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¤tpage=5#82TL;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)
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)
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)
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/
- Chinese VODs:
http://matchday.cc/match.php?id=286&rt=2 - Official Website (in Chinese):
http://sc2.marstv.com/
Matchday.cc Gaming Series Clan’s League (MCL)
Season 8 [Ongoing]
Ifeng Electronic Sports Cup (a weekly online tournament)
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:
- Friday Learn to Play Starcraft (in Chinese)
- Official website: http://sc2.163.com/minisite/friday/
- VODs: http://sc2.163.com/minisite/friday/
- Tuesday Let’s Play Starcraft (in Chinese)
- 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
Players:
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Jim
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/MacSed
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/XiGua
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/XluoS
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/XY
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/LoveCD
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/LoveTt
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Top_(Chinese_player)
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Comm
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Infi
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/TooDming
Teams:
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Invictus_Gaming
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Long_Chen
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Zenith_of_Origin
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/AgFox
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Vici_Gaming
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/World_Elite
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.
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¤tpage=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¤tpage=4#71
Blizzard/NetEase Sponsors WCG China
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=428495#1