• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 17:18
CEST 23:18
KST 06:18
  • 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
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall15HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed14Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll8Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension3Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7
StarCraft 2
General
RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll Who will win EWC 2025? The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster
Tourneys
FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) WardiTV Mondays
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome
Brood War
General
Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL [ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion Help: rep cant save
Tourneys
Cosmonarchy Pro Showmatches CSL Xiamen International Invitational [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative Summer Games Done Quick 2025!
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Men Take Risks, Women Win Ga…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 754 users

EPT 2022/23 Circuit Announced by ESL & DreamHack

Forum Index > SC2 General
45 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 Next All

EPT 2022/23 Circuit Announced by ESL & DreamHack

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byESL
January 7th, 2022 16:08 GMT

EPT 2022/23 Circuit Announced by ESL & DH

by Olli

ESL have today announced their plans for the third and, as it stands, final season of its three-year EPT circuit. Significant changes to the circuit include the removal of one Masters season and the Last Chance tournament. In their place, TakeTV and Team Liquid's tournaments — HomeStory Cup and the Team Liquid Starleague — will be more closely integrated into the circuit and supported financially. The Season Finals events will also see a change in format, with DreamHack's classic Open Bracket returning to replace the 16-player format. The same 16 players will now instead be seeding into the third group stage.

The third season of the ESL Pro Tour will therefore feature these five events:
  • DreamHack SC2 Masters: Summer 2022 — $338,000
    Qualifiers: May 3 - 8
    Regionals: May 18 - Jun 5
    DreamHack Valencia: Jul 1 - 3

  • HomeStory Cup XXIII
    July 21-24

  • TeamLiquid StarLeague 9 — (E/N: full announcement to follow soon!)
    July 29 - September 4

  • DreamHack SC2 Masters: Winter 2022 — $338,000
    Qualifiers: Sep 13 - 18
    Regionals: Sep 28 - Oct 16
    DreamHack Atlanta: Nov 18-20

  • IEM Katowice 2023 — $500,000


Current plans are for Season Finals events and IEM Katowice to be held offline and with an audience, but this is naturally subject to health guidelines and regulations.


Partner Events Integrated for the "Longevity" of StarCraft II



The biggest change to the 2021/22 circuit sees HomeStory Cup and TSL officially integrated into the EPT circuit, rather than being normal third-party events. ESL have announced that these tournaments would therefore receive a boost in EPT Points and financial support from ESL and Blizzard of up to $100,000 in total. The specific prize pools of these three tournaments remain unspecified as of yet.

The inclusion of TSL and HomeStory Cup into the official EPT circuit does not prohibit third parties from potentially adding further EPT events to the schedule, as NeXT or ASUS ROG did in 2021/22, for example. But these tournaments would not be supported financially and would award comparatively fewer EPT points.

EPT Extension Talks with Blizzard are Underway



ESL's announcement is particularly interesting on partner events, as it declares their inclusion "an important step for the longevity of competitive StarCraft II" — 2022/23 is, after all, the final season in ESL and DreamHack's EPT contract with Blizzard as things stand. Asked about this, Matt "Heyoka" Weber, lead product manager of the EPT for StarCraft II, confirmed that this was part of the consideration behind boosting the status of TakeTV and Team Liquid's tournaments:

"This is the third year of our announced partnership with Blizzard, so we're looking ahead to 'how can we work together to make sure players can compete'. And the way we see it is to work closer with people already doing it, instead of just kind of having our thing and their thing."


Asked about the likelihood of Blizzard continuing to sponsor the EPT circuit after the expiration of the current 3-year contract, Heyoka confirmed that talks with Blizzard were underway and that he was optimistic.




The full announcement can be found on the ESL Pro Tour website. They also released this YouTube video of Heyoka explaining their changes to the 2022/23 season.





Credits and acknowledgements

Written by: Olli
Photos: ESL

Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
Moonerz
Profile Joined March 2014
United States444 Posts
January 07 2022 16:18 GMT
#2
Awesome that last paragraph sounds promising!
ForJumy
Profile Joined June 2019
Germany3 Posts
January 07 2022 16:24 GMT
#3
LETS GO
tigera6
Profile Joined March 2021
3360 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 16:38:31
January 07 2022 16:37 GMT
#4
I like this, especially how the Season Final format is being changed to let more top players into the competition.
Musicus
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany23576 Posts
January 07 2022 17:00 GMT
#5
Asked about the likelihood of Blizzard continuing to sponsor the EPT circuit after the expiration of the current 3-year contract, Heyoka confirmed that talks with Blizzard were underway and that he was optimistic.


