By sjj_admin 
Originally published on GameOnAus.com in May 2023
This is it. The World of Tanks ANZPL Split 1 2023 LAN Finals. With the Lower Final being played before the Grand Final, either the Panthers or Action X would have to bring their A game to take it to the Skorpions, who had already qualified for the Grand Final. Who would win the Lower Final and make it to the Grand Final? Would the Skorpions be able to finally be the champions of the ANZPL? All unfolded live at Fortress Sydney on the 27th May!
ANZPL Split 1 2023 LAN Finals: Lower Final
Perth Panthers Vs Adelaide Action X
Action X and the Panthers had met twice already this split. The first time was round 1 where Action X walked away with a 3-1 win. They met again in the first week of finals in the where the Panthers took a 4-3 tie breaker win. Who would win and head to the Grand Final?
Ghost Town
The Panthers started on defence of their map pick. Bailes scouted down the 1 line as the rest of his team moved north. Twit from the Panthers set up for vision down the 8 line. Action X moved into the south of the town planning their next move. Dongerlord from Action X was spotted by Bailes at K4, which let his team know there was someone out there. It triggered Action X to start a 3 tank cap on the 2 flag. The Panthers’ KritaKil took a lot of damage getting the reset. Balies found himself in a position to get a reset as well, but he was isolated and removed, along with KritaKil going down. Action X found themselves with a 5v3 tank advantage, but the Panthers brought it back to a 2v2. Two 1v1s broke out but a parting shot from Twit onto Dongerlord let his teammate JS win that fight. That left Action X’s Ravvi on his own as the Panthers go up.
Action X moved to the defence on the return leg. Ravvi held at G1 with Dongerlord at A4 looking for vision. The Panthers moved quickly though, with KritaKil on the cap at a minute in. Action X’s Rowendy found himself in the crosshairs but only took a shot as his teammate LightningMan was in support. LightningMan took the brunt as both him and JS found themselves sub-1K health. KritaKil kept up the cap pressure, but Action X had the angles to get the resets. Action X needed to move though, and right now they were giving the Panthers time to set up to defend the cap from the south. Ravvi drove into the south of the town, and it trigger the Panthers’ trap. Rowendy went down first as JS was traded. Action X’s Trax followed, adding the tank advantage to the Panthers’ HP advantage. The Panthers went back to the cap with three tanks, forcing Action X to play for the reset. They got it as the timer was counting down. Ravvi was the key, getting the resets but peeked out too far and went down, letting the Panthers take the cap win.
Himmelsdorf
Action X opened on defence of their map pick. They spread in the northwest with Rowendy in the hold down position at G3. The Panthers looked towards the 1 flag, with three tanks waiting to pounce at K2. Ravvi spotted JS at J3, giving them some info. Action X repositioned slightly to rotate to the 1 flag if required with Dongerlord spotting the 2 flag. Three Panthers entered the courtyard, putting big damage onto Rowendy and forcing him to retreat. The Panthers took up positions around the north west of the courtyard. Dongerlord moved in but found himself in a 2v1. He went down as Bailes found an angle onto Rowendy and removed him. The Panthers closed the net as Ravvi and LightningMan went down. Bailes chased down Trax as the Panthers for up 3-0.
Action X were desperate for a win to keep their Grand Final hopes alive. They climbed the hill along the 0 line, heading towards the 2 flag. KritaKil at F4 exchanged shots with Dongerlord on the hill. It was Action X that ended up forcing KritaKil back and started their move down the hill towards the 2 flag. With only Godmode watching that angle, there was a danger there. He spotted out Rowendy but three other tanks made it to the A line without being spotted. Dongerlord was still being a menace on the hill as the rest of his team were spotted heading to the 2 flag. Action X started the 2 tank cap. The pressure was now on the Panthers to respond. They grouped up forcing Action X off the cap. It looked like Action X might have a trap to spring, but they slowed, giving the momentum back to the Panthers. The Panthers dumped over as Bailes went down first. LightningMan was traded for Twit. KritaKil did some good damage from A5. JS found himself in a 1v1 with Rowendy. He won that and ran as Godmode went down. That left KritaKil in a 2v1 against two fairly healthy tanks. KritaKil bought JS some time. He went down but JS had done enough. He’d out-run Trax as the timer hit zero, giving the Panthers the win.
The Perth Panthers defeat Adelaide Action X 4-0.
ANZPL Split 1 2023 LAN Finals: Grand Final
South Sydney Skorpions Vs Perth Panthers
It’s the biggest stage in ANZPL and both the Skorpions and Panthers had made it. The Skorpions were fresh and had the chance to see the strategies that the Panthers had brought against Action X. But the Panthers had just clean swept Action X in the Lower Final and the momentum was with them. Would the Panthers beat the Skorpions for the first time? Or would the Skorpions finally claim that championship that’s eluded them for so long?
Tundra
Tundra was a surprising pick for the Panthers. They played it three times and lost 3 times on it so it was interesting to see them starting on defence of it. They pushed four tanks south with KritaKil on his own watching the 1 flag. The Skorpions’ Auzzie found himself in the firing line as he found the Panthers in the south. JT from the Skorpions also found himself on the wrong end of those guns, taking a couple of shots. The Skorpions fought back, forcing the Panthers to retreat while also getting a few shots in. JT found himself a one shot as Raspberry came in to help him. He went down and Raspberry quickly followed. Night and Auzzie found KritaKil on his own but the Panthers had the advantage. They went down and left Russian on his own in a 1v4. The Panthers closed the net and took the opening game.
