In an exclusive reveal to WellPlayed, the NASL has announced the official schedule for its debut season as well as the prize distribution for players and an infographic detailing the map pools for each matchup.

The season will kick off on Tuesday, April 12th with a total of five matchups. Pre-show begins at 5:30pm PST/8:30pm EST. European fans will be able to catch a rebroadcast that starts at 5:30pm for the UK, 6:30pm for Central Europe and 7:30 for Eastern Europe.

The first day's matches consist of Moon vs. Grubby, ViBE vs. TLO, Artosis vs. Sheth, Fenix vs. KiWiKaKi and Rainbow vs. Morrow.

Each division will play on the same map pool for a full week, and then rotate to a different map pool on the next. Division 1, for example, will begin with Terminus RE, Crossfire SE and Backwater Gulch and then move to a pool consisting of Shattered Temple, Terminus RE and Crossfire SE for the second week. Full information on map pools can be found in the graphic below.

Prize pool distribution, which has only been speculated about up until now, has been revealed as well. The overall winner for the season will take home $50,000. The second place finisher will earn $25,000, third will take $10,000, and fourth earns $5,000. Those players placing 5th-8th will get $1,500 and 9th-16th receive $500. All players will receive an additional $500 for attending the finals.

Source: [url=http://wellplayed.org/forum/122/thread/390/show]http://wellplayed.org/forum
Edit 1:Table of comparison with GSL
[image loading]

Edit 2: Clarification: GSL take place over 3 weeks while NASL over more than 10 weeks.

NrG.NeverExpo

Canada2114 Posts

April 07 2011 03:27 GMT

Nice! At least this image is a bit easier to follow than that last one regarding formats :D! Decent maps too, and can't argue with the prize distribution~

DystopiaX

United States16236 Posts

April 07 2011 03:30 GMT

Man that's a steep dropoff in terms of prize money.

ehalf

408 Posts

April 07 2011 03:31 GMT

Backwater Gulch, Typhon Peaks ... hmm, not going to be perfect map pool for everybody

jamesr12

United States1549 Posts

April 07 2011 03:31 GMT

backwater is an interesting choice, that map has seen very little competive play

McKTenor13

United States1383 Posts

April 07 2011 03:32 GMT

good stuff. The NASL is going to be amazingggggggggggggggg. This prize pool will make it incredible too.

Butcherski

Poland446 Posts

April 07 2011 03:40 GMT

typhon peaks and backwater gulch are fucking horrible blizzard maps ... why would you go ahead and ruin a perfectly good league

AndreiDaGiant

United States394 Posts

April 07 2011 03:41 GMT

really dislike the new blizz maps... but non the less it will still be good

Serpico

4285 Posts

April 07 2011 03:44 GMT

On April 07 2011 12:40 Butcherski wrote:
typhon peaks and backwater gulch are fucking horrible blizzard maps ... why would you go ahead and ruin a perfectly good league

over dramatic much?

Turgid

United States1623 Posts

April 07 2011 03:47 GMT

#10

Typhon's not bad, really. Backwater Gulch seems kinda terrible and I'm surprised they picked it. Wonder how much consultation was done with the players, there. I also don't get the point behind the map pool rotation, but hey, at least this stuff was finally worked out. Other than Backwater it's a good pool and we have an absolute shitload of content here.

The prize pool hurts for the players, I'm sure, but tournament winnings are always going to be awful for most people trying to make a living off of them. Most likely in any given SC2 scene only a very small amount of people will be able to make it their day job if they have to live off of placing well in tournaments. If NASL seriously adjusts the prize pool to something that looks more like a real paycheck for all of the players, it limits the hype around the tournament, even though it helps the competitors. Basically it's just a bad situation we're in where we don't have a lot of player salaries going around.

godemperor

Belgium2043 Posts

April 07 2011 03:52 GMT

#11

Just updated the OP with comparison to GSL code S prize pool.

BLinD-RawR

ALLEYCAT BLUES50114 Posts

April 07 2011 03:52 GMT

#12

seriously if you are having trouble picking the last map always go for iCCup Testbug,not the gulch.

hitman133

United States1425 Posts

April 07 2011 03:52 GMT

#13

On April 07 2011 12:40 Butcherski wrote:
typhon peaks and backwater gulch are fucking horrible blizzard maps ... why would you go ahead and ruin a perfectly good league

Damn agree, they both have super narrow choke for Colossus or tanks push

Irave

United States9965 Posts

April 07 2011 03:52 GMT

#14

Idra made a pretty good point last night on Sotg about the money stepoffs. Its a really big difference in places. So much money to go around, I like the way they are doing the maps too. All this little bit of information being release before the 12th is great!

Turgid

United States1623 Posts

April 07 2011 03:54 GMT

#15

Might want to note that GSL takes place over a far smaller span of time than NASL.

Shai

Canada806 Posts

April 07 2011 03:56 GMT

#16

Colour me disappointed. People have complained that GSL is top heavy, but it happens more often than and is less top heavy than the NASL.

Edit: DERP didn't read "All players will receive an additional $500 for attending the finals." It's much more reasonable now (though attending the finals will likely cost the full 500 for some, or more for koreans.)

JoeSchmoe

Canada2058 Posts

April 07 2011 03:56 GMT

#17

that is a misleading comparison. GSL happens every month while one season of NASL lasts 3 months

coolcor

520 Posts

April 07 2011 03:56 GMT

#18

Why Terminus RE instead of SE? It got updated with the 3rd expansion rocks for a reason do the NASL players disagree with that change?

Also no Shakuras maybe blizzard was right to remove it from the ladder in the first place if neither version is good enough for this huge league.

ehalf

408 Posts

April 07 2011 03:57 GMT

#19

Yea, for the prize, we might see many unwanted turtling and deathball move out more in those maps.

Bosu

United States3247 Posts

April 07 2011 03:57 GMT

#20

I have really enjoyed typhon. Backwater not a fan.