship and two teams from the Season 2 qualifiers. A full list of the competing teams can be found below:
- Flash Wolves (Pacific Championship Season 1)
- Blank Esports (Pacific Championship Season 1)
- AHQ Esports (Pacific Championship Season 1)
- Hong Kong Attitude (Pacific Championship Season 1)
- Machi Esports (Pacific Championship Season 1)
- MEGA Thunder (Pacific Championship Season 1)
- Ardeont (Pacific Championship Season 2 Qualifiers)
- Libalent Supreme (Pacific Championship Season 2 Qualifiers)
Whilst Flash Wolves are the favourites to retain their champion status, the second season of the tournament looks to be much more closely contested than the first. Mega Siam Thunder competed in the first season as Fireball, drastically improving in recent times after joining MEGA and importing a mix of American and European players and coaching staff to complement their Thai roster. Ardeont also look to be strong, as the team is laden with APEX experience and cruised through their qualifier matches with relative ease.
If you're looking for a preview of some of the tournament's top teams be sure to stay tuned to the World Cup, as Flash Wolves will compete this week in the Santa Monica World Cup Qualifiers as Chinese Taipei, whilst Blank Esports will represent Australia at BlizzCon later this year after qualifying in Sydney.