A Guide to Following the Chinese StarCraft Scene

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larse

1611 Posts

September 02 2013 21:54 GMT

A Guide to Following the Chinese StarCraft Scene [Keep Updated]

Recent Tournaments

WCS China Qualifiers: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427825&currentpage=5#82

TL;DR

The most regular tournaments in China are NSL, SWL, and WCG. There are some other big 2-day events happen across the year.

Easiest way to “follow” the Chinese scene is to watch this 24-hours Chinese stream (both live and restream). Most of the premier content is on this stream alone. http://www.fengyunzhibo.com/tv/NEOtvSC2.htm

For English casting of the major Chinese events, watch this stream and VODs. http://www.twitch.tv/cheeseheadlogic/profile/pastBroadcasts

Intro

As inspired by Reddit’s recent attention to the Chinese StarCraft scene, I decided to write a short guide on how to follow the Chinese scene to the non-Chinese audience. Following the Chinese scene can be difficult since there is little information in the English-speaking websites. Even though TL actually has a decent amount of threads, event calendar, and wiki entries about the Chinese tournaments, it is still spread-out and may be difficult to know they are even there. So this guide may act like an introduction to “what is happening, what to watch, and where to watch” in the Chinese StarCraft scene. I will try to keep this thread updated in my spare time. Also, I know there are many Chinese and people who know Chinese language on TL, if you know some Chinese SC2 events that are not listed here, you can post them in this thread, and I will add them to this top post.

If you want to know more about the history of Chinese SC2 scene, here is a detailed liquipedia entry: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Chinese_SC2_scene

Tournaments

The Premier Chinese Tournaments

NEO Star League (NSL)
[image loading]

NSL is like the Chinese GSL (started from Ro32). It is held a few times a year.

NSL 2013 [Ongoing]

Liquipedia: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/NEO_Star_League_2013
English Live Stream & VODs: http://www.twitch.tv/cheeseheadlogic/profile/pastBroadcasts
Chinese Live Stream: http://www.fengyunzhibo.com/tv/NEOtvSC2.htm
Chinese VODs (very organized): http://matchday.cc/match.php?id=289&rt=2
Official website (in Chinese): http://sc2.neotv.cn/nsl2013/ or http://sc2.neotv.cn/content-31-2280-1.html

StarsWar League (SWL)
[image loading]

SWL is a shorter tournament than NSL, but it has more prize money and it invites many top Korean players. And it is sponsored by GIGABYTE and Intel.

StarsWar League Season 3 [Ongoing]

Liquipedia: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/StarsWar_League/Season_3
EnglishLive Stream & VODs: http://www.twitch.tv/cheeseheadlogic/profile/pastBroadcasts
Chinese Live Stream: http://www.fengyunzhibo.com/tv/NEOtvSC2.htm
Chinese VODs (very organized): http://matchday.cc/match.php?id=291&rt=2
Official website (in Chinese): http://swl.starswar.org/

WCG China

WCG has been quite a China-centric event, even though its origin is Korea. And it is still the biggest esports event in China.

WCG China 2013 [not ongoing]

Liquipedia: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/World_Cyber_Games_2013/Qualifiers/China
Chinese stream: http://www.fengyunzhibo.com/tv/NEOtvSC2.htm
Chinese VODs: http://matchday.cc/match.php?id=259&rt=2
Official website (in Chinese): http://wcg.neotv.cn/

Other Tournaments

The National Online Tournament (SOT)
[image loading]

An online tournament open for fans to play with pros.

The National Online Tournament “Passion 2v2” [Ongoing]

Chinese stream: http://www.fengyunzhibo.com/tv/NEOtvSC2.htm
Chinese VODs (Click SOT in the left sidebar): http://v.neotv.cn/sc2
Official website (in Chinese): http://sot.neotv.cn/

Matchday.cc Gaming Series Clan’s League (MCL)

Chinese VODs:

http://matchday.cc/match.php?id=286&rt=2
Official Website (in Chinese):

http://sc2.marstv.com/

Ifeng Electronic Sports Cup (a weekly online tournament)

Liquipedia: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Ifeng_Electronic_Sports_Cup

Some other Chinese tournaments that are not going:

+ Show Spoiler +

Kung Fu Cup
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Kung_Fu_Cup

CPL
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/CPL_Championship_2013

NVIDIA Gaming Festival
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/NVIDIA_Gaming_Festival_2013

Hong Kong Esports Tournament
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Hong_Kong_Esports_Tournament

National Electronic Sports Tournament (NEST)
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/National_Electronic_Sports_Tournament

National College Cup

Official website (in Chinese):
http://sc2.163.com/scc/

Chinese VODs:
http://sc2.163.com/scc/videos/46006

StarCraft Shows:

Official website: http://sc2.163.com/minisite/friday/
VODs: http://sc2.163.com/minisite/friday/

Official website: http://sc2.163.com/minisite/tuesday/
VODs: http://sc2.163.com/minisite/tuesday/#newsVideo

Event Calendar (in Chinese)

Unfortunately the even calendars are all in Chinese. But you can use browser to search for keywords such as NSL or SWL. The time zone is call CST – China Standard Time.

http://live.neotv.cn/LiveV2Channel.aspx/Programs

http://sc2.163.com/calendar/

VOD Archives of Chinese Tournament (in Chinese)

NeoTV:
http://i.youku.com/u/UMzY0MDQ3Mjky/videos

MarsTV:
http://i.youku.com/u/UMzk3MjYyMjQ0/videos

星际少帮主 with Learn to Play Starcraft Friday:
http://i.youku.com/u/UMzE5NzMzNzM2/videos

Notable Players and Teams

Well, Boring, right?