This has me excited!
Maru and Serral are probably top 5.
buzz_bender
Profile Joined August 2019
445 Posts
January 07 2022 17:12 GMT
#6
On January 08 2022 01:37 tigera6 wrote:
I like this, especially how the Season Final format is being changed to let more top players into the competition.


How has it changed? I can't find any info on the website or in the post above.
JJH777
Profile Joined January 2011
United States4403 Posts
January 07 2022 17:21 GMT
#7
Open bracket season finals is amazing news. When I saw they were decreasing the amount of them I was disappointed but if that is the price to have them be open bracket then it is totally worth it. I hope they boost the season finals prize pool a little bit though because it will be hard for mid tier KR players who don't qualify from GSL performance to justify flying out for an open bracket event with the current prize pool and structure.
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 17:42:16
January 07 2022 17:41 GMT
#8
Nice, hopefully we can secure something for even more sc2 past next year!

Although, I noticed that they didn't say anything about regional ESL tournament (NA, EU, China, ect...), someone know if those will keep happening with the open bracket season final?
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6914 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 17:53:39
January 07 2022 17:52 GMT
#9
On January 08 2022 02:41 Nakajin wrote:
Nice, hopefully we can secure something for even more sc2 past next year!

Although, I noticed that they didn't say anything about regional ESL tournament (NA, EU, China, ect...), someone know if those will keep happening with the open bracket season final?


You mean weekly? They also didn't say they were cancelled, so I'm assuming they are going strong :D

EDIT: Oh you mean with season finals and stuff? That what this whole posts was about lol.
Regionals with season finals offline
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 18:01:18
January 07 2022 18:00 GMT
#10
On January 08 2022 02:52 Harris1st wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 08 2022 02:41 Nakajin wrote:
Nice, hopefully we can secure something for even more sc2 past next year!

Although, I noticed that they didn't say anything about regional ESL tournament (NA, EU, China, ect...), someone know if those will keep happening with the open bracket season final?


You mean weekly? They also didn't say they were cancelled, so I'm assuming they are going strong :D

EDIT: Oh you mean with season finals and stuff? That what this whole posts was about lol.
Regionals with season finals offline



Nah but I mean they say that season final will go back to the Dreamhack open bracket format, but not if there will still be the regional season (that used to feed into the season final). Hypothetically they could abandoned it and just have open bracket season final.

I assume if they don't mention it, it's still on, but just to be sure.
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Kalera
Profile Joined January 2018
United States338 Posts
January 07 2022 18:14 GMT
#11
The initial post mentions regionals. I imagine they will at least provide advanced seeding into the finals.
Olli
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Austria24417 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 18:27:56
January 07 2022 18:27 GMT
#12
On January 08 2022 03:14 Kalera wrote:
The initial post mentions regionals. I imagine they will at least provide advanced seeding into the finals.


Regionals are still happening, the 16 qualified players will now be seeded into the third group stage of an open bracket tournament instead of making up the entire Season Finals event. I've edited the post to include that bit now.
Administrator"Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly."
Nathanias
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States290 Posts
January 07 2022 19:11 GMT
#13
Glad to see there is hope for future support from Blizzard. Hopefully we can get a better cadence of map updates this year, with a mild finger cross for any sort of tiny patch at all(even just bugfixes would be nice at this point).
CommentatorNever give up, Never surrender
geokilla
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada8230 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 19:30:53
January 07 2022 19:30 GMT
#14
No tournaments after Katowice to May? That's crazy.

And why is it DH Summer when it ends in beginning of July? There's no DH Fall or Spring? Such a disappointment to see compared to League of Legends and CS:GO which has way more events.
Husyelt
Profile Blog Joined May 2020
United States830 Posts
January 07 2022 19:38 GMT
#15
Praise be Apollo and the ESL team.
You're getting cynical and that won't do I'd throw the rose tint back on the exploded view
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 21:04:36
January 07 2022 19:47 GMT
#16
On January 08 2022 04:30 geokilla wrote:
No tournaments after Katowice to May? That's crazy.

