Blizzard Crafts One SCII Championship To Rule Them All
E-sports are complicated - and not just because they involve phrases like "300 actions per minute." Planet Earth, you see, is broken up into these colossal rocks - oft-believed to be kept afloat by a colorful assortment of giant sea turtles - called continents. And within these continents are countries, states, cities, and provinces, each with their own rich cultures and unique perspectives. Which is terrible, because that makes it nearly impossible to answer the most important question of all: Who's best at StarCraft? Happily, Blizzard's proposed a solution.
It's called the Battle.net World Championship, and it's set to be " the culmination of more than 30 eSports events run by Blizzard and tournament organizers" - putting it safely outside the Loneliest Numbers range, occupied by one, two, and their collective tears. So, how does it work? Blizzard's official announcement summarized it as follows:
"The goal of the StarCraft II World Championship Series is to identify a true global champion, as players enter and qualify through open tournaments starting at the national level. The National Championships are designed to allow local heroes to rise to the top and be recognized in their country. The top finishers at each National Championship will earn spots at their continental Finals events, which will be an all-out brawl between neighboring countries to decide who will represent their continent at the Battle.net World Championship."
National qualifiers, meanwhile, will allow intrepid masters of the StarCraft craft to shine from, well, just about anywhere. Described as "the most open opportunity to participate in a global-scale tournament that Blizzard Entertainment has ever put forth," they'll encourage local tournaments to award national spots at organizers' discretion. Nab a spot, and Blizzard will handle travel expenses - possibly in the form of a catapult to superstardom.
Sounds positively wild, honestly. Start dates and prize pools will be announced "soon," but until then, get a feel for the stories these things can spawn here. Now raise those stakes with the entire free world.