Getting ready for the start of WePlay Academy League Season 3

There are only a few hours left before the start of WePlay Academy League Season 3. Ten teams will take part in the championship, which will be held from January 3 to February 13 in a mixed format, which will compete for a prize fund of $ 100,000.

The main innovations of the third season were the expansion of the number of participating teams, as well as the guaranteed participation of all teams in the Play-In stage. In this regard, we invite you to get acquainted with the format of the event, the participants, the distribution of the prize fund and the main favorites of WePlay Academy League Season 3.

WePlay Academy League Season 3 format

WePlay Academy League Season 3 Schedule:

• Group stage: January 3-12, 2022 (possible replay on January 13).
• Play-In Stage: January 14-16, 2022.
• Playoffs: February 11-13, 2022

Participating organizations:

Group A:

• NaVi Junior.
• Young Ninjas.
• fnatic Rising.
• BIG.OMEN Academy.
• Astralis Talent.

Group B:

• VP.Prodigy.
• mouz NXT.
• FURIA Academy.
• Spirit Academy.
• Eternal Fire Academy.

Ten participating teams are divided into two groups (five teams in each). Here the participants will play the group stage in a round robin format, playing two matches with each opponent. All meetings in the group stage of the championship will be held in the BO1 format. The winners of each group will go directly to the final part of the competition, which will be held from February 11 to 13 at the WePlay Esports Arena in Kiev.

Teams ranked from 2nd to 5th will proceed to the Play-In stage. The teams that occupy the last two lines of their groups will start their way from the quarterfinals stage. The winners of this stage will proceed to the semifinals, where they will face the teams that took third place in both groups. The teams that turned out to be stronger in the 1/2 finals will advance to the Play-In final, where they will play against the teams that took second places in their groups, and will play two tickets to the decisive stage of WePlay Academy League Season 3.

WePlay Academy League Season 3 prize pool distribution

According to the results of the first two stages of WePlay Academy League Season 3, six teams will leave the championship, which will have a prize pool of $ 12,000:

• 5th-6th place: $ 4,000.
• 7th-8th place: $ 1,500
• 9-10th place: $ 500.

The final part of WePlay Academy League Season 3 will offer the four remaining participants a prize pool of $ 88,000, divided in the following proportions:

• 1st place: $ 45,000.
• 2nd place: $ 20,000.
• 3rd place: $ 15,000.
• 4th place: $ 8,000.

Participants and favorites of WePlay Academy League Season 3

Before the start of the new season, some organizations presented updated lineups of their academies. In particular, in a completely new form, NAVI Junior will appear before us, which put its young stars on the transfer, inviting another talented youth. BIG Academy presented its updated roster. However, given the experience of the newcomers, the German team should not lose in quality, becoming the shadow favorite of the championship.

At the same time, Astralis Talent took a different path of development, improving the team preparation process, as well as introducing an experienced coach in the person of trace. Minor changes also affected VP.Prodigy, who invited delus1onn in December, significantly increasing their bench. Another team from the CIS experienced reincarnation, and after a strong season on the TIER-3 stage, Spirit Academy noticeably refreshed the roster, inviting not only experienced players, but also talented youth.

The prospects for Eternal Fire Academy, which presented its roster only at the end of last year, are completely incomprehensible. At the same time, the team has already failed in the closed qualifier for the BACK TO BACK Tournament, losing two meetings to not the strongest teams. The changes also affected the Brazilians from FURIA Academy, who refreshed the roster, finally saying goodbye to most of the old guard.

In this regard, Young Ninjas, Fnatic Rising and MOUZ NXT remain the main favorites. But if there are still rumors around MOUZ NXT about the possible transfer of JDC and torzsi to the main roster, then the remaining two favorites managed to keep their rosters intact.

WePlay Academy League Season 3 will run from January 3 to February 13. Ten teams will compete for a prize pool of $ 100,000, of which $ 45,000 will go to the winner of the championship.