• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 18:36
CEST 00:36
KST 07:36
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners5Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview5[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June2Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th151Weekly Cups (May 18-24): MaxPax wins doubles0Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League6
StarCraft 2
General
TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection Oliveira Would Have Returned If EWC Continued Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview
Tourneys
Douyu Cup 2026 Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament WardiTV Mondays
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed Mutation # 528 Infection Detected Welcome to the External Content forum
Brood War
General
Data needed Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ? BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW fans in southern Sweden, look here! 25 Years Since Brood War Patch 1.08
Tourneys
[BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST [ASL21] Grand Finals [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Any training maps people recommend? Muta micro map competition [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread PC Games Sales Thread Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Summer Games Done Quick 2026!
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Cricket [SPORT] NBA General Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
How Streaming Impacts Game P…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 13057 users

Introducing WCS Winter 2019 - Page 4

Forum Index > SC2 General
103 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany7224 Posts
December 21 2018 09:14 GMT
#61
Finally some official news!

Changing the broadcasting platform would be weird considering the whole warchest business is on twitch
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16077 Posts
December 21 2018 13:33 GMT
#62
Downsizing is healthy so I'm not worried about the state of the scene.
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Valyrian
Profile Joined August 2015
41 Posts
December 21 2018 14:11 GMT
#63
Despite the trolling comparisons to Korea's region lock, the soft region split between Europe and the rest of the circuit seems kinda cool to me. There were a bunch of interesting players at Cheesadelphia that I'd love to see more of than dying in the group stage of a WCS event. Essentially this is an upscaled Challenger season that replaces an actual event and the split is nothing new there.

Spreading the event out GSL style is a really good idea in my opinion and should be thought about more in the Circuit. For casual Starcraft fans it's really hard to build excitement before a WCS event and then being willing to spend basically every waking minute of an entire weekend watching the thing (maybe at ungodly hours depending on your timezone). Doing this with Challenger was a success so why not lean into it. It definitely seems to overall give more bang for the buck and could also introduce the pre-match preparation aspect into the Circuit that we mostly haven't seen there yet.

Hard to say what the implication of the reduced points and prize money will be without knowing how they compare to other WCS events. It's possible that with the split between NA and Europe Blizzard does not want to emphasise the outcome of WCS Winter too much because it would benefit "lesser" NA players comparatively to the skill of same place Europe finishers. Having a very evenly spread prize pool also suggests that the tournament is mostly meant to sustain the scene over these months instead of crowning and rewarding a champion, which is fine. Having a critical mass of players is hugely important for the scene and sources of income are otherwise sparse, so it's good that there's a reliable source of income for decent finishers here.

Honestly, instead of constant whining about region locks, people who care about the Korean scene should instead advocate for a more even spread of winnings in GSL as well. Being unable to pillage other regions for prize money is not what let the Korean pro scene stagnate, it's the fact that eight players have locked up GSL to divide most prize money among themselves and there is very little incentive to try to enter it. It would be really cool to get new players there but they too need a way to sustain themselves while they get better.
franzji
Profile Joined September 2013
United States583 Posts
December 21 2018 17:05 GMT
#64
I wish people looked more deeply into this announcement.

It is very concerning that Blizzard put off planning of WCS this late. They should have had the circuit planned out with Dreamhack much earlier, or whoever is going to host the Starcraft tournaments this year earlier.

This points to one of two things: Blizzard is trying undercut Dreamhack on a price, or Dreamhack is trying to increase the price. That's why the first event is getting canceled. It also might be Blizzard saying "see, we can run our own events without you, now drop the price".

I mean, or Blizzard just can't get their shit together and can't plan anything.

Or how about a conspiracy theory? The new CEO could be trying to sabotage it. If Starcraft has a bad year this year because of a bad WCS format, the CEO is essentially creating a reason to cut Starcraft next year.
Kalera
Profile Joined January 2018
United States338 Posts
December 21 2018 19:47 GMT
#65
On December 22 2018 02:05 youngjiddle wrote:
I wish people looked more deeply into this announcement.

It is very concerning that Blizzard put off planning of WCS this late. They should have had the circuit planned out with Dreamhack much earlier, or whoever is going to host the Starcraft tournaments this year earlier.

