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Ultimate Proleague FAQ

Forum Index > BW General
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TL.net Bot
Profile Joined June 2004
TL.net130 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-06 06:21:09
July 20 2008 14:04 GMT
#1
The Teamliquid.net Ultimate Proleague FAQ

Quick Reference Links

What is Proleague?
How does the Proleague work?
What happens in the Post Season?
How can I watch Proleague live?



What is the Proleague?
The Proleague is a joint venture between MBC, OGN, KeSPA and IEG. It is hosted on both cable channels, OGN and MBCGame, while a company called IEG holds the broadcasting rights. It is a long tournament where the 12 Professional Starcraft teams compete, and lasts the whole year. More games are played in the Proleague than all the other leagues combined, and the progamers themselves consider it to be the most important.

What's so good about the Proleague?
The Proleague is a great way to follow your favorite team or player. Because of the fickle nature of the individual qualifiers, the Proleague is often the only place to see a gamer who is not in the major leagues. Click the spoiler below to read a great overview of the biggest tournament in esports.

Who competes in the Proleague?
The 12 KeSPA registered professional teams are;


[image loading]
Air Force ACE
[image loading]
CJ Entus
[image loading]
eStro
[image loading]
Woongjin Stars
[image loading]
KTF MagicNs
[image loading]
Lecaf OZ
[image loading]
MBCGame Hero
[image loading]
OGN Sparkyz
[image loading]
Samsung KHAN
[image loading]
SK Telecom T1
[image loading]
STX Soul
[image loading]
WeMade FoX


If you’re ever wondering about anything about any of the teams, the first place to check is TLPD which has information on each team’s roster, team history and some statistics.

What about the maps?
The maps get renewed every season. These are often commissioned by KeSPA for the Proleague. A list of up to date maps can be found in TLPD. The 2008-09 season of Proleague was the first to feature periodic breaks, during which KeSPA could change the map pool. They took advantage of that rule for the first time in November 2008 switching the map Raid Assault II for Rush Hour 3.

Ok, so how does the tournament actually work?
The teams play each other in round robin format four times, twice on OGN, twice on MBCGame. For example, Air Force ACE will play WeMade Fox four times; twice on the OGN channel and twice on the MBCGame channel.

Here is a diagram explaining how the next season will work;
[image loading]

How is a match structured?
[image loading]

Each match between the teams are best of five. The 2008-09 season is the first season without 2v2 in the format, there are four 1v1 matches and one ace match. Prior to the match (about 3~5 days) each team submits a roster to KeSPA stating their entries for the upcoming matches they are playing. These entries are for the first 4 sets of a match. If the teams are locked at 2-2 after the 4th set then an ‘Ace match’ or 'Closer' is held. An Ace match differs from a regular match in that the players don’t know who they’re up against until the moment they step into the booth. Each team gets to decide who plays the Ace match right before its held.

There are some limitations on the entries teams can submit in;
  • No player can be submitted twice in the first four sets
  • The player entered for the Ace Match can be one that has already played


What happens after the Round Robin?
After each team has played every other team twice, the top six teams qualify for playoffs. The playoffs work like a slightly modified single elimination bracket. The following diagram explains the system;
[image loading]

The biggest difference between the regular season and playoffs is the length of the match. The playoffs are Best of 7; with games 1,2,4, 5, 7 being 1v1 and games 3 and 6 being 2v2. Teams submit their entries for the first 6 Sets and the 7th set is the Ace Match. All the normal Proleague rules still apply.

How do I watch Proleague live?
The Ultimate Starcraft VOD/Live Stream Guide has all the different ways you can watch Proleague live.

Do you understand now?
Hopefully? If you have questions feel free to post in this thread without fear of ridicule. I'm always happy to help a fellow fan understand the ways of the Koreans. I would prefer if you didn't PM me though, some people may have the same questions so feel free to ask them in the thread.
Schnake
Profile Joined September 2003
Germany2819 Posts
July 20 2008 16:25 GMT
#2
Please edit the link to the Ultimate Starcraft Media Guide so that no other fellow TLers have their ip and username sent to an admin due to trying to edit other people's posts.
"Alán Shore" and "August Terran" @ LoL EUW - liquidparty
cgrinker
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States3824 Posts
July 20 2008 16:43 GMT
#3
wow it said it and I still clicked on it hahah

plz don't ban, as they say.

Great post thanks a lot
tyr
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
France1686 Posts
July 20 2008 18:05 GMT
#4
Clicked on it as well ..

Excellent FAQ, still.
"I'm always reminded of how manly Jaedong is every time I see him." -Bisu
LaughingTulkas
Profile Joined March 2008
United States1107 Posts
July 21 2008 23:17 GMT
#5
Minor point: having the exact same proleague diagram twice so close together they can be on the same screen seems a little unnecessary.

