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On November 27 2025 13:25 doktordingerdonger wrote:Show nested quote +On November 27 2025 06:11 Balnazza wrote:On November 26 2025 07:20 doktordingerdonger wrote:On November 26 2025 03:56 Balnazza wrote:
Congratulations on assembling the unholy trifecta of the guy who things liking BW is a personality, the guy who thinks playing for 5 bucks is the best kind of Esports scene and the guy who can randomly go on long, non-computable rants.
That was quite the feat - and so fast!
To answer your question:
You cannot predict what will happen in '26, because '25 was already a complete shitshow that, under any other TO, should and could have never happened like this. EWC announcing SC2 like three months after their own second deadline was just insanity no one else would have gotten away with.
In a "sensible world", EWC announces all games for '26 until February at the latest, because it is highly likely the games that will be featured at EWC are also the games featured at their new Nations World Cup later that year. If they still want to feature a true RTS, SC2 is still the best choice by far for both events, though AoE 2 is creeping up, with much more backing from Microsoft. But who knows - maybe Blizzard/Microsoft will set something in motion in preparation for Blizzcon '26, which is pure speculation of course.
As for other LANs: Everything is affected by EWC. ESL will not do anything without EWC, so no Dreamhacks. And smaller LANs might only be viable with the additional motivation of offering a qualification spot. Without that, SC2 might devolve into the current AoE 2 scene, where basically everything is Online, except the tournaments hosted by GamerLegion and whatever fun RedBull is having with the Wololo-events. 5 bucks lmao. I think there is no use if I just show the link as you would just say that these are fake, or that all BW streamers somehow all stream daily for 5 bucks games. I guess its no use to look at the liquidpedia proleague link which EXACTLY shows how much has been donated each time it happens, or the many jinjin5000 threads. I guess you also just say that these are fake. All those korean BW streamers only stream to an audience of close to 0 and just stream BW every day to earn 5 bucks. You are completely right bro. Also those afreeca numbers are all fake and the donations are also fake. Everything in BW is fake. Soop/Afreeca, a public company you can buy stocks from just faked the entire scene and its donation money, which they get a sizeable chunk from. Basically its all a scam. Of course they only do that to trigger a bunch of foreign Tl.net posters. Also every ASL, apart from the prize money, they have to pay blizzard 90k usd in fees. I guess its all to show that the platform is healthy, because we all know its all fake. You have been right all along! I love how that triggered you so much, even though that particular part of the trinity wasn't describing you at all. Btw, the guy it actually meant recognized it and took the joke. Y'know, like someone whos personality isn't defined by liking Brood War  You are right though: People should just watch AoE 2 or WC3. AoE 2 is just a super-fun community with crazy events (I will die on the hill that Red Bull Wololo V was the best Esports-event of all time) and WC3 is just the best game ever made in general. Glad we agree on that, welcome home, fellow WC3-fan :3 On November 26 2025 19:20 Harris1st wrote:
I don't expect Starcraft to be present with an actual tournament at Blizzcon. At most we get like a invite 4 player exhibition.
We'll likely have 1-2 HomestoryCups, Stara Zagora and RSL as Offline tournaments. Maybe the odd LAN like the Canada tournament that happened a few weeks back.
I don't expect anything more from Saudis. Last year was already the last nail I mean...SC2 will be 100% present at BlizzCon, because of that Classic Cup thingy. Will it be an "actual tournament"? Probably not...but who knows. Either way, that would be in almost exactly one year, so if that was the only thing to look forward to, that would be really depressing. Dude you are the one who whenever I post you go with a flurry about all my personality is to shit on sc2. What is your personality then?
Your definition of "flurry" is exceedingly odd my friend.
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The GSL patreon is still raking in money btw
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looks like Tasteless/RSL sold 25 subscriptions @ $100/month. That is great to see.
so that is: $2,500/month
https://www.patreon.com/ReviveSC2
with all this money I hope Tasteless can buy himself a car.
This is what you get for $100/month
Everything from Siege Tank plus Immortal ($100/month) Benefits – Limited to 500:
Immortal Discord flair
Patrons in Immortal Tier will be given an extra vote (2 total) for each community vote
Platinum patrons and up will have their name physically represented in the Tasteless Studio (details to be confirmed) that will periodically be shown on camera
Exclusive Immortal Tier poster with unique annual artwork delivered to you, signed by the broadcast team (Tasteless, Gemini, State, Sturgeon)
Entry into prize raffles or giveaways that are exclusive to Immortal Tier or HIGHER
what I would do is have the RSL Cup be something like the NHL Stanley Cup and have all 500 Immortal Tier peoples' names engraved on the RSL Cup. The thing should weigh about 10 KGs and the winner can hoist it over his head during an epic celebration.
nuttin cooler than watching a guy with half his teeth in an epic celebration!
