Red Bull Wololo Londinium saw the Real Time Strategy (RTS) genre return to esports prominence on Monday, drawing over 100k viewers for its Age of Empires II Grand Final.
The $250,000 event took place at a sold-out Royal Albert Hall, featuring Age of Empires II and Age of Empires IV tournaments as well as a live orchestra providing musical ambience.
The RTS genre was once the genre of esports in the formative years of competitive gaming, with Starcraft and Age of Empires esports tournaments stretching back over 25 years. But the genre’s popularity waned as other titles gained momentum, relegating the RTS genre to a niche interest.
Red Bull Wololo Londinium showed the appeal that remains in the genre as the six-day LAN culminated in its Royal Albert Hall Grand Finals day, with Hamzah ‘Hera’ El-Baher and Alexis ‘MarineLorD’ Eusebi taking home the top prizes after thrilling Grand Finals.
Hera fights back to prove dominance
Red Bull Wololo’s main event saw Hera and Kai ‘Liereyy’ Kallinger duke it out in the Best of 9 Grand Final. The two Team Vitality players renewed their storied rivalry, but it was a rivalry that was recently one-sided in Hera’s favour.
However, the opening games saw Liereyy consistently have the advantages in the early skirmishes, forcing army early and effectively disrupting Hera, crippling his economy.
The challenger was on pace to stun Hera after three games, with victories on the Khitans, Wei, and Cumans. Hera had to find a way to prevent those early rushes from destroying his game.
That was what happened in Game 4 with Hera getting the best of the early game to come out with a substantial villager lead. Liereyy attempted to deal a decisive blow, but couldn’t before Hera could reach the Imperial Age, signalling the end of the contest.
Games 5 and 6 came with increasingly intense brawls, with Hera’s micro acting as the deciding factor on the Mapuche and Byzantines to equalize the series.
After a grindy Game 7, Hera won to score due to the time limit, putting him on the edge of his sixteenth LAN title in a row.
The Canadian once again won the late game in the eighth and final contest, coming back from a 0-3 deficit to once again prove that he is the greatest in the world, claiming $50,000 in the process.
The Grand Final peaked at 109,796 viewers according to viewership aggregator Esports Charts, the second-highest peak for Age of Empires on their records after Red Bull Wololo Legacy 2022, the first Red Bull Wololo event.
MarineLorD wins Age of Empires IV title at Red Bull Wololo
France’s MarineLorD also showed his dominance at Red Bull Wololo Londinium, defeating Daniel ‘Wam01’ Svoboda to claim the $20,000 first prize of the Age of Empires IV tournament.
The Gentle Mates player continues to build his legacy in the title after a 3-2 back-and-forth Grand Final victory.
The Frenchman was declared World champion by his organisation following the victory, which saw him win eight of the last twelve S-Tier events.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
More from Darragh Harbinson
