The stage is set, and the teams are ready to battle. Tomorrow, the world’s top four teams in Guild Wars 2 will collide and test their might to determine who is the best team in the world.

Event Time: Saturday, June 25, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7)

Livestreams:

• English: www.twitch.tv/guildwars2
• Chinese: twitch.tv/gw2cbc
• French: twitch.tv/fureurwebtv
• German: twitch.tv/guildnews
• Spanish: twitch.tv/ESL_GuildWars2_ES

Who will come out on top? The commentators for the event will give you a breakdown of who they think will take home the grand prize in the ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League Season 2 Finals.

Joe “Storm” Nowasell

I’m expecting some fairly close series at the season finals, particularly in the semifinals. I think North American and European talent match up quite well and will give us some four to five game series. I would be shocked if any of the semifinals matches ended up as 3–0. Team PZ matches up well against The Civilized Gentlemen on paper, but this is Helseth’s chance for redemption, given his squad is yet to grab first at a live event. They’ll be out for blood, and I’m giving this very close series to The Civilized Gentlemen at 3–2.

Heading to the other side of the bracket, world champions Rank Fifty Five Dragons face off against Astral Authroity, who dropped their first series to a North American team just a few short weeks ago. Astral also previously lost to Rank Fifty Five Dragons at the Season 1 finals, all of which contributes to my decision to pick Rank Fifty Five Dragons to grab this series 3–1. I’m expecting an all-European finals where Rank Fifty Five Dragons will claim a 3–1 win and continue to reign dominant in the PvP scene.

Hans “Supcutie” Onsum

Team PZ has really stepped up this season in terms of cohesiveness and skill with the classes they play. They ended this Pro League season with a win over Astral Authority, which shows that improvement first hand. Muffins in particular has proven to be an extremely proficient mesmer player, considering he started playing it this season. PZ is very good at coming up with strategies and snowballing hard. Now more than ever, PZ has the ability to upset Europe. The Civilized Gentlemen (TCG), however, just went through with some pretty extensive roster changes this season. Despite having played together in the past, it’s possible that lack of synergy could be a weakness for them. Overall though, TCG has more experience in a competitive environment as well as in a LAN environment, and I think this might give them the edge.

In terms of strategy and adaptation, I would have to say PZ edges out. In terms of experience and tournament capability, I think TCG edges out. Overall I’m going to have to say my prediction for this matchup is 3–2, TCG.

Astral Authority has really struggled this season. They weren’t able to bring out a mesmer that was able to consistently win matchups, and they have had to fall back on comfort picks to compete. In all of their toughest matchups, they weren’t able to 2–0, and they even lost to PZ at the end of the season. Astral still has arguably the best synergy of any team, but they’re currently struggling to adapt to composition changes. Rank Fifty Five Dragons have done a great job this season. They struggled against Vermillion last season, but have improved and definitely are Europe’s top contender right now.

If Astral chooses to run thief, they will have to rely on choosing when to outnumber and be outnumbered in order to get a snowball rolling. This strategy is actually where they fell short against PZ, and it won’t be any easier vs. Rank Fifty Five. Not having a mesmer to deal with the enemy mesmer will have to be a very deliberate decision that Astral needs to consider carefully. Both of these teams are very experienced, and I don’t think they will be hindered in this area. That said, Astral struggled putting up a mesmer this last season, and lost to PZ with a thief. My prediction for this matchup will be 3–1 for Rank Fifty Five.

Christian “Heurix” Thomasser

This is going to be the closest finals series that we have ever seen in the history of Guild Wars 2. With Team PZ coming up and surprising the North American scene with a level of talent on par with frontrunners Astral Authority, the NA scene has shown that they finally have a true second contender from the region, something they haven’t been able to produce in quite a long time.

Since the changes mid-season to the The Civilized Gentlemen roster, they have bolstered themselves and seem stronger than they’ve ever been in their team history, but I am going to call for what I assume to be an unpopular choice, and favor Astral to come away with this finals win. While Rank Fifty Five is looking as strong as ever, and it is likely that they are more heavily favored due to their unreal levels of consistency and the arguably higher level play that captivated us in the Season 1 finals, I foresee an upset that the Americans will push into a final against TCG for a very close series win over the other European juggernaut. It’s a tough call; I expect this finals in Burbank to be filled with surprises.

Daniel “Jebro” Littleton

Rank Fifty Five Dragons is the most consistent team over season one and two, and I wouldn’t bet against them. Their rotations are strong, and player-wise they have some legendary carries such as Zan. The Civilized Gentlemen have superior rotations and I feel will win out versus Team PZ, but having formed late in season, they may lack a synergy to push them to win the finals. We will have to see. Either way, I see an all-European finals.