2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series

The 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is part of the Battle.net World Championship Series, a series of video game tournaments held by Blizzard Entertainment,[1] the creators of the video game StarCraft II (SC2). Tournaments were held in more than 28 countries to find top StarCraft II competitors. The top-ranked players from each continent were then invited to compete in the Global Finals in Shanghai, China. Korean player PartinG (Lee-Sak Won) emerged victorious in the final match against Creator, with third place going to Rain.

Background

Blizzard Entertainment partnered with Turtle Entertainment, the company behind the Electronic Sports League.[2] The Electronic Sports League helped run national level tournaments for the series in eleven countries: Naples, Italy; Wroclaw, Poland; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Madrid, Spain; Cologne, Germany; London, England; Singapore; Paris, France; Kiev, Ukraine; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[2] In addition, ESL hosted an event for citizens of other European countries which did not have a national level tournament.[2] ESL also helped operate the South American Continental Finals which took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil.[2] Blizzard also partnered with DreamHack for the European Continental Finals and the Nordic Nationals, with MLG for the North American Continental Finals and respective nationals, GOM TV for the South Korean Nationals, NetEase for the Chinese Nationals, the Asian Continental Finals and the Global Finals, the Taiwan eSports League for the Taiwanese nationals, eSports Tournaments NZ for the New Zealand Nationals and the Australian Cyber League for the Australian Nationals and Oceania Finals.

Seeding

The WCS began in April 2012,[2] starting at the local level, with qualifiers held in 28 countries.[1] Players that win a seed at the local level advance to the national level championships.[1] From there, the top seeds are invited to one of several continental championship events, with the winners of those events advancing to the final stage of the series: the WCS Global Finals.[1] The season included more than 30 electronic sports events.[1]

National finals

The United Kingdom national finals were held in London at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on June 30 and July 1, 2012.[3] The top three players from the event were invited to the next stage in the series: the European continental finals.[3] 1000 spectators were estimated to attend the event in person, with others watching it online through live broadcasts hosted by Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner and casting by Nick "Tasteless" Plott and GomTV's Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski.[3]

Continental finals

Large domed building
The 2012 European finals were held in the Ericsson Globe in Sweden.

The 2012 WCS European finals took place in the Ericsson Globe in Sweden on September 15–16.[4]

Global Finals

The WCS Global Finals were held at the Shanghai Expo Mart in Shanghai, China as part of the Battle.net World Championship event.[5] The event included both the StarCraft II WCS Global Finals as well as the World of Warcraft Arena Global Finals.[5] The event sold out, and the coordinators expected over 10,000 attendees.[5]

Korean player Lee-Sak "PartinG" Won took first place in the StarCraft II WCS,[6] with Creator and Rain following for second and third, respectively.[7]

Round of 16   Quarterfinals   Semifinals   Final
                           
 South Korea PartinG 3  
 Canada Scarlett 0      South Korea PartinG 3  
 United States Suppy 3    United States Suppy 2  
 Belarus LoWeLy 1        South Korea PartinG 3  
 Taiwan Sen 3        Taiwan Sen 0  
 South Korea Curious 0      Taiwan Sen 3
 Denmark BabyKnight 1    South Korea HerO 2  
 South Korea HerO 3        South Korea PartinG 4
 United States IdrA 1        South Korea Creator 2
 South Korea Rain 3      South Korea Rain 3  
 Russia TitaN 0    Chile KiLLeR 0  
 Chile KiLLeR 3        South Korea Rain 2   Third Place
 Spain LucifroN 2        South Korea Creator 3  
 Spain VortiX 3      Spain VortiX 2    Taiwan Sen 0
 South Korea Creator 3    South Korea Creator 3      South Korea Rain 3
 United States Illusion 0  

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Hillier, Brenna (Apr 5, 2012). "Battle.net World Championship detailed, 28 countries involved". VG247. Retrieved Dec 26, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Gaudiosi, John (June 21, 2012). "Blizzard Entertainment Expands StarCraft II World Championship Series With Electronic Sports League". Forbes. Retrieved Dec 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Yin-Poole, Wesley (June 25, 2012). "StarCraft 2 World Championship Series UK Nationals hit London". Eurogamer. Retrieved Dec 26, 2012.
  4. ↑ Amini, Tina (Sep 10, 2012). "Look At The Impressive Globe That Will House The World Championship StarCraft II Finals". Kotaku. Retrieved Dec 26, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Nunneley, Stephany (Nov 14, 2012). "StarCraft 2 and WoW Arena Battle.net World Championships takes place this weekend". VG247. Retrieved Dec 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ Smith, Graham (Jan 2013). "Korea dominates StarCraft II: Eastern e-sports stars prove they're still the best at the WCS Global Finals". PC Gamer (UK): 8.
  7. ↑ "2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series Brackets". Battle.net. Blizzard Entertainment. Archived from the original on Dec 26, 2012. Retrieved Dec 26, 2012.

External links