Starcraft II E-Sports in 2020 — A Complete Guide
A successful season of the Starcraft II World Championship Series saw Dark claim the throne of Starcraft II e-sports. However, another piece of news rocked the world of one of the oldest and most popular e-sports games. Blizzard has unveiled a new plan for the 2020 season, announcing a three-year partnership with Dreamhack and ESL.
The good old World Championship Series (WCS) will be combined with the legacies of Dreamhack and ESL into something entirely new under the ESL Pro Tour umbrella. This tour will feature a prize pool of over $1.8 million for the duration of the season and will be the setting where the official Starcraft II world champion is crowned.
A Chance For New Talent
The Pro Tour is meant to feature competition in three tiers. Starting at the bottom, semi-professionals and aspiring pro players will compete in weekly cash events — ESL Open Cups. Three of these cups will be hosted each week, adding up to a total of 156 open cups for the duration of the season.
On the highest end of the spectrum of competition, six Master tournaments will be held across the world. ESL will be hosting two of these tournaments, while Dreamhack will host four. Pro Tour ranking points, as well as prize money, are on offer at these top tier tournaments for top-performing players.
Online qualifier tournaments will determine who will get a chance to compete at each of the Masters’ events, and the Tour will cover the cost of accommodation and travel to the players. These qualifier tournaments are meant to create the middle tier of the competition during the season. Finally, ranking points will decide which players get to qualify for the Masters’ Championship tournament at the end of the season that will be held at IEM Katowice 2021.
All Roads Lead To Katowice
The crown jewel of the season, the Championship tournament, will feature thirty-six players in a week-long mega-event. Eleven of these players will be the winners and top-ranked players from the tournaments played throughout the year, and nine will come from AfreecaTV’s Korean Starcraft II competition. The top eight unqualified players from both the Korean competition and the ESL Pro Tour will fill up the remaining sixteen slots.
The Championship tournament is set to become the largest Starcraft II World Title event ever, and it will certainly attract much attention from e-sports fans and betters around the world. If you’re new to Starcraft betting, this might be the perfect tournament to test your luck.
With everything planned for the season ahead, it seems like, for the first time in a long time, competitive StarCraft II has a bright future. The optimism surrounding this system can be felt among players and fans alike, which is no surprise, especially considering the fact that the competition will be managed by the very capable hands of Dreamhack and ESL.
