This weekend was one of the final pages in a year that has seen many ups and downs in professional gaming. But for the 32 StarCraft 2 players and 10 World of Warcraft Arena teams, the year has ended with a shot at a prize pool totalling US$500,000 – and two Australians will be taking part.

Many people will have seen or watched a live tournament and perhaps even experienced a little bit of the drama and adrenaline that it brings. But few understand or even appreciate the effort involved into creating that experience for others. To better appreciate just how much work is required to make eSports happen, I spoke to the dean of planning: Derek “Dox” Reball.

The largest eSports event in Australian history is taking place this weekend at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern, Sydney, with players being offered a shot at US$25,000 and the chance to represent Oceania in China later this year.

In less than a fortnight’s time, 16 Australians and 2 New Zealanders will fight it out for the chance to compete at the global finals of the World Championship Series in China later this year. Alex Walker has the low-down on the favourites, underdogs and everyone else in between.