Moving to attack on the return leg, the Panthers looked towards the 1 flag. For their defence the Skorpions committed to the south and the 2 flag, leaving Russian looking over the 1 flag. The Skorpions scouted deep to H6 and JT took a shot for his trouble. Twit was spotted crossing to A4 but Bailes and Godmode were not. The latter duo pulled back and started the two tank cap. Grouping up, the Skorpions pushed onto JS at D5 as the Panthers came to the brawl. JS went down, giving the Skorpions the tank advantage but they had so many tanks down to a one shot. It came down to a 2v2 but the Panthers had the healthier tanks. Night went down as the Panthers went up 2-0 on their map pick.
Ruinberg
The Skorpions started on attack of their map pick. They found an early shot into Godmode as he took up a position at E9. The Skorpions ran three tanks the 1/2 line heading north to the 1 flag and found KritaKil on his own. KritaKil only took one shot as the Panthers rotated from E0 and forced a 5v3. JT went down first but KritaKil was quickly traded back before Raspberry and Godmode were traded. Bailes and JS ran down Night and it was all against the Skorpions now. Twit took a 1v1 against Auzzie, leaving Russian in a 1v3. Being on defence, the Panther start back and waited for Russian to make a move. He jumped on the 2 cap and the Panthers closed the net and took the win.
Desperate for a win on their map pick, the Skorpions moved to defence. They took up positions around the courtyard in the north. Single shots were traded as KritaKil took up position at A6. Hoping that the attention was on the north, the Pantherscame up the 6 line and were all spotted. This let JT and Raspberry know that KritaKil was on his own. KritaKil went down but JT was a one shot. The Panthers bypassed the 2 flag and looked to push on but took up defensive positions instead. They put two tanks on the cap and drew in the Skorpions. The reset came in and force the Panthers off the cap. Making the most of their shots the Skorpions held W. They closed the net around the Panthers and took a much-needed win.
Prokhorovka
The action moved to the Skorpions’ map pick of Prokhorovka. They ran the train line on the attack and found Bailes scouting. He got out unscathed as the Skorpions took control of the southeast. The Panthers snuck Bailes and Twit onto the hill at F0 and got a shot into Raspberry. JT had an angle onto Balies, giving Raspberry some cover. The Skorpions rotated to the western side of the map and took control. Dumping over the train line just before the Skorpions started the cap, the Panthers isolated JT and removed him. Bailes and Auzzie met in a CS-63 fight, which Bailes won, giving the Panthers a 5v3 tank advantage. Night and Raspberry quickly followed. The Panthers moved onto Russian to take the win.
The Panthers were only one win away from the championship as they moved onto the attack. Bailes ran the train line scouting and took a shot from Russian in the tank destroyer for his trouble. With the knowledge of where Russian was, the Panthers slowed right down. JT moved to D3 for spotting as Russian moved to A2. The Panthers rotated to the 2 line, right into the waiting arms of Russian. KritaKil went down first, quickly traded with Night. Russian was the star though, as his tank destroyer ripped through the Panthers to give his team the win.
Himmelsdorf
The Panthers started on attack of Himmelsdorf for the second time tonight. They sent Bailes up the hill with JS at K2. The rest were looking down the G line towards where Raspberry had taken a position at G3. He lost half his health as the Panthers spread further into the south. Auzzie drove the banana looking for information but had to stop halfway when he ran into Godmode. JT in his Maus linked up with Raspberry and pushed the G line and caught KritaKil in a pincer. He held his own as JS came around the corner to help. A brawl ensued. The Skorpions’ focus fire was too much for the Panthers as they took the win.
The Skorpions had fought back after going 3-0 early to be one match away from levelling the series and sending the Grand Final to a tie breaker. They sent four tanks up the hill with JT in the Maus sitting at the foot of the banana. Russian joined JT as the other three tanks ran the B line. Godmode was waiting for them and got in a couple of good shots. The Panthers moved onto JT but held back for fear of copping shots from Russian. That fear was justified as Balies went down. Multiple skirmishes had broken out as the Skorpions chipped away at the Panthers’ tanks. The kills came through as the Skorpions held firm. They took the win to send the Grand Final to a tie breaker.
Sand River
It was now do-or-die for both teams. With the fastest attacking with, the Skorpions chose to defence Sand River. They put their attention to the north with only Russian watching the 1 flag at F9. The Panthers also looked to the north with four of their five tanks moving in that direction. They were spotted, which caused Russian to rotate through the river to F5. JS ran into Raspberry at A8 and ate a couple of shots. He backed off but Raspberry was soon joined by Auzzie, putting another shot into JS. He also found an angle onto Twit at A4. The Skorpions looked in control. Meanwhile Bailes had rotated to the south and caught Russian. That was the signal for Auzzie and Raspberry to push forward, but Godmode had some luck with an ignite onto Raspberry. The scale was evenly balanced now as the arm wrestle continued. Night went down, closely followed by Russian and JT. The clock was against the Panthers though. The clock ticked down to under a minute with the Panthers having a 4v2 tank advantage. They needed to move fast. Raspberry went down with 30 seconds to go, leaving Auzzie to fight four tanks. He tried to hold out as the clock ticked down but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers took the win.
The Perth Panthers defeat the South Sydney Skorpions 5-4 to take the ANZPL Split 1 2023 Grand Final.
Champions Crowned
It had been a long road for the Panthers. Having defeated Action X earlier, they earnt their place in the Grand Final with a dominant 4-0 win before pushing the favourites to a tie breaker has cemented their position as a champion of the ANZPL. Congratulations to the Perth Panthers on becoming the ANZPL Split 1 2023 Champions!