And why is it DH Summer when it ends in beginning of July? There's no DH Fall or Spring? Such a disappointment to see compared to League of Legends and CS:GO which has way more events.


I mean, SC2 also made 0$ in years, at some point we gotta stop comparing us to esports that left us in the dust almost a decade ago. I'm for one I'm hype for one more year or SC2!

And the GSL + other online events will probably run before the season final.
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Balnazza
Profile Joined January 2018
Germany1146 Posts
January 07 2022 21:38 GMT
#17
On January 08 2022 04:30 geokilla wrote:
No tournaments after Katowice to May? That's crazy.

And why is it DH Summer when it ends in beginning of July? There's no DH Fall or Spring? Such a disappointment to see compared to League of Legends and CS:GO which has way more events.


Weird. Almost as if LoL and CS:GO are two of the biggest esports in the world while SC2 is really small amd cam actually be glad that it still gets some money from Blizzard to finance these kind of events...
"Wenn die Zauberin runter geht, dann macht sie die Beine breit" - Khaldor, trying to cast WC3 German-only
Ziggy
Profile Blog Joined June 2013
South Korea2105 Posts
January 07 2022 21:49 GMT
#18
any changes to how the Korean circuit feeds into the 2 open bracket tours / katowice 2023 then? what with them being down 1 'season finals'
WriterDefeating a sandwich only makes it tastier. @imjustziggy
Die4Ever
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17671 Posts
Last Edited: 2022-01-07 22:11:47
January 07 2022 22:11 GMT
#19
Ugh no Dallas, I hate how they make this announcement after the Dreamhack ticket sales, now I've got worthless tickets for Dreamhack Dallas

And I gotta cancel the hotel
"Expert" mods4ever.com
vyzion
Profile Joined August 2016
308 Posts
January 07 2022 22:16 GMT
#20
I love it all! I've been wondering how to encourage longevity as well and this sounds like a great first step. Outside of a circuit, sponsors, and 3rd party events...getting new blood into the game is probably the most important step. Difficult problem to solve.

Thinking out loud - if I was a billionaire - I'd offer huge cash prizes to young pros from other games to try to place or win tournaments.

I'm not a billionaire and have no money, so just supporting the scene in the little ways I can and bringing good energy are all I can do for now.
1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 2h 42m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ZombieGrub213
UpATreeSC 142
Nathanias 112
JuggernautJason70
CosmosSc2 37
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 2479
Larva 855
TY 232
Mini 173
scan(afreeca) 35
[sc1f]eonzerg 2
League of Legends
Dendi1859
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K971
flusha256
oskar217
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu492
Other Games
tarik_tv5326
FrodaN2472
ToD288
C9.Mang0196
RotterdaM135
Skadoodle114
ViBE110
Sick59
Trikslyr53
Livibee43
PPMD41
shahzam18
Liquid`Ken1
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2800
StarCraft 2
angryscii 40
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH247
• davetesta6
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki8
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21978
League of Legends
• TFBlade881
Other Games
• imaqtpie1966
• Scarra808
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
2h 42m
OSC
2h 42m
Epic.LAN
14h 42m
Big Brain Bouts
18h 42m
sebesdes vs SpeCial
Harstem vs YoungYakov
GgMaChine vs uThermal
CranKy Ducklings
1d 12h
Epic.LAN
1d 14h
CSO Contender
1d 19h
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
1d 20h
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
Online Event
2 days
[ Show More ]
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
2 days
Bonyth vs Zhanhun
Dewalt vs Mihu
Hawk vs Sziky
Sziky vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs Hawk
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs Bonyth
Esports World Cup
4 days
ByuN vs Astrea
Lambo vs HeRoMaRinE
Clem vs TBD
Solar vs Zoun
SHIN vs Reynor
Maru vs TriGGeR
herO vs Lancer
Cure vs ShoWTimE
Esports World Cup
5 days
Esports World Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

JPL Season 2
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

BSL 2v2 Season 3
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
Championship of Russia 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters

Upcoming

CSL Xiamen Invitational
CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
K-Championship
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.