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Australia14890 Posts
Official announcement: https://wcs.starcraft2.com/en-us/news/21349309/WCS-2018-Details-Revealed/
The World Championship Series (WCS) concluded with a bang at BlizzCon 2017, and now we have a new season of professional StarCraft II® to look forward to. Read on for fresh information on the 2018 campaign that will serve as the proving ground for all would-be challengers to Rogue’s WCS Global Championship crown. ![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/o948RXG.jpg) WCS CircuitThe 2018 season features the same number of WCS Circuit events as last year but includes a new, supercharged kickoff at WCS Leipzig in January. At this event, and the three additional Circuit tournaments taking place at DreamHack events throughout the year, the champion will receive a direct seed into the Global Finals at the end of the year. The regional representation for each of these events will remain the same as well, with four players qualifying from Europe, four from North America, two from Latin America, two from Australia/New Zealand, two from China, and two from the Asia Pacific region. With the new stop in Leipzig, Germany for the WCS Circuit and an absolutely packed early schedule in 2018, StarCraft II pros and fans alike will have to hit the ground running. WCS KoreaIn Korea, the Global StarCraft II League (GSL) continues for its eighth year as the most celebrated StarCraft II competition in the world. The 2018 schedule will once again consist of three GSL seasons with two GSL Super Tournaments mixed in. Each GSL season will reward the champion with a direct seed into the Global Finals at the end of the year. Global EventsThe thrill of seeing the top players in the world battle each other means, once again, there will be three global events in 2018. The Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice tournament rewards its champion with a berth at the WCS Global Finals, and, for the first time, features a prize pool enhanced by the new StarCraft II War Chest, which is available now. Look for a second War Chest later in the year that will boost the prize pool of the 2018 WCS Global Finals. In addition to IEM Katowice and the WCS Global Finals bookending the global event schedule, GSL vs. the World will return in mid-2018 for a thrilling clash between regions. Watch for further details on the format and prizing for this fan-favorite event. Beyond WCSBeyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year. ![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/pXOZKTD.jpg) We have an exciting year of professional StarCraft II ahead of us, and we’ll have even more details to share in the coming months, including updates to the Challenger system for players in North America and Europe. Stay tuned to the WCS website to keep up to date on all the specifics as we head into 2018.
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Is this the same Prize-Pool they had last year?
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No SSL announcement, see you in 3 months when they tease the announcement of an announcement.
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Mexico601 Posts
So basically nothing new. Same exact format as last year. I was hoping for some more events for the WCS Circuit this year, but I guess it won't happen.
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Basically the same with last year. No SSL or IEM Shanghai announced but I hope they will announce themselves later on.
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i'm glad to see Montreal is getting another event.
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On December 20 2017 04:12 donek99 wrote:
Is this the same Prize-Pool they had last year?
I'm not sure if each event it the same, but the grand total is certainly the same.
Pretty standard stuff given they said 2018 was going to be the same as 2017.
Although, the prize pool should be significantly better overall with the advent of the War Chests.
I do hope that SpotTV can supplement the scene with a league of their own, but that has yet to be seen.
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Interesting that IEM Pyeongchang is not part of the WCS system, and so presumably will not award WCS points. Last year we had IEM Gyeonggi at the beginning, which did award WCS points.
SSL is not directly affiliated with Blizzard or the WCS system, they don't run on the same schedule. If there is SSL in 2018, it will be announced separately.
Also I'm really happy to see that GSL vs the World is happening again. The first one was amazing, a proto-Blizzcon event.
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I'm mean, I do appreciate everyone trying out there, but...
Beyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year.
...if Blizzard really wants to make the WCS circuit exiting, they should put some effort into getting as many of these events to contribute as possible. Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. If points were at stake weekly (as the quote seems to do its best to allude to), we'd truly be in for an exiting year.
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I mean they said already that can announce 2017 and 2018 season last year so idk why are ppl uspet or suprised...
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On December 20 2017 05:24 PharaphOobia wrote:
I mean they said already that can announce 2017 and 2018 season last year so idk why are ppl uspet or suprised...
I'm very well aware of that. I was, however, still hoping that someone would have noticed that 2017 was by far the most uninteresting year in the history of WCS, and that this someone would, you know, make a fist, slam it down on his/her mahogany desk in a highly impressive way and say something along the lines of What kind of + Show Spoiler + circuit was that?? I'm not accepting this. SC2 certainly deserves more. Bring the team to the war room, we've got work to do here...
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On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:
Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments.
It would be nice recognition for the weekly/monthly online cups that fill the void and essentially do a lot of the gruntwork in keeping the scene alive.
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On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:I'm mean, I do appreciate everyone trying out there, but... Show nested quote +Beyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year. ...if Blizzard really wants to make the WCS circuit exiting, they should put some effort into getting as many of these events to contribute as possible. Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. If points were at stake weekly (as the quote seems to do its best to allude to), we'd truly be in for an exiting year.
I mean it's not like they don't want events to give out WCS Points, pretty much most events which can contribute do. Afaik IEM PyeongChang will reward WCS points, IEM Shanghai in 2017 did as well.
There were 10 events in the 2017 circuit awarding WCS points (including challenger events, which in fairness ARE much smaller, so maybe you could argue 6 events) and 10 events in WCS Korea 2017.
My question is how many more major tournaments were there in 2017 that could have awarded points? Anything online is a bit iffy already, but ShoutCraft definitely can't due to the format being extremely unfair, it would be ridiculous to look at putting WCS points on the line there. And in terms of offline events, well WESG runs over a very weird set of dates because its part in 2017 and part in 2018, so it isn't really eligible for WCS points.