Love all the graphics though, nice work.
"I love noobies, they're so happy." -Chill
spydernoob
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Canada1066 Posts
July 22 2008 03:38 GMT
#6
wow, did not know they didnt allow mirror teams. thats odd
wraiths go pew pew
jckwik
Profile Joined June 2008
United States7 Posts
July 24 2008 00:37 GMT
#7
No, it's not all that odd. If they allowed mirror teams most of the teams would be zz.
Avidkeystamper
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States8552 Posts
July 24 2008 04:36 GMT
#8
Because that's so much worse than zt 100% of the time.
Jaedong
randombum
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2378 Posts
July 24 2008 05:36 GMT
#9
On July 24 2008 13:36 xenero wrote:
Because that's so much worse than zt 100% of the time.


You see more zp's than zt's. Regardless theres always a Z
Avidkeystamper
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States8552 Posts
July 24 2008 05:45 GMT
#10
Ack typo, the point is, Terran is never used in 2v2 unless they can implement some sort of crazy contain and gain map control since they're too defensive.
Jaedong
oatboy
Profile Joined December 2008
United States198 Posts
December 20 2008 04:57 GMT
#11
sorry to bump an old thread, but i have a question. Are there any restrictions on what race teams have to field? Or would it be possible to field an all terran team or whatever? If this is the case then why do they seem to strive for balance so much, is this because of matchups?
Sorry to be a noob.
MuShu
Profile Joined March 2005
United States3223 Posts
December 20 2008 04:59 GMT
#12
Recently, they made a rule that all 3 races must be used by each team for each match, so they can't field an all terran team. The leftover races can be any race, like 1 terran, 1 protoss, and 2 zerg
Crunchums
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States11143 Posts
December 20 2008 16:29 GMT
#13
Does anyone know why whenever the observer clicks on a goliath the image of the unit under the menu button doesn't appear - it just freezes on the "TV snow" image that flashes when you change what you're selecting?
I've seen this happen in multiple games now though it doesn't always happen when a goliath is clicked on.
brood war for life, brood war forever
Ota Solgryn
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Denmark2011 Posts
December 20 2008 17:28 GMT
#14
How is it determined who will play who in the first 4 games. Does the league descide that or what?
Because for instance (Z)Jaedong have been playing zvz alot lately, how has that been descided?
ihasaKAROT: "Wish people would stop wasting their lives on finding flaws in others"
Puosu
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
6984 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-12-20 17:35:11
December 20 2008 17:34 GMT
#15
On December 21 2008 02:28 Ota Solgryn wrote:
How is it determined who will play who in the first 4 games. Does the league descide that or what?
Because for instance (Z)Jaedong have been playing zvz alot lately, how has that been descided?

The teams both send the list of their players to KeSPA without knowing the opposing teams players.

The reason to Jaedong facing other zergs is simply because the maps he is sent on are zerg favored, so most of the teams send a zerg resulting in a lot of mirror matches.
Baddieko
Profile Joined October 2008
Singapore855 Posts
January 17 2009 09:44 GMT
#16
They changed the proleague rules to 7sets for the rest of season?
Plexa
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Aotearoa39261 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-17 09:47:22
January 17 2009 09:46 GMT
#17
For the rest of round 3, and this guide needs to be updated to reflect the changes in the WL

5 Games will return in round 4 and 5
Administrator~ Spirit will set you free ~
nataziel
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
Australia1455 Posts
January 17 2009 12:08 GMT
#18
Wow, I actually understand how this all actually works now. You should include details of the scoring system though during the normal season.

Also, why do the progamers consider the proleague the most important? It's not like they can win as much money as they can in the individual leagues, so wouldn't they place those above this in terms of importance?
u gotta sk8
Origami
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States266 Posts
January 21 2009 23:07 GMT
#19
I didn't really start following this until roughly when the 08-09 season first started so I would like to ask two questions:

1. The guide shows that the playoffs will be Bo7 with two rounds of 2v2. I was under the impression that they got rid of 2v2 sets in 2008 so I just want to check if this is still true since it seems odd that 2v2 would be completely irrelevant until when it matters most.

2. Given that the Proleague playoffs are Bo7 instead of the usual Bo5, are they planning on extending the Winner's League playoffs to Bo9 or so? I can't seem to find any real info on how the WL end-season will work.
Zona
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
40426 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-09 01:00:22
June 09 2010 00:55 GMT
#20
I've taken the section that's no longer valid and edited it:

Each match between the teams are best of five. Due to the match fixing scandal, the format was changed in Round 4 in the 2009-10 season and now none of the players who play during a match are determined beforehand. Instead, just before a match begins a representative from each team, usually the manager or coach, decides which player the team will send, without knowledge of his opponent's pick. There are up to five 1v1 sets in the format, the first team to win 3 sets wins the match. A player cannot play in more than one of the first four sets, however, if the match reaches the fifth set (sometimes known as the "Ace match" or the "Closer"), any player can be chosen to play, even if that player had played in one of the first four sets.
"If you try responding to those absurd posts every day, you become more damaged. So I pay no attention to them at all." Jung Myung Hoon (aka Fantasy), as translated by Kimoleon
Mr.X
Profile Joined July 2010
Spain115 Posts
July 07 2010 15:04 GMT
#21
Hi

I'm new in the community, but i'm been following all the stuff that you make since a year aprox. So congrats for this web. ^^

I have a question. I don't understand the point system of the Starleague. I see teams drawing in victories and losses, but they have differences in the number of points.

