Season 3 will end soon, which means we’re getting ready to spin up new maps for Season 4. For the next StarCraft II Versus season, we’re removing Acid Plant, Dreamcatcher, Lost and Found, and Fracture. Below you will find the new 1v1 maps we’re adding, as well as the new team maps.

1v1

On this abandoned wing of the Purifier starship, you find yourself in close quarters with your enemy. Thanks to the watchtowers, gold bases, and a hidden path to the main bases, there is plenty to fight for from start to finish.

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This year, StarCraft celebrated its 20th anniversary. If it were a person, it would be in college, or out working a job, trying to find its feet—it would be a time of life in which big change is nigh inevitable.

Here at BlizzCon 2018, in front of a standing-room only crowd that needed to be capped by venue security, StarCraft went through a transition: for the first time in its history, a non-Korean won a global final event. Joona "Serral" Sotala, the soft-spoken, trilby-wearing Finnish Zerg, won the WCS Global Finals.

The most engaging plotlines are those with twists. How sure we all were at the beginning of BlizzCon—how perfect!—how the stars had aligned for the perfect match between Serral and Terran player Cho "Maru" Seong Ju. Both dominated their respective circuits throughout 2018, winning every event they participated in, setting the stage...

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Before we look to the future, we’d like to take a quick look back at StarCraft II in 2018:

• Scarlett became the champion at the Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang that led into the 2018 Winter Olympics.
• We celebrated StarCraft’s ...

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Playstyle

Zeratul’s gameplay will revolve heavily around the Prophetic Vision ability, which allows the player to discover three Xel’Naga Artifact Fragments on the map. Players are encouraged to seek out these Artifact Fragments as they will improve Zeratul in a variety of ways:

• Zeratul, his units, calldowns, defensive structures, and even Probes will gain weapon, armor, and shield upgrades with each Artifact Fragment.
• Zeratul has no traditional researchable abilities. Instead, Artifact Fragments he finds will grant his units Artifact Enhancements, which are either new abilities or improvements to existing abilities.
• Zeratul has a potential of four top-bar abilities, but only one is unlocked at the start of the game. Players unlock new top-bar abilities with each Artifact Fragment they find.
• The Legendary Legion calldowns improve with each Artifact Fragment found.
• Zeratul himself gains bonuses.

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The winners of this year's pumpkin-carving contest have been chosen -- and they're monstrously spectacular. We'd like to thank everyone who participated this year, and we can't wait to see your mad scientist skills in action again next time around. Check out all of the creepy, incredible, and creative winning pumpkins:

Mummified Raptor Mount - "Tomb Stalker"

Raine Pye - Kemptville, ON. Canada

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StarCraft® might seem like a whiskey and cigars universe, but terrans have carted cans of Pabsch and Zerg beer with them to the most unpredictable corners of Koprulu. It’s only fitting that we bring their pastime home to Earth.

At BlizzCon on November 2-3, 2018, we’ll be serving up four (4) different con-exclusive StarCraft 20^th anniversary beers with our friends at Bottle Logic: one for each classic StarCraft race, and a special commemorative anniversary ale.

To celebrate 20 years of StarCraft, these stellar beverages—Haze of Adun Hazy Pale Ale, Nydus Nectar Tart Ale, and Stimpack Stout—are available to sip at stations around the ...

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Fans of Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft II have the chance to earn in-game loot simply by tuning in to Twitch for championship esports tournaments during BlizzCon Opening Week and BlizzCon.

Guaranteed Drops

Guaranteed Drops for four hours of viewing either Heroes of the Storm or StarCraft II:

• Fans who watch Heroes of the Storm or StarCraft II for a total of four hours during BlizzCon Opening Week from Oct. 25–28 and/or BlizzCon on Nov. 2–3 will receive one Rare Loot Chest in Heroes of the Storm and the Alarak Portrait in StarCraft II.

Guaranteed Drops for eight and 12 hours of viewing Heroes of the Storm:

• Fans who watch eight hours of the HGC Finals at BlizzCon Opening Week and/or BlizzCon also will receive a Cheery Vikings Portrait in Heroes of the Storm.
• Tuning in for 12 hou...

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The 2018 WCS Global Finals starts this Friday, Oct. 26 at BlizzCon Opening Week, with three days of group-stage competition before moving on to BlizzCon proper. Here’s everything you need to know so that you don’t miss a minute of the action.

WCS Explained

Dates, Times, and Groups

WCS Global Finals Group Stage Day 1: Oct. 26, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. PDT

• Group A: Maru vs. Lambo, TY vs. Neeb
• Group B: Zest vs. HeRoMaRinE, sOs vs. Serral

WCS Global Finals Group Stage Day 2: Oct. 27, 9 a.m–3 p.m. PDT

• Group C: Stats vs. Has, Dark vs. ShoWTimE
• Group D: Classic vs. Nerchio, Rogue vs. SpeCial

WCS Global Finals Group Stage Day 3: Oct. 28, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. PDT

WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon Day 1: Nov. 2, noon–8:15 p.m. PDT

• Quarterfinals: Maru vs. sOs, SpeCial vs. Stats, Rogue vs. TY, Dark vs. Serral
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Hey everyone,

Thanks for testing out the most recent balance changes, and for your continued helpful feedback. After reading over the discussions, we’d like to make a few more changes to the testing matchmaking queue.

Terran

• Cyclone
  • Attack-moving Cyclones will stop at 7 range instead of 5 range when Locked on to an enemy target.

Previously, when an attack-moving Cyclone would Lock On to an enemy target, the Cyclone would continue to move toward its target until it was 5 range away. This was due to its weapon having 5 range but the Lock On ability having 7 range. As a result, Cyclones would put themselves in danger against 6-range opponents such as Immortals and Ravagers. After this change, the Cyclone will now behave like other units—stopping at maximum effective range when given an attack-move order.

• Medivac
  • "High Capacity Fuel Tanks" upgrade name changed t...

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