Gators Back won the Arena World Championship at BlizzCon 2026 on Sunday, beating Echo 4-2 in the best-of-seven Grand Final in Anaheim after losing the first two games. Kubzy, Kalvish, Dazed, and Wizk take the $120,000 first-place share of the $300,000 prize pool, according to Liquipedia.
The sixth game was played on Maldraxxus Coliseum. Gators Back fielded Kubzy on Restoration Druid, Kalvish on Subtlety Rogue, and Dazed on Windwalker Monk. Echo answered with Jayyti on Restoration Druid, Whaazz on Assassination Rogue, and Raiku on Fire Mage.
Echo came close to a kill of their own in the closing exchange, stunning Kalvish and dropping him low before he used Cloak of Shadows to survive. Seconds later, with Jayyti locked in crowd control, Gators Back swung onto Whaazz and killed him just past the five-minute mark, with dampening at 24 percent. “What an incredible performance by Gators Back, finding that game-winning setup in those final moments,” one caster said.
Echo won the opening Rogue, Mage, and Druid mirror on Nagrand Arena, then beat the Subtlety Rogue and Windwalker Monk pairing that Gators Back switched to on Hook Point. Gators Back stayed with it and took Dalaran Sewers, Empyrean Domain, and Tol’Viron Arena to reach match point. They had not shown the composition in their 3-0 semifinal win over Streamerzone, while Echo beat Guild Bean 3-1 to reach the final. Whaazz and Raiku won the last Arena World Championship held at BlizzCon, in 2019, as part of Method Black.
