PUBG Japan Series Winter Invitational 2019 Preview

The final competitive PUBG event of the year is upon us, as the 2019 Japan Series Winter Invitational (PWI) will take place in Tokyo’s Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel on Sunday, December 29th.

Sixteen teams - ten best teams of the PJS Season 4 2nd Half, two additional Japanese teams decided by a fan vote and four invited teams from South Korea and Southeast Asia - will battle throughout a five-match series for the championship title and a lion share of 10 Million Yen (~91,000 USD) prize pool.

Without further delay, let’s take a look at the tournament details and all the teams participating in the PWI 2019:

PWI2019 Schedule, Prize Pool and Streams

Schedule:
12: 20 Tokyo / 4:20 CET -Event Opening
12: 40 / 4:40 -Round1 (Miramar)
13: 40 / 5:40 -Round2 (Miramar)
14: 40 / 6:40 - Round3 (Sanhok)
15: 40 / 7:40 - Round4 (Erangel Classic)
16: 40 / 8:40 - Round5 (Erangel Classic)

Prize Pool:
1st place: 3,500,000 yen
2nd: 2,000,000 yen
3rd: 1,000,000 yen
4th: 700,000 yen
5th: 500,000 yen
6th: 300,000 yen
7th- 16th: 100,000 yen each
Chicken Dinner: 100,000 yen (per match)
Most Kill: 500,000 yen (player award)

Streams:
Japanese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFntV3oHMcI; https://www.twitch.tv/pubg_dmm
Korean: http://play.afreecatv.com/pubg/null; https://www.twitch.tv/pubgkorea/
English: https://www.twitch.tv/paperthinhere
Thai: https://www.facebook.com/YoshiMinburiFC/; https://www.twitch.tv/boyminoru/

Participating Teams:

Japanese Big Three

SunSister
Roster: "fiachan", "CrazySam", "kendesu", "gabha"
After a somewhat decent runs at the Global Championship and OGN Supermatch, SunSister is heading back to the PWI as one of the favourites. While the team have been doing very well on Miramar in the recent months, and have a consistent firepower coming from all their players, good results on the other maps are a must for SunSister to defend their PWI crown from last year.

Rascal Jester
Roster: "CiNVe", "SeaKingJAWS", "MUSHAMARU", "Wesker"
For the reigning champions of Japan Series, Winter Invitational will be a opportunity to bounce back from a early exit in the PGC, and a 11th-place finish in the OSM. In both of those events, Rascal Jester have been struggling to rack up the much-needed kills, but if Hiroto "CiNVe" Takahara and his teammates will manage to overcome that issue they’ll end up as a challenger to a overall victory.

Crest Gaming Xanadu
Roster: "Rio01", "Dep", "Aries", "Fhy"
2019 was a "close, but never close enough" year for Crest Gaming Xanadu - while CGX was a PJS title challenger all-year around, a 3rd-place finishes in Phases 1 and 3, and a 4th place in Phase 2 wasn't even enough for them to qualify for any of the Global Events. With that in mind, PWI will be the last chance for the "Son of God" in Yuma "Dep" Hisamoto, and the rest of CGX to clinch a championship title in 2019.

Overseas Cavalry

Gen.G
Roster: "Pio", "Loki", "Aqua5", "Menteul"
Leading the charge of non-Japanese teams at the Winter Invitational are the reigning Global Champions in Gen.G. The only non-Japanese team to participate in both the 2018 and 2019 Winter Invitationals, Gen.G is coming to Tokyo not only to avenge their 9th-place finish from last year, but to debut their two new team members - the main fragger, Im "Menteul" Yeong-su from OPGG Sports, and a co-IGL and support in Yoo "Aqua5" Sang-ho from DeToNator_Korea.

OGN Entus Force
Roster: "Under", "Seongjang", "kAyle", "indigo"
The last week debut of a new OGN Entus Force roster at the OGN Supermatch have ended up with a mixed result - while the team led by Seong "Seongjang" Jang-hwan had a few great moments throughout the event, a weak start and finish have dropped them to a 7th place by the end of the tournament. Nonetheless, it looks like the core of Entus Force have clicked well with a recently-joined Park "Under" Sung-chan, and that they'll be fighting for the victory at the PWI.

DeToNator_Korea
Roster: "WICK2D", "Joy", "Mickey", "OhJungJe"
After a great run in the OGN Supermatch last week, finishing only behind the winning team of Afreeca Freecs, Detonator is now heading to debut in their organisation’s home country. Their new roster, now led by a duo of Kim "WICK2D" Jin-Hyeong and Park "Joy" Hye-Min, have proved themselves as a formidable contender from a get-go, and will aim for the first-place prize at the PWI.