A victory by 3-0 gives you 3 points and a victory by 3-2 gives you 1?

Thx for the response.
figq
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
12519 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-07 18:42:50
July 07 2010 18:41 GMT
#22
I think they need more dynamic (back and forth) during a match of 5 sets; more decisions based on the opponent, and not just sending 2 players in the dark, without major reasons for the choice. If I get these rules correctly, it means they don't even get to match their strongest players, and if that occasionally happens it's by chance.

Since there are so many matches in a season, maybe they could introduce the concept of "home" and "guest" teams - the "home" has advantage, so each match the roles are reversed. Then this should be used as follows: the "guest" team announces a player; the "home" team is informed about that choice and picks the right player to counter the opponent. After each set, this advantage is changed depending on who won - the winning team has to announce their player first, giving the advantage to the losing team. In case of a 5th Ace match, no one gets advantage, and both teams pick "in the dark", as it is now.

This would mean before a match each team prepares specific "counter"-players for each of the major opponent's players, so they can respond with the right guy vs the pick of the other team.
If you stand next to my head, you can hear the ocean. - Day[9]
hejakev
Profile Joined August 2009
Sweden518 Posts
July 07 2010 23:32 GMT
#23
I've been watching proleague for couple years, and I didn't know that the 5th match was undetermined!

What a helpful FAQ! Thanks
Plexa
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Aotearoa39261 Posts
July 09 2010 08:35 GMT
#24
On July 08 2010 00:04 Mr.X wrote:
Hi

I'm new in the community, but i'm been following all the stuff that you make since a year aprox. So congrats for this web. ^^

I have a question. I don't understand the point system of the Starleague. I see teams drawing in victories and losses, but they have differences in the number of points.

A victory by 3-0 gives you 3 points and a victory by 3-2 gives you 1?

Thx for the response.
Essentially, when teams have the same win-loss record the use the game differential to split them. For instance;

say Team A and Team B both were 3 wins and 1 loss. However, Team A went 3-0 3-0 3-0 2-3 and Team B went 3-2 3-2 3-2 0-3. Then Team A would have a game differential of +8 (or 11-3) whereas Team B would have a game differential of +0 (9-9) thus Team A would be ranked above Team B.
Administrator~ Spirit will set you free ~
Pippah
Profile Joined January 2010
Denmark353 Posts
July 09 2010 09:34 GMT
#25
Where can I see an updated score table of proleague?
olof
Profile Joined July 2009
Sweden254 Posts
July 09 2010 10:52 GMT
#26
On July 09 2010 18:34 Pippah wrote:
Where can I see an updated score table of proleague?

I think there used to be one at
http://e-sports.or.kr/

For some reason firefox won't let me access it, and it seems to be some kind of competition on the splashpage right now. There used to be an english version of the site, try it and you might find statistics there.

On July 08 2010 08:32 hejakev wrote:
I've been watching proleague for couple years, and I didn't know that the 5th match was undetermined!

What a helpful FAQ! Thanks

I might be wrong, but from what I've understood they changed the system after the matchmaking scandal and to stop people from predicting matchups (and therefore not being able to betting on single games) they've set all games to undetermined. The difference in the acegame is that they can use a player a second time for that game, but I guess you've already figured that after watching.
hi man O_O
Black[CAT]
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Malaysia2589 Posts
November 20 2010 17:41 GMT
#27
This FAQ thread needs to be updated
as there are many changes in the proleague format nowadays such as the Bo7 and
now there are only 10 teams.
You mean ESPORTS isnt a synonym for SC2? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -Proud owner of a Filco Majestouch 2 with Cherry Blue Switches- BW or SC2? Why not both?
MiraKul
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Malaysia498 Posts
February 19 2011 17:16 GMT
#28
On November 21 2010 02:41 Black[CAT] wrote:
This FAQ thread needs to be updated
as there are many changes in the proleague format nowadays such as the Bo7 and
now there are only 10 teams.



Exactly my thoughts. it's almost march '11. Would appreciate if it is updated!
ovrpwrd
cari-kira
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany655 Posts
June 28 2012 11:14 GMT
#29
sry to bump, but this needs to be updated, because its linked in the wikipedia-article @ http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proleague
Live and let live
Kuja
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States1759 Posts
June 28 2012 15:11 GMT
#30
I don't think anyone is stopping you from remaking the OP.....
“Who's to say that my light is better than your darkness? Who's to say death is better than your darkness? Who am I to say?”
Xiphos
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada7507 Posts
June 28 2012 15:18 GMT
#31
Someone stop bumping nostalgic threads.
2014 - ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ Raise your bows brood warriors! ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ
cari-kira
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany655 Posts
June 30 2012 08:35 GMT
#32
k i relink http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Proleague at the wikipedia article, so this thread doesnt need to be bumped anymore.
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