Just two days ago we informed you about rumours that the WC3L Finals will take place in Changsha. Now their confirmed.

After the shocking earthquake with it's epicenter in the city Wenchuanof which is close to the originally host city Chengdu, the tournament directors of the ESL had to search a new city to host their WC3L finals.

Now the ESL officially confirmed the rumors about Changsha being the new host city for the 13th WC3L finals. In addition they announced the finals taking place from the 15th to the 16th of June at the Hunan University. 20,000.00€ of price-money will entice the participating teams.

In an interview with fragster, Sebastian 'Baschi' Weishaar, tournament director of the WC3L, talks about the reasons for this step.

You may find the interview in German language here.

For those who are not fluent in German we made the following translation:

fragster: Why did you decide to chose China as new host country?
Baschi: The WC3L has always been an international event with finals in Copenhagen, Paris and many different German cities. Due to an increasing amount of Asian participants we decided to bring the finals to China.
fragster: How did your sponsors react when you informed them about your plans? They should have been more interested in the buying power of the European community, shouldn't they?
Baschi: Of course we talked about this step with our sponsors and finally got to the point that China is in no point inferior to the European countries. With the hugest economy worldwide China even has some advantages.
fragster: Which new problems do you have with the finals being so far away from Germany for example?
Baschi: It is very important to have good partners in China. With the CEI, China E-Sports Interactive, we are sure that we have found a partner that can support us in the necessary way. In addition the PGL and it's streamer Gamebank are experienced enought to host such a tournament.
fragster: Is it cheaper for you to host the finals in China?
Baschi: The costs for such an event in China are even higher, as we have to bring our team to China, as well as our equipment.
fragster: What is the situation like in the former host city Chengdu?
Baschi: As the PGL has only an office in Beijing, we may not reveal any specific details about the situation in Chengdu.
fragster: What is the eSports community in China like?
Baschi: In general the interest in games such as Warcraft 3 is very high at Chinese universities. Therefore we decided to bring the finals to such an university. I do not have any information in detail about the local scene, but I am looking forward to getting it to know.
fragster: What are the disadvantages of Changsha in comparison with Chengdu?
Baschi: Chengdu is famous for eSports events and was therefore our first choice after Beijing. Of course we first thought about Beijing being the host city, but due to the olympic games we did not get the permission to host the WC3L finals in Beijing. Although Changsha is not that famous for eSports I am sure, that the audience will bring a good atmosphere in the games. With 6 millions inhabitants Changsha definetly has the potential.
fragster: How about getting visa?
Baschi: Of course we thought about this problem but as far as we may say there will be no problems.
fragster: Whit which partners will the ESL cooperate to have smooth Finals?
Baschi: Of course we will work together with the CEI and with it the PGL and it's streamer Gamebank. Furthermore that standard WTV will not be missing.
fragster: At which times will the tournament be played?
Baschi: As the Chinese time zone has a difference of six hours to the European, the tournament will be played more in the evening to bring it to you in the early morning hours.
fragster: Which advantages do you expect with the PGL finals taking place in Changsha, too?
Baschi: It will be very useful to host the events at the same place, both, the players and the fans will be able to enjoy a good week of Warcraft 3.
fragster: How many spectators do you expect?
Baschi: More than the 800 of last years finals in Cologne.
fragster: Do you expect more European teams to take part in next season's finals?
Baschi: At the moment we have European teams in the WC3L, too. But the main problem is that all those team primary have Asian players.