Still celebrating its 20 year anniversary, Blizzard's original esport is getting a brand new tournament. The Korea StarCraft League will be the first time Blizzard has fully owned and operated a StarCraft tournament -- a surreal reality considering StarCraft is the companies oldest and most influential esport. 

So far, the KSL will feature two seasons per year of 1-on-1 matches, naturally taking place in Seoul, Korea. The inaugural season starts this month with a series of online qualifiers. Following that, Season 1 finals will take place in September while Season 2 starts surprisingly soon after in December.

Anyone can compete in the KSL but it all comes down to the offline qualifiers which take place in Seoul. This means any Western players who are serious about their StarCraft skills will have to take the journey to Korea in order to compete.


How Can I watch?

Once the round of 16 begins, all KSL matches will happen live in front of an audience. Still no details on the venue location, but you can catch the stream on Blizzard's  Twitch channel in both Korean and English.

Tournament Schedule and Prize Pools

Season 1

- June 15—June 24 – Registration
- June 28—June 29 – Online Qualifiers
- July 1 – Offline Qualifiers
- July 19—August 31 – Round of 16 through Semifinals
- September 8 – Season 1 Finals
- Prize Pool: KRW 80,000,000 / roughly $75,000 USD

Season 2

- September 9—September 22 – Registration
- September 27—September 28 – Online Qualifiers
- September 30 – Offline Qualifiers
- October 18—December 7 – Round of 16 through Semifinals
- December 15 – Season 2 Finals
- Prize Pool: KRW 80,000,000/ roughly $75,000 USD

Updates to StarCraft: Remastered

In the same announcement, Blizzard has also revealed a revamped ranking system and performance tracking tools for StarCraft: Remastered. Similiar to modern titles, players will now compete in 5 placement matches to earn their initial rank. In addition, players will be able to see their MMR change after every match as they rise (or fall) through the ranking system.

For more information on the KSL, visit the official website here.