World of Tanks news » Catching up with The Cunninghams

Can a North American World of Tanks team really take down a top European squad?

That’s a question to be answered on October 25 in Poznan, Poland, as North America’s Burn All Empires and The Cunninghams duke it out against Europe’s SchoolBus and Virtus.Pro for $50,000 in prize money at this year’s Rumble in the West Finals.

We had a chance to catch up with Jonah “Commander_Jay” Zimmerman from The Cunninghams, who seemed focused and excited heading into the cross regional showdown. “Winning the tournament would be great as it would mean beating Virtus.Pro and SchoolBus,” he said. “Those would be great heads to mount on our wall.”

The Cunninghams are known in North America as a thinking man’s team. Ever patient, ever focused, they pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by defeating S.I.M.P. to qualify for the Rumble in the West Finals.

“There were cheers, celebrations, a quick break, and then a switch to focus on Burn All Empires to get that first place spot.” Commander_Jay said. And that’s exactly what Jay and crew accomplished, shocking Burn All Empires 3-1 to earn the top seed in the region.

The TOG II: The Cunninghams' Kryptonite?

While The Cunninghams have always been competitive, much of the surprise over their recent surge has to do with how they finished the Season 4 playoffs, playing third fiddle behind S.I.M.P. and RBIS. “The Season 4 Playoffs were tough,” Commander_Jay admitted. “We lost a bit of focus, and weren't as fast and as clean as we needed to be.”

But now that the Cunninghams have cleaned up their game (while cleaning up on the competition), the question remains: Do they have the skill set necessary to win it all? The team isn’t taking the challenge lightly as, even with Season 5 looming, they are now focusing all of their efforts on Poland.

Said Jay: “My opinions of Virtus.Pro and SchoolBus are high. We're going to have to bring our best game play to beat them.”

Despite this diplomatic statement, Commander_Jay remains very confident. Just see what he had to say when we asked him what the European teams would have to do to beat The Cunninghams:

“Bring seven TOGs.”