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All of the EWC titles for 2026 are revealed, except for one:
https://x.com/EWC_EN/status/2001686076029874225
So yay, progress, they get their shit together faster this time! Still no SC2 though.
I know I'm biased, but I would definetly say that a RTS would fill the last spot nicely, it is after all one of the grand-daddy genres of Esports. Though on the other hand, same is true for ArenaShooters...buuuuuut I think we can all agree that the RTS-genre is much more alive than Quake and Unreal Tournament.
If they will go for the "RTSo is besto"-approach, I would say SC2 or AoE 2 are the best bets. Considering ESL is massively involved, SC2 then seems to be the more logical pick.
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Don't get my hopes up... not again
EDIT: Okay because I'm a stupid believer I actually listed all games from 2025 and all announced games from 2026 and this is the difference:
2025: R Racing, Mobile Legends Womens, Starcraft 2
2026: Fortnite
This means there is no RTS and no (sim) Racing game and no exclusive womens game yet.
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MLBB Women would have been announced together with MLBB, right? (also, sidenote: The fuck is MLBB even?)
And CS2 Female doesn't seem very logical, seeing how ESL just closed down their Impact-Ecosystem because it wasn't sustainable.
So...yeah, SC2 plx.
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https://esportsworldcup.com/en/news/ewc-2026-returning-titles-announcement
Here’s the EWC 2026 lineup (alphabetical), with 3 more titles to be announced:
Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, Counter-Strike 2, Crossfire, Dota 2, EA Sports FC 26, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG BATTLEGROUNDS, PUBG Mobile, Rocket League, TEKKEN 8, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, and VALORANT.
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Didn't think it would happen. Still sad though now thats official. Goodbye hopium
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United States33565 Posts
On January 20 2026 00:02 Harris1st wrote:Didn't think it would happen. Still sad though now thats official. Goodbye hopium
Will be interested to see how the scene 'organically' restructures now with the lack of disproportionate outside money. Personally, I expect something larger than the current War3 scene, but not as big as the post-KeSPA/pre-streaming boom BW scene (that's not saying much since that encompasses a really broad range of outcomes).
Loss of fans, players, and content creators is inevitable, and so is some degree of accompanying eulogizing/commiserating. Still, I think it's important to keep the vibes in a reasonable place, instead of letting it spiral into an endless vortex of deadgame posting. People are going to process the same information and come to different conclusions regarding their fandom, and I think those who choose to stick it out in the post-Blizz/ESL/EWC scene would appreciate it if they didn't have to deal with negativity from those who aren't going to be involved 
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On January 20 2026 00:54 Waxangel wrote:Show nested quote +On January 20 2026 00:02 Harris1st wrote:Didn't think it would happen. Still sad though now thats official. Goodbye hopium Will be interested to see how the scene 'organically' restructures now with the lack of disproportionate outside money. Personally, I expect something larger than the current War3 scene, but not as big as the post-KeSPA/pre-streaming boom BW scene.
that heavily depends on which sc2 players continue to play after S-tier tournaments are gone. sc2 has already lost a ton of star power, and I do not believe that sc2 will be able to retain what little star power it has left.
the all-time GOATs of 3/4 races are still competing in w3 (Happy, Moon, Lyn). human lost Sky and TH000 to retirement, but you still have Forti going toe-to-toe with Happy in very closely-tied series, so every race is well-represented at the top level.
the health of the sc2 scene also depends on streaming and viewership, which is in an absolutely dismal state.
w3's twitch viewership dwarfed sc2's twitch viewership during every month of 2025 except July, when EWC was live. this is mainly because of Grubby's streamer invitational, and all the content that he did with the onlyfangs personalities. even if you remove Grubby's stream from the picture, the twitch viewership numbers between w3 and sc2 remain pretty similar for 2025. surprisingly, 2024 saw a higher peak viewership for w3 compared to sc2 - even during the ECW month. I guess because RARALAND and the Chinese All-Star league were both going on during August.
this is all in spite of the fact that w3 has no presence at ECW / gamers8
this also says nothing of w3's viewership in China. TeD's stream seems to attract a ton of engagement on douyu - and it's where most of the chinese / kr pros stream their games. nobody is streaming sc2 on soop. as I'm writing this, sc2 has 8 viewers on soop, bw has over 10k.
bw > wc3 >>>>>>> sc2 very far behind
edit: hopefully I am not interpreted as doomposting or deadgame posting just for the sake of it. this is simply my own grim reality check as a long-time fan. I wish sc2 was doing well, but it is not. I will treasure the many good memories!