This points to one of two things: Blizzard is trying undercut Dreamhack on a price, or Dreamhack is trying to increase the price. That's why the first event is getting canceled. It also might be Blizzard saying "see, we can run our own events without you, now drop the price".

I mean, or Blizzard just can't get their shit together and can't plan anything.

Or how about a conspiracy theory? The new CEO could be trying to sabotage it. If Starcraft has a bad year this year because of a bad WCS format, the CEO is essentially creating a reason to cut Starcraft next year.


It may be they had plans but they had to be changed relatively recently.
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-21 21:26:39
December 21 2018 21:24 GMT
#66
On December 22 2018 02:05 youngjiddle wrote:
I wish people looked more deeply into this announcement.

It is very concerning that Blizzard put off planning of WCS this late. They should have had the circuit planned out with Dreamhack much earlier, or whoever is going to host the Starcraft tournaments this year earlier.

This points to one of two things: Blizzard is trying undercut Dreamhack on a price, or Dreamhack is trying to increase the price. That's why the first event is getting canceled. It also might be Blizzard saying "see, we can run our own events without you, now drop the price".

I mean, or Blizzard just can't get their shit together and can't plan anything.

Or how about a conspiracy theory? The new CEO could be trying to sabotage it. If Starcraft has a bad year this year because of a bad WCS format, the CEO is essentially creating a reason to cut Starcraft next year.

i don't know that it's that people aren't capable of looking deeply, but where is the appetite for the shadowy truth you're hinting at? pretty much anyone who cares to discuss it probably does it here on TL. even if your "conspiracy" is factually correct and we proved it, then what? SC2 may not be dead, but the community is insular and self-obsessed to a fault. what is there to gain by even scrutinizing blizzard's plan for SC2? even if it's a bad plan, what then? are we going to win a nobel prize for esports journalism because we complained on a forum?

i just struggle to understand this idea that by shitting on blizzard we're going to accomplish something or save esports or whatever? even if there are plenty of valid criticisms to make i don't really see why people want to die on this hill in 2018/19. it's SC2. i hope SC2 lives for a good long time, but it's never going to ascend and become a top esport. it is what it is. why can't we just be happy it exists?
TL+ Member
Valyrian
Profile Joined August 2015
41 Posts
December 21 2018 22:40 GMT
#67
Especially because this type of complaint appears to be stuck in 2015 or something. If SC2 stays on 2018 levels we should be very happy.
NaRae
Profile Joined January 2017
Korea (South)48 Posts
December 22 2018 00:07 GMT
#68
I think replaced one of the WCS circuits with Winter because Leipzig date is so near Katowice.
Rodya
Profile Joined January 2018
546 Posts
December 22 2018 01:35 GMT
#69
On December 21 2018 17:09 shadow4723 wrote:
I like the new preparation style format of WCS Winter (like GSL). I just hope ping is not an issue and that region locking of the WCS Curcuit doesn't give problems to the pros

China and Mexico are in the same region for the online portion. Of course there will be lag issues. Once again the system is biased in favor of Europeans.
Banned for saying "zerg players are by far the biggest whiners in sc2 history" despite the fact that this forum is full of such posts about Terrans. Foreigner Elitists in control!
billynasty
Profile Joined October 2014
United States260 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-22 02:51:56
December 22 2018 02:51 GMT
#70
On December 22 2018 02:05 youngjiddle wrote:
I wish people looked more deeply into this announcement.

It is very concerning that Blizzard put off planning of WCS this late. They should have had the circuit planned out with Dreamhack much earlier, or whoever is going to host the Starcraft tournaments this year earlier.

This points to one of two things: Blizzard is trying undercut Dreamhack on a price, or Dreamhack is trying to increase the price. That's why the first event is getting canceled. It also might be Blizzard saying "see, we can run our own events without you, now drop the price".

I mean, or Blizzard just can't get their shit together and can't plan anything.

Or how about a conspiracy theory? The new CEO could be trying to sabotage it. If Starcraft has a bad year this year because of a bad WCS format, the CEO is essentially creating a reason to cut Starcraft next year.

Is it as concerning as last year, when they made 2018's announcement on the very same day?
Making the announcement exactly 1 year from the previous years announcement kinda makes sense, does it not?