Beyond that we are talking about other offline events like HomeStory Cup and perhaps Cheesadelphia? If my memory serves me well, HSC does not have WCS points due to certain requirements which they could not meet (I think the prize pool had to be a certain amount, especially for it to be a Global event, and so they either had to put up more money or make it a Circuit event.) Then Cheese is a smaller event again in terms of prize pool, is it really major enough to give out WCS Points?
Even if they gave out less, there is still an entire process to go into vetting these events. If they are going to contribute to the Global Finals line-up, they have to be up to standards and I'm sure Blizzard has a set of requirements such as "PCs must run at certain levels" for example and they would have to be adminned by WCS rules.
I'm starting to ramble but my point is, it's not like Blizzard don't want to give out WCS points, just they have to do it in a way in which it is still meaningful and fair -- the last thing they need is drama of a smaller event somehow having a screw up which effects WCS. It feels like they limit it more now, but the reality is there are just less events going on which could realistically give out WCS Points in the first place.
On December 20 2017 05:59 Hushfield wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:
Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. It would be nice recognition for the weekly/monthly online cups that fill the void and essentially do a lot of the gruntwork in keeping the scene alive.
And just to touch on this - I think it really is just an issue of making sure the conditions are fair, the admin decisions are being done properly and that the coverage is of a high enough quality. They have to protect the WCS image & brand to sell it as being the most prestigious set of events / event of the year.
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On December 20 2017 06:21 Wardi wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:I'm mean, I do appreciate everyone trying out there, but... Beyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year. ...if Blizzard really wants to make the WCS circuit exiting, they should put some effort into getting as many of these events to contribute as possible. Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. If points were at stake weekly (as the quote seems to do its best to allude to), we'd truly be in for an exiting year. I mean it's not like they don't want events to give out WCS Points, pretty much most events which can contribute do. Afaik IEM PyeongChang will reward WCS points, IEM Shanghai in 2017 did as well. There were 10 events in the 2017 circuit awarding WCS points (including challenger events, which in fairness ARE much smaller, so maybe you could argue 6 events) and 10 events in WCS Korea 2017. My question is how many more major tournaments were there in 2017 that could have awarded points? Anything online is a bit iffy already, but ShoutCraft definitely can't due to the format being extremely unfair, it would be ridiculous to look at putting WCS points on the line there. And in terms of offline events, well WESG runs over a very weird set of dates because its part in 2017 and part in 2018, so it isn't really eligible for WCS points. Beyond that we are talking about other offline events like HomeStory Cup and perhaps Cheesadelphia? If my memory serves me well, HSC does not have WCS points due to certain requirements which they could not meet (I think the prize pool had to be a certain amount, especially for it to be a Global event, and so they either had to put up more money or make it a Circuit event.) Then Cheese is a smaller event again in terms of prize pool, is it really major enough to give out WCS Points? Even if they gave out less, there is still an entire process to go into vetting these events. If they are going to contribute to the Global Finals line-up, they have to be up to standards and I'm sure Blizzard has a set of requirements such as "PCs must run at certain levels" for example and they would have to be adminned by WCS rules. I'm starting to ramble but my point is, it's not like Blizzard don't want to give out WCS points, just they have to do it in a way in which it is still meaningful and fair -- the last thing they need is drama of a smaller event somehow having a screw up which effects WCS. It feels like they limit it more now, but the reality is there are just less events going on which could realistically give out WCS Points in the first place. Show nested quote +On December 20 2017 05:59 Hushfield wrote:On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:
Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. It would be nice recognition for the weekly/monthly online cups that fill the void and essentially do a lot of the gruntwork in keeping the scene alive. And just to touch on this - I think it really is just an issue of making sure the conditions are fair, the admin decisions are being done properly and that the coverage is of a high enough quality. They have to protect the WCS image & brand to sell it as being the most prestigious set of events / event of the year.
Well, for potential major tourneys to partner with in 2018 I think there are like 10 Dreamhacks coming up in 2018 and I don't know how many IEMs? One could also imagine a number of smaller-medium sized events with simpler rules awarding less money and points etc. to keep up the drama/hype/interest in general, and try to identify / schedule possible organizers such as yourself, Homestory and so on and see if they are up for it (with some support, maybe a traveling circus what do I know). But of course, all of this would require, well, fist on the desk by dude/dudette in charge and putting in some sterling efforts. Sure, ez enough for me to say, but I so feel that Blizzard is truly wasting an opportunity here... 
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Starcraft 2 ain't dead, bitches!
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Wish there were more global events but that was stated by many back in 2016 when 2017 was announced. Hoping to be at DH Austin again next year.
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I would have expected, that going free to play and organizing DH Leipzig and especially going to Pyeongchang would boost Starcraft into more events. I guess they are waiting to see if this has any impact and decide later, whether to organize more. However, if they dream to make Starcraft or any other esport game into an Olimpic game they really should.
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Residency-locked instead of citizenship for WCS Challenger?
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On December 20 2017 05:11 pvsnp wrote:
Interesting that IEM Pyeongchang is not part of the WCS system, and so presumably will not award WCS points. Last year we had IEM Gyeonggi at the beginning, which did award WCS points.
SSL is not directly affiliated with Blizzard or the WCS system, they don't run on the same schedule. If there is SSL in 2018, it will be announced separately.
Also I'm really happy to see that GSL vs the World is happening again. The first one was amazing, a proto-Blizzcon event.
SSL gives out WCS points, so yeah, it is directly affiliated with Blizzard and the WCS system.
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WCS