Armory Gaming
Roster: "HoN_BoYa", "DUCKMANZ", "DMG", "p1scezPRO"
After doing well for a most of 2019, finishing in the top 2 in each of SEA Championship phases, 5th in the Faceit Global Summit and 4th in the MET Asia Series, Thai-based Armory Gaming have disappointed at the Global Championship with a 28th-place finish. And with Katanyu "DUCKMANZ" Chinsorranan heading to Made in Thailand (MiTH) at the start of 2020, and Rungrattanachai "HoN_BoYa" Sungsuk playing as a replacement for "ThanawatTH", AG is coming to the Winter Invitational as a wild card.

Fighting for a upset

Zoo Gaming Penguin
Roster: "Vuelo", "Sheva", "Ruytv", "timatin"
A up-and-comer on the PJS scene, Zoo Gaming have impressed everyone with a consistent play on all three competitive maps on their way to a 4th place in the second half of PJS Season 4. And while their late-game have been an issue throughout the PJS, costing them a lot of placement points, it may only take a huge match or two for Zoo Gaming to finish high at the PWI stage.

Team RAYZE
Roster: "satou", "amonot", "JapanNo1", "Pureboy"
With an mix of younger players like "amonot", and a experienced duo of "Satou" (former Blue Bees) and "Pureboy" (ex- Crest Xanadu), Team RAYZE have quickly jumped from PJS Grade 2 (second division of PJS) to a top 5 finish in the 2nd Half of Phase 3, and will aim to continue their uprise in their final event under the RAYZE banner (as they’ll join the ELEMENT.36 organisation for the 2020 season).

LAG Gaming
Roster: "zila", "Hek7or" ,"0y", "PKPLAYER"
While LAG Gaming have been doing pretty well throughout the 2019, finishing 3rd in the PJS Season 3 (2019 Phase 2), and 7th in Season 4, they couldn’t keep their roster intact between the seasons. This trend continues heading into PWI, as their two best players throughout Season 4 — ”oka007" and “Runliy” — have both left the team, and had to be replaced by “zila” and “Hek7or”. That being said, noone should count out LAG Gaming on the battlegrounds.

V3 FOX
Roster: "poly", "Manju", "tomus", "whitejack"
While V3 FOX have shown their huge potential a couple of times throughout the 2019 PJS seasons, a lack of a day-by-day consistency have kept them as a solid upper mid-tier team, finishing 4th in Season 2, 6th in Season 3 and 8th in Season 4. Nonetheless, if the luck ends on their side, V3 FOX can fight for a top positions at the PWI.

BLUE BEES
Roster: "Sabrac", "oka007", "Liavely", "BrazilianSM"
Just nine months ago, Blue Bees have been at the top of the PJS mountain after winning the Grade 1 Season 2 (aka. 2019 Phase 1). However, in the next half of PJS, the Nagoya-based team have finished 14th and ended up being relegated to the Grade 2. Since then Blue Bees have bounced back, making back to the top division in time for Season 4 and finishing 4th there and will look for their second title, with “oka007" coming from LAG Gaming to help the team in acheiving that goal.

Detonation Gaming White
Roster: "Gokuri", "Melofo", "Machao", "SseeS"
Similar to the Blue Bees, Detonation Gaming White have fell off in their performance after winning the Season 3 of PJS, as they’ve finished the first half of PJS Season 4 just one point away from being relegated. And while DGW have improved a bit in the second half, finishing 9th and therefore booking their place in the PWI, we’re still yet to see the team led by Yu “Machao” Masai perform as well as they did in the Spring.

Sengoku Gaming
Roster: "gaaamiii", "inko", "XhanZ", "Brost"
Throughout the 2019, Sengoku Gaming have stormed their way through the Japanese proscene with their aggressive playstyle, making to the PJS Grade 2 in May of 2019 before advancing to the Grade 1 in their first day, and finishing 4th in the 2nd half of PJS Season 3 and 2nd in the 1st half of Season 4. Things have cooled down a bit since then due to a weaker results on Erangel and Sanhok, and Sengoku finished only 10th in the later half of PJS Season 4, but with a one-two punch firepower coming from “Brost” and “Inko”, Sengoku can end up as a surprise contender for the PWI title.

THE SHABLES
Roster: "ZEBRA", "shibaf", "RcckMaYbe", "Tetranyan"
Coming to the PWI as a fan-voted invitee, The Shables had a up-and-down period in the second half of 2019, bouncing between the top of PJS Grade 2 and the relegation zone of Grade 1. And even though they’re one of the biggest underdogs as we head to the PWI, they can shock everyone on a good day.

CYCLOPS athlete gaming
Roster: "MAOxox", "Yakky", "Kimari", "EveRyn"
Joining The Shables as a fan-voted invitee, CYCLOPS have been working their way up the ranks of Japan Series’s Grade 2, finally getting their spot in the top division by the end of PJS Season 4. For them, PWI will be their welcome party on the big stage, and against the best teams from Japan, and a first look on what we can expect from them in 2020.