One Goal, One Trophy to represent it ( Picture source )

After a year of competition in the regional leagues and PUBG Classics all around the world, and a two weeks of battles in the Group, Elimination and Semi-Final stages, the time has come for the Grand Finals of the 2019 PUBG Global Championship. From thirty-two teams that have started the tournament, we’ve come down to just sixteen — all battling for the title of the best team in the world and a lion share of +3 Million USD prize pool.

While all those teams are sharing the same path to the championship title — through 12 games ( 5x Erangel, 5x Miramar, 2x Sanhok ), played throughout the Saturday November 23rd and Sunday November 24th in the Oakland Arena — their story leading to this moment have been different, so let’s take a look at them, and what will it take for them to win it all.

FaZe Clan ( FC ) — After opening the tournament with a Top 2 finish in their Group Stage, FaZe have been struggling hard to find a success throughout the Semi-Finals, jumping to the 16th place and final available spot in Oakland with a 18-kill Chicken Dinner in the final Semi-Final match. While this win did gave FaZe a huge momentum and confidence boost ahead of the Finals, they will have to find and minimize their mistakes from the earlier stages in order to challenge for their fourth championship trophy in a row.

Four Angry Men ( 4AM ) — 4AM have proved themselves as one of the main candidates to win the Global Championship so far, thanks to a star-making performance of Wang “ZGG01” Xin ( 36 kills in 18 games ), the rest of the team contributing to PGC’s highest kill average of 5.9 per round ( 4AM also leads in damage dealt, with 1046 DMG per round ), and a huge point consistency on Erangel ( 9.4pt per round ) and Miramar ( 8.5pt per round ). What’ll likely decide 4AM’s fate in the Finals however is whether they’ll be able to defend their Hacienda dropping spot against Lazarus and/or whether they’ll quickly adapt to whatever happens there.

Genesis ( GEN ) — Genesis performance in the PGC have been up-and-down so far, mixing a very good play on Miramar ( 8.8 pt per round, 4th best ), and a huge fragging power coming from a Thierry “Kaymind” Kaltenback ( 27 kills total, 294 DMG per game ) — Hunter “Hwinn” Winn ( 28 kills, 238 DMG ) duo with a weaker results on Erangel and Sanhok, a lot of it due to being contested in the early game. With “Kaymind” all-but-confirmed to leave the Genesis and NA proscene after the PGC, this will be the last chance for the Cloud9 / Genesis core to mark their legacy on the competitive PUBG scene.

Gen.G ( GEN ) — While Gen.G’s leading fragger and shotcaller in Cha “Pio” Seunghoon haven’t been as dominant as it was expected by many ahead of the PGC ( yes, 253.7 DMG per match and 22 kills total is considered underwhelming by Pio’s standards ), the team performed well, especially on Miramar and Sanhok ( 3rd point per match average on both maps ), thanks to a huge and consistent shooting backup coming from Park “Loki” Jung-young and Kang “Taemin” Tae-Min. That being said, their results on Erangel have been abysmal ( 3.0 point per match ), and Gen.G will need to improve in those regards in order to keep their Global Championship hopes alive.

Global Esports Xsset ( GEX ) — After finishing only 14th in their opening group, GEX have stepped up and surprised everyone with a 50-point run in the Elimination Stage, before booking their ticket to Oakland by scoring 41 points in both of their Semi-Final days, highlighted by a Alex “sophiya666” Tan Boon Keung 21-kill run in the Semis ( 4th most kills in that stage ). In order to contest for a top spots in the Finals, GEX will have to improve their scoring consistency, especially after a huge single-round performances.

Lazarus ( LZR ) — From day one Lazarus have been amongst the best teams in the tournament, finishing each of their playdays with at least 40 points and topping the Semi-Final ranking after a 66-point Sunday. With a 11.5 point per round average on their ever-strongest map in Miramar, a steady scoring on remaining maps, and all players looking to be in the top form ( as each of then finished the Semis with 15+ kills and 2800+ DMG in 12 games ), the team lead by Kurtis “PurdyKurty” Bond will aim to win it all on their home ground.

Natus Vincere ( NAVI ) — NaVi’s run in the tournament so far have been solid, making safely through both the Group and Semi-Final stage, but while the team looked dominant on Sanhok ( 2 wins in 3 games played there ), their play on Miramar and Erangel have been on-and-off so far. As Na’Vi is now heading to Oakland, they’ll be looking to wake Vadim “POKAMOLODOY” Ulshin up ( 5 kills…in 18 PGC games ) and to better adapt their damage-heavy playstyle to the situations happening on the battlefield.