Link from the WCS 2018 announcement, on December 19th 2017: https://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/529572-wcs-2018-details-revealed

I wish people looked more deeply into their own posts lol
i dont miss God but i sure miss Santa Claus
Xain0n
Profile Joined November 2018
Italy3963 Posts
December 22 2018 03:16 GMT
#71
On December 22 2018 10:35 Rodya wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 21 2018 17:09 shadow4723 wrote:
I like the new preparation style format of WCS Winter (like GSL). I just hope ping is not an issue and that region locking of the WCS Curcuit doesn't give problems to the pros

China and Mexico are in the same region for the online portion. Of course there will be lag issues. Once again the system is biased in favor of Europeans.


You wanted chinese to play with koreans? Quite sure they lag less in NA than in EU.
I fail to see how this is biased in favor of europeans, considering they were the favourites ; if anything, it's unfair to chinese.
Kaizor
Profile Joined May 2015
Singapore909 Posts
December 22 2018 03:16 GMT
#72
On December 22 2018 11:51 billynasty wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 22 2018 02:05 youngjiddle wrote:
I wish people looked more deeply into this announcement.

It is very concerning that Blizzard put off planning of WCS this late. They should have had the circuit planned out with Dreamhack much earlier, or whoever is going to host the Starcraft tournaments this year earlier.

This points to one of two things: Blizzard is trying undercut Dreamhack on a price, or Dreamhack is trying to increase the price. That's why the first event is getting canceled. It also might be Blizzard saying "see, we can run our own events without you, now drop the price".

I mean, or Blizzard just can't get their shit together and can't plan anything.

Or how about a conspiracy theory? The new CEO could be trying to sabotage it. If Starcraft has a bad year this year because of a bad WCS format, the CEO is essentially creating a reason to cut Starcraft next year.

Is it as concerning as last year, when they made 2018's announcement on the very same day?
Making the announcement exactly 1 year from the previous years announcement kinda makes sense, does it not?

Link from the WCS 2018 announcement, on December 19th 2017: https://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/529572-wcs-2018-details-revealed

I wish people looked more deeply into their own posts lol


I guess you can say that of yourself then. The announcement for last year had details for the entire wcs for 2018. All events and their details.

This year's announcement only announced details for 1 event.

I am not saying there is a conspiracy, but it is obvious that things are going to be different this year and most likely a scale back from last year.
Hit me up if you need chinese translations. soO fighting !!
Vutalisk
Profile Joined August 2016
United States680 Posts
December 22 2018 03:22 GMT
#73
On December 22 2018 02:05 youngjiddle wrote:
I wish people looked more deeply into this announcement.

It is very concerning that Blizzard put off planning of WCS this late. They should have had the circuit planned out with Dreamhack much earlier, or whoever is going to host the Starcraft tournaments this year earlier.

This points to one of two things: Blizzard is trying undercut Dreamhack on a price, or Dreamhack is trying to increase the price. That's why the first event is getting canceled. It also might be Blizzard saying "see, we can run our own events without you, now drop the price".

I mean, or Blizzard just can't get their shit together and can't plan anything.

Or how about a conspiracy theory? The new CEO could be trying to sabotage it. If Starcraft has a bad year this year because of a bad WCS format, the CEO is essentially creating a reason to cut Starcraft next year.

You are looking way too deep into the announcement. Blizzard often announces the structure of WCS in late December like how many WCS events and how many GSL. They tend to allow the more details a bit later later the New Year holiday, This year is a bit different due to the unfortunate event of HGC and other financial problems they may have. They are not gonna host WCS as standalone events because that is very expensive unless they host in their studio in LA.

We all expect a bit of a scale-down in term of finance for this year given they just outright canceled HGC. So if they cut one WCS stop and make it online event and reduce the prize pool, that is very much expected. They may do the same for GSL as well. At least we have another year of WCS to enjoy. Look at what happened to Heroes, we shouldn't take anything for granted.
TheBloodyDwarf
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
Finland7524 Posts
December 22 2018 09:59 GMT
#74
On December 22 2018 10:35 Rodya wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 21 2018 17:09 shadow4723 wrote:
I like the new preparation style format of WCS Winter (like GSL). I just hope ping is not an issue and that region locking of the WCS Curcuit doesn't give problems to the pros

China and Mexico are in the same region for the online portion. Of course there will be lag issues. Once again the system is biased in favor of Europeans.

