We are excited to officially announce NorCal StarFest I, an offline StarCraft II tournament at Guildhouse in San Jose, CA on March 11, 2023.
We welcome players of all levels and spectators to join. The event will also be streamed at https://twitch.tv/guildhouse.
Register for the event
Join the NorCal StarCraft Discord
- 11am: Doors open
- 11:45am: Check-in ends
- 12pm—5:15pm: 1v1 ladder and 4v4 Monobattles RO8 and RO4
- 5:30pm—10:00pm: 1v1 RO16 Playoff Bracket
- 7:00pm-7:30pm: 4v4 Monobattles Grand Finals match
Registration costs $25, which can be paid in advance online or in person ($10 goes to the 1v1 prize pool, and $15 goes towards venue fees). If this fee is cost prohibitive for you, please let us know. We are willing to accept sliding scale fees on a case-by-case basis.
Spectators, of course, are welcome to join for free. We encourage all attendees to buy food and drinks at Guildhouse, who have been a great partner and are an invaluable resource for the local esports community. (They didn't pay us to say this, they are genuinely just cool folks).
Sponsors and prize pool are TBA. We anticipate a prize pool of at least $500, not including contributions from entry fees.
If you're interested in sponsoring the event or otherwise supporting the prize pool, please contact us at norcalstarfest at gmail dot com or via our Discord server.
1v1 Main Tournament
The first stage of our tournament will utilize the ladder format supported by start.gg (formerly smash.gg). This format essentially creates a matchmaking ladder where players search for games and are assigned a rank based on their performance. After a set amount of time, the ladder will lock and the highest rated players will advance into a single elimination playoff bracket.
We may adjust our format depending on how many players register. The final format and rule set will be announced at least one week prior to the tournament. We're happy to incorporate feedback and will be using the Discord server to keep players up-to-date as we make final rule decisions.
4v4 Monobattles Tournament
We will host a fun-spirited teams tournament during the event. We're intentionally keeping registration for this closed until the day of the tournament so that folks will have the opportunity to find teammates in person. Feel free to go ahead and register for the 1v1 event and you can add on the 4v4 event later if you'd like to join!
Guildhouse is an esports bar and LAN center in Downtown San Jose. It's a big, beautiful space with plenty of space for lounging and gaming.
The venue has food and drinks available all day (libations available for those 21+). Click here for a menu.
Parking options
- I-280 Lot (691S S Second St) - Free on weekends, 0.4 mile walk to venue
- Convention Center Public Garage (150 W. San Carlos St) - $30/day, 0.1 mile walk to venue
- Street parking around venue (limited availability) - $2/hr, 2 hour max
- View more options on ParkSJ.org
The center has powerful gaming PCs with 144hz monitors. We recommend folks bring their own headsets, but the venue has some available for rent.
You may bring your own keyboard and/or mouse, but you won't be allowed to install any software the day of the tournament. Guildhouse has most common keyboard and mouse software installed already—click here for a list.
No outside computers will be permitted. Guildhouse will set aside a block of computers for the tournament that are strictly to be used for tournament play only. Guildhouse will have other computers available for use at standard venue rates.
Rules
Our full ruleset will be posted at least one week prior to the start of the tournament. There shouldn't be any real surprises. We'll be playing on ladder maps, on the current patch, with the standard veto process, etc.