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United States33565 Posts
On January 20 2026 02:06 SHODAN wrote:Show nested quote +On January 20 2026 00:54 Waxangel wrote:On January 20 2026 00:02 Harris1st wrote:Didn't think it would happen. Still sad though now thats official. Goodbye hopium Will be interested to see how the scene 'organically' restructures now with the lack of disproportionate outside money. Personally, I expect something larger than the current War3 scene, but not as big as the post-KeSPA/pre-streaming boom BW scene. that heavily depends on which sc2 players continue to play after S-tier tournaments are gone. sc2 has already lost a ton of star power, and I do not believe that sc2 will be able to retain what little star power it has left. the all-time GOATs of 3/4 races are still competing in w3 (Happy, Moon, Lyn). human lost Sky and TH000 to retirement, but you still have Forti going toe-to-toe with Happy in very closely-tied series, so every race is well-represented at the top level. the health of the sc2 scene also depends on streaming and viewership, which is in an absolutely dismal state. w3's twitch viewership dwarfed sc2's twitch viewership during every month of 2025 except July, when EWC was live. this is mainly because of Grubby's streamer invitational, and all the content that he did with the onlyfangs personalities. even if you remove Grubby's stream from the picture, the twitch viewership numbers between w3 and sc2 remain pretty similar for 2025. surprisingly, 2024 saw a higher peak viewership for w3 compared to sc2 - even during the ECW month. I guess because RARALAND and the Chinese All-Star league were both going on during August. this is all in spite of the fact that w3 has no presence at ECW / gamers8 this also says nothing of w3's viewership in China. TeD's stream seems to attract a ton of engagement on douyu - and it's where most of the chinese / kr pros stream their games. nobody is streaming sc2 on soop. as I'm writing this, sc2 has 8 viewers on soop, bw has over 10k. bw > wc3 >>>>>>> sc2 very far behind edit: hopefully I am not interpreted as doomposting or deadgame posting just for the sake of it. this is simply my own grim reality check as a long-time fan. I wish sc2 was doing well, but it is not. I will treasure the many good memories!
Obviously post-Afreeca boom BW isn't a realistic outcome, but I think an active semi-pro European scene is realistic. I'll take your word for it on Twitch numbers for War3, but a very important thing to consider is how much better the SC2 scene has been at putting together small scale, grassroots offline events. Streaming numbers are an important currency to any esport, but so is this kind of organizational ability and fan interest.
Unfortunately, I do have to agree that Korea will probably be the biggest casualty given the game's status domestically.
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On January 20 2026 00:54 Waxangel wrote:Show nested quote +On January 20 2026 00:02 Harris1st wrote:Didn't think it would happen. Still sad though now thats official. Goodbye hopium Will be interested to see how the scene 'organically' restructures now with the lack of disproportionate outside money. Personally, I expect something larger than the current War3 scene, but not as big as the post-KeSPA/pre-streaming boom BW scene (that's not saying much since that encompasses a really broad range of outcomes). Loss of fans, players, and content creators is inevitable, and so is some degree of accompanying eulogizing/commiserating. Still, I think it's important to keep the vibes in a reasonable place, instead of letting it spiral into an endless vortex of deadgame posting. People are going to process the same information and come to different conclusions regarding their fandom, and I think those who choose to stick it out in the post-Blizz/ESL/EWC scene would appreciate it if they didn't have to deal with negativity from those who aren't going to be involved
Honestly the constant gaslighting over the years has I think driven out all the non-diehards at this point. There's already been a lot of players lost so I don't think we have too much more to lose. The end of SC2 esports has been a slow process taking place for a decade which has spread out the pain.
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On January 20 2026 10:56 LaughNgamezYT wrote:Show nested quote +On January 20 2026 00:54 Waxangel wrote:On January 20 2026 00:02 Harris1st wrote:Didn't think it would happen. Still sad though now thats official. Goodbye hopium Will be interested to see how the scene 'organically' restructures now with the lack of disproportionate outside money. Personally, I expect something larger than the current War3 scene, but not as big as the post-KeSPA/pre-streaming boom BW scene (that's not saying much since that encompasses a really broad range of outcomes). Loss of fans, players, and content creators is inevitable, and so is some degree of accompanying eulogizing/commiserating. Still, I think it's important to keep the vibes in a reasonable place, instead of letting it spiral into an endless vortex of deadgame posting. People are going to process the same information and come to different conclusions regarding their fandom, and I think those who choose to stick it out in the post-Blizz/ESL/EWC scene would appreciate it if they didn't have to deal with negativity from those who aren't going to be involved Honestly the constant gaslighting over the years has I think driven out all the non-diehards at this point. There's already been a lot of players lost so I don't think we have too much more to lose. The end of SC2 esports has been a slow process taking place for a decade which has spread out the pain.
True
The SC2 lifespan has taken heavy hits over the years.
The KESPA shutdown
The Blizzard/ Blizzcon/ IEM shutdown
The EWC / Gamers 8 shutdown
With every major point the viewership and probably the players was halfed.
Me personnally, I don't need that big Uber event 500k+ $.
I would be happy with a tournament circuit 25-30k quarterly with qualifiers, reports and previews and power ranks and I'd be happy
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EPT![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/NV6E9Sk.png)