OGN Entus Ace ( ENA ) — After starting the PGC by topping the Group B with a 57-point result, OGN Entus Ace have slowed down a bit with a 35 and 34 point games in their Semi-Finals days, enough for the 11th position at the end of that stage. And while they’ve showed a lot of versatility so far, with consistent scoring on Erangel and Miramar ( 7.4 and 7.7 point per game respectively ), steady damage output from all the players — standing out here is Park “Joy” Hye Min with 27 kills total and 278 DMG per game — and a ton of placement finishes ( 13 total, 7 in top 4 — co-1st overall in both stats ), OGN Ace will need to find another gear to contend for the top positions in Finals.

OGN Entus Force ( ENF ) — Here’s some good news about OGN Force — they did made it to the Finals.

Now onto reality — If not for their Miramar play ( 57 out of 73 points scored in Semis ), Force would’ve be watching Finals in their team house in Seoul, while being a new punchline of the KR fanbase. Heading into Oakland, the team led by Seong “Seongjang” Jang-hwan is gonna need to bring back the dominant force that they had on Erangel and Sanhok in their PKL Phase 3 championship run.

QM Gaming ( QM ) — Throughout the PGC, we’ve seen the two version of QM Gaming — the first one, from their Group Stage and Friday’s Semis matches, have been struggling and ended up 14th and 13th in the respective days. And there’s the monstrous QM from Elimination Stage and Sunday’s Semi-Final day — looking strong on all three maps, lead by a outstanding tournament from Ye “Yizz” Xiang ( 35 kills in 24 games ). We know that QM is capable of stepping up when in clutch, but in the most competitive lobby of the season this may not be enough.

SK Telecom T1 ( T1 ) — T1’s debut international tournament have been good, but not great thus far. While the team’s star player — Lim “Akad” Gwang-hyun have been a dominant force so far ( 30 knocks, 2nd highest in PGC after “Iroh” and 293.2 DMG per match ), he couldn’t convert those into points ( 19 kills total ). And even though T1 looked consistent on all three maps, it’s been visibly lower than they’ve been capable for. And lastly, they had a hard time in the Sunday’s Semis matches, with only 18 points scored. That being said, T1 may have saved their best for last, and if everything clicks they can challenge for the global title.

Team SoloMid ( TSM ) — Throughout their previous 18 matches, TSM have rose to the occasion, finishing 1st in the Group B and 4th in the Semis, with all players getting at least 1 kill per match average, highlighted by the performance from Ömer “Iroh” Çakıldeveli ( 32 kills and knocks total, 303 DMG per game — Top 2 overall in all three statistics ), and a tournament highest point averages on Erangel and Sanhok ( 10.2 and 11.3 pt per game respectively ), making their case as one of the favourites to win the PGC. There’s only one factor that needs to be improved by them ahead of the Finals — their overall play on Miramar ( 23 points in 6 games ).

Tempo Storm ( TS ) — On the one side, Tempo Storm have a good tournament so far, making through the Group Stage with 3rd-place finish in Group B, and through the Semi-Finals in the 8th position. On the other side however, I’m a bit underwhelmed by their overall play — in each of their tournament days they had 2–3 really great games, racking up kills and wins ( 3 so far in the PGC ), but they’ve combined them with a ton of 2–3 point games. If Tempo manages to avoid those form variations and will show their better side throughout the Finals however, they will have a shot at a big finish and a bigger payday.

The Rumblers ( RUM ) — Rumblers had a rocky road to Oakland from becoming a replacement team in the PGC not even three weeks ago and going through the Elimination Stage, but at the end they’ve made it to the Finals. Their showing have been solid at this point, with Lari-Pekka “LosHD” Hopiavuori once again leading the team when it comes to firepower ( 29 kills so far ) and a steady scoring on Erangel and Miramar ( opposed to 4pt in 4 games on Sanhok ), but Rumblers is gonna need to have a trump card up in their sleeve if they want to challenge for the top positions.

VC Gaming ( VC ) — The team led by Yu “Summer” Chuan had a up-and-down days in the PGC so far, as they had to go through Elimination Stage and come from behind after a 27-point Friday in the Semi-Finals. That being said, in both situations VC have stepped up to the challenge with a 63-point Elimination Round and 52 points in Semis Saturday, showing their consistency around all three maps, and when it comes to their players skills. Similar to their Chinese colleagues in QM, VC would have to step up their game from the Match 1 if they want to finish high on the biggest stage.

WClick — After scoring just 21 points in their opening day, WClick have stepped up, making through both the Elimination Round and Semi-Finals to bring the Latin America region to the finals of the PGC. In difference to the past, when most of the team’s results have been contributed by Nahuel “SzylzEN” Balseiro performance, this time it was a huge effort coming from all players that have led them to the Finals. And while WClick will be considered as one of the underdogs in the final lobby, they have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain in representing their region proudly in Oakland.

The Grand Finals of the PGC with start at 5pm Pacific / 2am CET / 10am KST in each of the days, and will be streamed on twitch.tv/playbattlegrounds, youtube.com/pubgesports and on the PGC Watch Page ( featuring all the regional broadcasts, Map Stream and each team’s POV stream ).