And I was going to say that they region locked europe out so europeans cannot win most of the prize pool money like they have been

Even the combined NA+others is weaker than EU :D
Fusilero: "I still can't believe he did that, like dude what the fuck there's fandom and then there's what he did like holy shit. I still see it when I close my eyes." <- reaction to the original drunk santa post which later caught on
Xamo
Profile Joined April 2012
Spain886 Posts
December 22 2018 14:55 GMT
#75
Despite the downsizing I really like the GSL-style tournament with some preparation time for each match. The quality of games outside Korea should increase.
My life for Aiur. You got a piece of me, baby. IIIIIIiiiiiii.
Azhrak
Profile Joined January 2011
Finland1198 Posts
December 24 2018 09:43 GMT
#76
WCS 2019 was promised in 2017 already, but we're still missing details. If this will be the last year it would make sense to scale it down a notch before shutting it down. Nevertheless, I'm interested will they keep the 2M total prize pool, 4 circuit stops, GSL vs the World, region lock as it is, and will they keep the offline wcs events with audience.
starcraft2.fi
Dingodile
Profile Joined December 2011
4139 Posts
December 24 2018 11:06 GMT
#77
If this is truly the last year then I need a "new" esport game to follow (tournaments etc) next year. 1v1 and no card games, any idea?
Grubby | ToD | Moon | Lyn | Sky
Musicus
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany23579 Posts
December 24 2018 11:48 GMT
#78
On December 24 2018 20:06 Dingodile wrote:
If this is truly the last year then I need a "new" esport game to follow (tournaments etc) next year. 1v1 and no card games, any idea?

It won't be the last year, but if it is, wc3 reforged should be out already.
Maru and Serral are probably top 5.
sunnyshine
Profile Joined March 2018
Australia63 Posts
December 24 2018 12:18 GMT
#79
On December 24 2018 20:06 Dingodile wrote:
If this is truly the last year then I need a "new" esport game to follow (tournaments etc) next year. 1v1 and no card games, any idea?


Fighting games is a good place to start, no pointless affirmative action.
sOs is love, sOs is life // the only reason I'm in copper is because protoss OP, I would've won GSL if david kim did his job.
Ansibled
Profile Joined November 2014
United Kingdom9872 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-24 12:58:44
December 24 2018 12:50 GMT
#80
On December 24 2018 20:48 Musicus wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2018 20:06 Dingodile wrote:
If this is truly the last year then I need a "new" esport game to follow (tournaments etc) next year. 1v1 and no card games, any idea?

It won't be the last year, but if it is, wc3 reforged should be out already.

I'm curious what kind of reality you would have to imagine for SC2 to be 'dead' but WC3:R 'alive'.
'StarCraft is just a fairy tale told to scare children actually.'
TL+ Member
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
22:30
OSC Elite Rising Star #19
davetesta2
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
NeuroSwarm 168
ProTech108
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 1372
Artosis 464
League of Legends
Doublelift5001
JimRising 456
Super Smash Bros
PPMD42
Other Games
summit1g8796
shahzam633
C9.Mang0394
byalli319
Liquid`Hasu139
UpATreeSC61
JuggernautJason55
Mew2King37
Chillindude34
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV179
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• RyuSc2 39
• Hupsaiya 27
• Kozan
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 39
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2816
Other Games
• imaqtpie1036
• Shiphtur272
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
1h 25m
OSC
14h 25m
Maestros of the Game
15h 25m
Classic vs Maru
Serral vs herO
TBD vs Clem
Replay Cast
1d 1h
CranKy Ducklings
1d 11h
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 16h
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
1d 20h
eOnzErG vs Mihu
Messiah vs XuanXuan
Jaystar vs TerrOr
Dewalt vs Bonyth
eOnzErG vs XuanXuan
Mihu vs TerrOr
Messiah vs Bonyth
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
2 days
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
2 days
Jaystar vs Dewalt
eOnzErG vs TerrOr
XuanXuan vs Bonyth
Mihu vs Dewalt
Messiah vs Jaystar
eOnzErG vs Bonyth
TerrOr vs Dewalt
[ Show More ]
OSC
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL Season 22
2026 GSL S2
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
Acropolis #4 - GSB
SCTL 2026 Spring
WardiTV Spring 2026
Maestros of the Game 2
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Murky Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026

Upcoming

BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #3
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.