Starcraft II Dev Tracker

One of the hypest events of the year approaches! This week, WCS fans from across the globe can tune into StarCraft II’s all-star event, GSL vs. The World, to watch the biggest names duke it out in fierce competition! 2019’s top performers in both the WCS Circuit and Korea’s Global StarCraft II League, along with an incredible roster of players voted in by fans, will battle each other in an individual 16-player tournament, as well as a unique team-based competition, to see who will come out on top.

Beginning August 15, GSL vs. The World will kick off a dazzling showcase of individual competition, with 16 players competing in a knockout bracket. Last year’s competition did not disappoint, with eventual BlizzCon finalists Serral and Stats meeting in one of the most exciting matches of the year. The Finnish Zerg clinching a close 4-3 series over the Korean Protoss that forecasted his dominance at BlizzCon - will we see another Global Finals preview at this year’s event? 

After an action-packed WCS Challenger Season 2, we’re ready to jump into the next chapter of North American and European StarCraft II esports! WCS Challenger Season 3 is just around the corner - here’s what you need to know:

In the North America region:

• Two players will qualify based on their performance in 2019 WCS Challenger Season 2
• Two players will qualify based on their performance in Cheeseadelphia X
• Four players will qualify from their rank in the Season 3 Ladder Race
• Eight players will qualify from the online open qualifiers

In the European region...

Players, fans and commentators from around the world will meet for Assembly Summer presented by ASUS ROG, live from Helsinki, Finland, with competition kicking off this Thursday. This is the first WCS Circuit tournament without a region lock in place! 

Players will compete for USD $25,000 in prizing with up to 2,800 WCS Circuit points up for grabs. Players who are not eligible to compete in the WCS Circuit will not earn points for their placements, but they still will be allowed to compete based on eligibility as determined by Assembly Summer.

Here’s what you need to know!

Broadcast Times

The GSL vs. The World tournament returns on August 15, featuring an all-star lineup of StarCraft II talent. Once again, USD $100,000 is on the line and the best part is you get to participate by voting in the competitors! The “GSL” and “The World” teams will consist of eight players each, with proven 2019 champions and top WCS Point-earners rounding out the field of candidates eligible for selection.

Head to TeamLiquid for a full rundown of the eligible players,...

The best players from the WCS Circuit assembled in Ukraine for WCS Summer, played out over three days at the StarLadder studio in Kyiv. After three days of competition, we were set up for a zerg-versus-zerg Grand Final match between the 2018 Global WCS Champion Joona "Serral" Sotala and 17-year-old Italian Riccardo "Reynor" Romiti.

It was an intense best of seven that you have to see to believe. In the end, it was Reynor that snatched the throne from the king (for now!)

If you're looking to up your own game and learn from WCS Summer, we have resources available to you. Every replay from the tournament is now available for download--check out your favorite players' builds, how they execute them, and get their results!

Experimental versions of DeepMind’s StarCraft II agent, AlphaStar, will soon play a small number of games on the competitive ladder in Europe as part of ongoing research into AI.

If you would like the chance to help DeepMind with its research by matching against AlphaStar, you can opt in by clicking the “opt-in” button on the in-game popup window. You can alter your opt-in selection at any time by using the “DeepMind opt-in” button on the 1v1 Versus menu.

For scientific test purposes, DeepMind will be benchmarking AlphaStar’s performance by playing anonymously during a series of blind trial matches. This means the StarCraft community will not know which matches AlphaStar is playing, to help ensure that all games are played under the same conditions. AlphaStar plays with built-in restrictions that the DeepMind team has defined in consultation with pro players. A win or a loss against AlphaStar will affect your MMR as normal.

The...

Players, fans and commentators from around the word will meet again in Eastern Europe for WCS Summer, live from Kyiv, with competition kicking off this Friday. Here’s what you need to know!

Broadcast Times

Streams

As always, English-language coverage of WCS Spring will be available on our ...

Rediscover the classic real-time strategy gameplay of StarCraft with all-new, adorable cartoon graphics by Carbot Animations! Whether you’re a veteran of the Koprulu sector or visiting for the first time, StarCraft: Cartooned is a great way to experience StarCraft!

StarCraft: Cartooned re-imagines every unit, structure, map, menu, and mission with the beloved art style of Carbot Animations. Add a whole new look to the epic single pl...

• Made improvements to in-game network protocol which will result in smoother multiplayer games.
• Chat actions sent through the SC2API can now activate Trigger and Galaxy events.

• Tweaked names and descriptions of various Co-op Missions attack waves.
• Guardians spawned by Amon will now be more consistent with their stats in the original StarCraft.
• Added the Massive attribute to Amon’s Guardians.
• Cradle of Death reworked:
  • Main objective timer starts with 30 additional seconds on all difficulties.
  • Main objective timer gains 30 additional seconds after completing an objective on all difficulties.
  • Reduced the build time of trucks from 20 seconds to 10 seconds.
  • Trucks are no lon...

The 2019 WCS Challenger Season 3 Open Qualifiers are almost here, and we are now taking applications for Community Casters looking to cover the event.

As a reminder, please be sure to fill out your application in full and include a summary of your StarCraft casting experience in your email!

How to Apply

Send your application to SC2admin@blizzard.com by July 18th. Ensure that the subject line reads “Community Caster WCS “, and that the following information is included

• Full name
• Discord handle
• Email address
• Broadcast language
• Broadcast channel
• Summary of your casting experience
• Link to a clip of your casting

Other Requirements

• Cas...