With the 2013 World Championship Series in full swing, we’ve been getting a lot of excellent feedback from you, and we’ve decided to align each ladder season with the WCS. We’re going to adjust the start dates for each season the rest of this year to:

2013 Ladder Season 3 – June 10 (start of WCS Season 2)
2013 Ladder Season 4 – August 26 (start of WCS Season 3)
2013 Ladder Season 5 – November 11

Each season will be 11 weeks long.

The dates referenced in-game will be updated during maintenance, soon.

For more on how seasons on the StarCraft II ladder work, check out our StarCraft II Ladder Information FAQ.

Poll: First impressions of the alignment of ladder and WCS seasons?

Approve (345)

87%

Neutral-prove (41)

10%

Disapprove (11)

3%

397 total votes

Your vote: First impressions of the alignment of ladder and WCS seasons?

(Vote): Approve
(Vote): Disapprove
(Vote): Neutral-prove

EDIT: In case Blizzard reads TL:

On May 25 2013 09:54 Dodgin wrote:
The next step is to make the map pools in all WCS regions the same, and have the ladder map pool be the same as that WCS season map pool.

On May 25 2013 12:08 Assirra wrote:
I only would agree with this if the rest follows the GSL/OSL map pool.

Current Map Pools
Akilon Wastes – Ladder, AM, EU, KR
Atlas – KR
Bel’Shir Vestige – Ladder, AM, EU, KR
Cloud Kingdom – AM
Daybreak – AM, EU, KR
Derelict Watcher – Ladder
Klontas Mire – Ladder
Neo Planet S – Ladder, AM, EU
Newkirk Precinct – EU
Red City – KR
Star Station – Ladder, AM, EU, KR
Whirlwind – Ladder, AM, EU, KR
Zerus Prime – Ladder

nkr

Sweden5451 Posts

May 25 2013 00:45 GMT

does the ladder have anything to do with getting into challenger league, or why does it matter to blizzard to have them aligned?

imEnex

Canada500 Posts

May 25 2013 00:46 GMT

Good ideA!!!

Torte de Lini

Germany38463 Posts

May 25 2013 00:47 GMT

Smart move.

Snoodles

401 Posts

May 25 2013 00:47 GMT

On May 25 2013 09:45 nkr wrote:
does the ladder have anything to do with getting into challenger league, or why does it matter to blizzard to have them aligned?

It's to increase fans' emotional attachment to players and the ladders. You'll get the same feeling that you're on the same schedule as your favorite pros.

8mmspikes

United States1704 Posts

May 25 2013 00:51 GMT

I'm a fan

TeslasPigeon

464 Posts

May 25 2013 00:51 GMT

I'd be happy about this if it meant Blizzard would completely change their map pool every season. As it stands now I doubt much will change throughout the year. Stagnant map pool might be good for the players but it is horrible for the viewers (long term) and leads to a stagnant meta game.

wrekkless

Canada87 Posts

May 25 2013 00:52 GMT

I like that they've done it, but if the ladder doesn't have anything to do with WCS then doing this isn't going to drive any competition there. Personally I'm a firm believer in what ShoutCraft was trying to achieve.

Brett

Australia3820 Posts

May 25 2013 00:54 GMT

I really don't see the point of this at the moment, but whatever I guess?

Dodgin

Canada39254 Posts

May 25 2013 00:54 GMT

#10

The next step is to make the map pools in all WCS regions the same, and have the ladder map pool be the same as that WCS season map pool.

igay

Australia1178 Posts

May 25 2013 00:56 GMT

#11

Dam they have stepped up their involvement in the last 6 months espically since hots launched

Laryleprakon

New Zealand9496 Posts

May 25 2013 00:58 GMT

#12

Nice change.

I hope they consider removing/adding new maps mid season tho, waiting 11 weeks for some really bad maps to be removed is along time + adding maps they want to test a bit before the new WCS season should keep the map pool fresh each WCS season.

mechengineer123

Ukraine711 Posts

May 25 2013 01:02 GMT

#13

Neutral-prove I guess, doesn't seem like a noteworthy change

Demonhunter04

1530 Posts

May 25 2013 01:10 GMT

#14

I like this change, brings the fans closer to the players in a way.

Master of DalK

Canada1797 Posts

May 25 2013 01:14 GMT

#15

Cool. Maybe this could lead into having the ladder matter for Challenger League or something.

sM.Zik

Canada2543 Posts

May 25 2013 01:14 GMT

#16

Thats like 5 seasons a year.. too much imo. 4 would be ideal but it's a small detail so it's all good.

Gamegene

United States8308 Posts

May 25 2013 01:17 GMT

#17

meh. really doesn't matter

Garnet

Vietnam9008 Posts

May 25 2013 01:18 GMT

#18

Unified map pool would be great. Maybe one or two additional maps for each region.

Onlinejaguar

Australia2823 Posts

May 25 2013 01:27 GMT

#19

Hopefully they use the same map pools from WCS aswell.

FezTheCaliph

United States492 Posts

May 25 2013 01:30 GMT

#20

The only issue I forsee with this is that the finals for wcs will be held when the ladder is ending so people may have to choose between playing and watching. BUT, this also means that most of the games will be played at the beginning of the season. ALSO, I am looking way too much into this