Watch the WGLNA Season 5 Opener

WGLNA Season 5 promises to be the most action-packed and unpredictable in World of Tanks league history. Why? The introduction of the 7/54, attack/defense format means that teams are set to bring both new tanks and new strategies to maps, all the while pushing the battle forward due to the reduced time limit of just 7 minutes per bout. Forget the days of players camping behind a rock so long you expect them to set up a tent. Preliminary matches have been pure fire, highlighted by a Flying Goomba that will send chills down any Tanker’s spine.

But Season 5 isn’t just about the drastically improved rules, as teams are also battling for an increased prize pool. Wargaming upped the ante from $100,000 to $171,000, with the first place team now splitting an impressive haul of $75,000.

Season 5 league play runs from December to March, and when it’s all sorted out, only the top 4 teams (out of 16 total) will advance to the live North American Finals March 15 in San Francisco.

“S.I.M.P. and Top Tier are the two teams to lookout for,” said Victorious Secret’s RummYY, when asked to scout out his competition. “#RU won it all last year, and now they’re returning with a new name (RUlette), and they've added Sov1et, which could be the biggest pickup anyone made this year. If there’s an underdog, it’s Full Potato. They’re a lot better than anyone realizes. Nobody has ever heard of them coming into the season, but my team has scrimmaged against them before, and they’re actually really good.”

“A team like S.I.M.P. is always a threat,” added Sov1et. “But there are some new teams out there that shouldn’t be overlooked. With the new format, everybody is on equal footing.”

Matches kickoff Tuesday night (Dec 9) at 17:00 PST. Check out the schedule below to see when your favorite team plays live on Twitch.