BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch.
StarCraft II is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful StarCraft video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance among the various fictional races of StarCraft.
Global StarCraft II League (GSL) is a StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void tournament hosted by afreecaTV and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. This event is broadcast up to 2 nights a week. GOMeXp had hosted it until the last season of 2015. There is also an English language stream available. The tournament features two leagues, Code S (major) and Code A (minor). Code S and Code A are mainly cast by Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski and Nicolas "Tasteless" Plott. Formerly broadcast on Wednesdays and Saturdays on TwitchTV, the programme is now broadcast on Mondays and Thursdays on YouTube.
Lim Jae-Duk (Korean: 임재덕), known by the pseudonym of NesTea, is one of the most successful players of the real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. He has won $246,963 in tournament winnings over the course of his StarCraft 2 career, and has won three GOMTV Global Starcraft II League (GSL) tournaments, the second-most of any player, just behind teammate Jung "Mvp" Jong Hyun who has four titles.
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, 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 Won "PartinG" Lee-Sak emerged victorious in the final match against Jang "Creator" Hyun Woo, with third place going to Jung "Rain" Yoon Jong.
Daniel Ray Stemkoski, better known by his nickname Artosis, is an American professional esports commentator and Twitch streamer. Stemkoski moved to Seoul, South Korea to commentate competitive Starcraft games in English. Together with Nick "Tasteless" Plott, he provides commentary for AfreecaTV Global StarCraft II League and AfreecaTV StarCraft League games.
The StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) was a StarCraft II professional tournament series organized and sanctioned by Blizzard Entertainment that ran from 2012 to 2019. For all but its first year of operation, it was the highest tier of professional StarCraft II competition. Its longest-running iteration featured two regions, World Championship Series Korea and World Championship Series Circuit, with World Championship Series Global events featuring players from both regions. Grand finals were held annually at BlizzCon in Anaheim, California, except for the first year of competition, when the finals were held in Shanghai, China. WCS Circuit events were streamed on Twitch while WCS Korea events were available on Twitch, YouTube, and afreecaTV.
Won Lee-sak, (Korean: 원이삭) better known by his in-game name PartinG, is a South Korean StarCraft II Protoss player. He was the winner of the 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series. He has played for yoe Flash Wolves, SK Telecom T1, and Team Player 1.
Gregory "Greg" Fields, better known by his in-game name IdrA is a former professional StarCraft II and Brood War player who predominantly played as Terran in Brood War, but switched to Zerg for StarCraft II. He is currently sponsored by Tt eSports. After a retirement to focus on school, he has returned to former team Evil Geniuses for Heroes of the Storm.
The StarCraft II StarLeague, also known as SSL or S2SL in short, is a large StarCraft II tournament hosted by SPOTV GAMES that is played offline in South Korea. This tournament is held in parallel with the Global StarCraft II League (GSL) as qualifiers for the StarCraft World Championship Series (WCS) held yearly at BlizzCon.
Kim Yoo-jin (Korean: 김유진), better known by his gaming handle sOs, is a Korean professional StarCraft II player. He is the first two-time StarCraft II World Championship Series winner, claiming the title in 2013 and 2015. Kim spent most of his career playing for the Jin Air Green Wings team, from 2013–2020. He is a Protoss player. He announced his retirement from professional gaming in 2021.
The KeSPA Cup is an annual esports event organized by the Korean eSports Association. As of the 2021 edition, the tournament is organized for League of Legends. Until 2016, the tournament was also organized for StarCraft II.
Professional StarCraft II competition features professional gamers competing in Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game StarCraft II. Professional play began following the game's initial release in 2010, as the game was the long-awaited sequel to StarCraft, considered one of the first esports and the foundation of South Korea's interest and success in competitive gaming. Between 2016 and 2019, competition was centered around the Global StarCraft II League in Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit everywhere else, with all Blizzard-sanctioned events being under the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) banner. Since 2020, Blizzard changed the format of WCS by entering into a three-year partnership with esports organizers ESL and DreamHack.
Joona Sotala, better known by his gaming handle Serral, is a Finnish professional Starcraft II player using the race Zerg. In 2018, Serral became the first non-Korean player to win the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS). He won every major non-Korean tournament in 2018, the 2018 Global Starcraft II League (GSL) vs. the World event and, ultimately, the 2018 WCS Global Finals. In 2022, he won the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, and with the updated championship format he won the world championship of StarCraft II for the second time.
The 2018 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2018 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the top esports tournament circuit for StarCraft II. Featuring the top eight players from each WCS region, World Championship Series Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit, the Global Finals received greater coverage than most prior events when Finnish professional player Joona "Serral" Sotala became the first non-Korean world champion in the StarCraft series.
The 2017 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2017 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the highest level of esports competition for StarCraft II. The tournament series' Global Finals were won by South Korean professional player Lee "Rogue" Byung Ryul.
The 2016 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2016 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the highest level of esports competition for StarCraft II. The tournament series' Global Finals were won by South Korean professional player Byun "ByuN" Hyun Woo.
The 2014 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2014 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the highest level of esports competition for StarCraft II. The tournament series' Global Finals were won by South Korean professional player Lee "Life" Seung Hyun.
The 2013 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2013 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the highest level of esports competition for StarCraft II. The tournament series' Global Finals were won by South Korean professional player Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin.
The 2019 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2019 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the top esports tournament circuit for StarCraft II. The tournament series' Global Finals were won by South Korean professional player Park "Dark" Ryung Woo.
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