Why should I care about some random Asians? So let's introduce some Chinese female players and casters (service, service). The girls are quite a feature of the Chinese scene, as many organizers will have female casters to cast with the male casters and female players to play with fans to boost popularity. And you know it will work. The following are some of the notable Chinese female players and casters

http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/MisS (韩懿莹):
Han "MisS" Yi Ying is a Chinese former WarCraft III player and shoutcaster, who became a professional StarCraft II player for team StarTale on February 13, 2012.

[image loading]

Xueyan (雪研):
As you may remember, she casted 2012 WCS China and Asia with Artosis and Rob Simpson.

Xiaoyu (小雨):
She works for NeoTV, which is the organizer of the above three premier events. So if you are going to watch some of the NSL and SWL, you may probably see her casting.
+ Show Spoiler +

News

September 2013

Red Bull ECL2013 announced with a prize pool of ~$16000.:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427825#11

National Electronic Sports Tournament 2013 offline finals in November with a prize pool of ~$10000.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427825#14

WCG China regionals: Shanghai 9/7 - 9/8, Chengdu 9/14 - 9/15, Guangzhou 9/21 - 9/22. WCG China finals starts on October 11th.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427825#14

WCG China 2013 Prize Pool for SC2 announced. It's about $7350 or ￥45,000.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427825&currentpage=3#41

NetEase reveals the 5-million-dollar esports plan
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427990#1

Vivi Gaming's player Comm announces plan to retire in the end of this year
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427825&currentpage=4#71

Blizzard/NetEase Sponsors WCG China
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=428495#1

SmoKim

Denmark10305 Posts

September 02 2013 22:35 GMT

Holy crap this guide is amazing! excellent thread larse!

KnadRa

United States56 Posts

September 02 2013 22:51 GMT

they should make WCS china

prabhbhambra13

United Kingdom424 Posts

September 02 2013 23:05 GMT

This guide is great. 2014 should definitely add China as a WCS region

tomastaz

United States976 Posts

September 02 2013 23:29 GMT

That's pretty awesome. Thanks man! Great resources for those of us who are interested.

Like a Boss

502 Posts

September 02 2013 23:41 GMT

Are we able to connect to the chinese server now?

shin_toss

Philippines2589 Posts

September 02 2013 23:44 GMT

Yeah WCS China next season! Also go Jim!

also. isn't MisS from StarTale too?

frSlick

4 Posts

September 02 2013 23:45 GMT

LAGUZ -.-

Killmouse

Austria5700 Posts

September 03 2013 01:05 GMT

nice!

Ettick

United States2434 Posts

September 03 2013 01:20 GMT

#10

The Chinese scene has always seemed so under appreciated in SC2, it's pretty sad to be honest.

Anyways, thanks for the thread. I'll make sure to watch at least a few of these events whenever I can.

larse

1611 Posts

September 03 2013 01:40 GMT

#11

News

Red Bull ECL2013 announced

Red Bull ECL2013 is announced to be held in Beijing, between Sep 19 to Sep 21.

Red Bull ECL2013 is a Dota 2 + SC2 tournament.

Prize pool for SC2 alone is $16,000 or near 100,000 yuan.

[image loading]

Official website: http://www.cespc.com/

Source: http://sc2.uuu9.com/2013/201309/452319.shtml

freeamount

China202 Posts

September 03 2013 02:56 GMT

#12

The following tournaments could be added to OP.

(Wiki)

National Electronic Sports Tournament (NEST mentioned in OP)
(Wiki)

Ifeng Electronic Sports Cup (a weekly online tournament)

Kommatiazo

United States579 Posts

September 03 2013 03:08 GMT

#13

This is flippin' awesome. Bookmarked immediately.

argonautdice

Canada2719 Posts

September 03 2013 03:08 GMT

#14

ifeng Electronic Sports Cup (rough translation) has been running for 4 weeks now with a prize pool of ~$375, sponsored by the Hong Kong tv channel Phoenix, broadcasted every Friday, Saturday at this site I believe: http://games.ifeng.com/special/djbs/live.shtml

The online portion of National Electronic Sports Tournament 2013 just ended, with a prize pool of ~$4000 and 16 players qualifying for the offline finals in November with a prize pool of ~$10000.

Technically the WCG China regionals are going on right now, with 3 regions left: Shanghai 9/7 - 9/8, Chengdu 9/14 - 9/15, Guangzhou 9/21 - 9/22. WCG China finals starts on October 11th.

cchily13

70 Posts

September 03 2013 03:10 GMT

#15

This is amazing holy shit

larse

1611 Posts

September 03 2013 03:15 GMT

#16

Hi, freeamount and argonautdice, thank you so much for your contribution. I already add your information to the top post (in the news section). When after maybe one week, when the thread sinks, I will put the news section to the top of the post.

mikumegurine

Canada3145 Posts

September 03 2013 03:15 GMT

#17

whoa thx!

btw that Gigabyte StarsWar League Season 3 [Ongoing] tournament looks ridiculous...

Maru, Jim, Parting, and Hero?!

i wanna see all those games...