Tips for novice bettors for successful bets on Starcraft:
- Starcraft is not a team discipline. When analyzing an event, the bettor should take into account the tone, health, and experience of a separate player;
- The favorite is determined by a thorough analysis of current performances and statistics. The game tone of the player at the distance of the player promises success. At the same time, it is important not to discard the sensation factor – often after a series of victories, an experienced player relaxes and loses to the underdog;
- The tournament rank affects the players. Some gamers cannot withstand the pressure and emotional intensity, which is reflected in the performance. The larger the tournament, the harder it is for inexperienced and low-rated players.
All StarCraft games
It’s been almost five years since the final expansion for StarCraft II, which saw the end of the campaign’s main storyline, but esports hasn’t even bothered to slow down. Below, we wrap up our decade-long retrospective of StarCraft II esports with a list of the best pro matches in Legacy of the Void.
2016 Nov
Scarlett vs. Stats:
- HomeStory Cup XIV Round of 32 Match 1 (November 17, 2016);
- Match on the map “Station” Dasan”;
- Commentators: Harstem, Snute and Tod.
Honorable Mention 2016
TaeJa’s Yoon Youngseo vs. Zest’s Chu Sunguk:
- GSL 2016 Season 2 Round of 16 Match 3 (Aug 10, 2016);
- Match on the map “New Gettysburg”;
- Commentators: Valdes and Wolf.
2017 Nov
INnoVation vs Dark:
- GSL 2017 Season 3 Semi-Finals Match 3 (September 8, 2017);
- Match on the map “Acolyte”;
- Commentators: Artosis and Tasteless.
Honorable Mention 2017
Lee Sinhyun (INnoVation) vs. Jung Taeyeon (TY):
- GSL vs the World 2017 Finals Match 2 (6 Aug 2017);
- Match on the map “Deep Reef”;
- Commentators: iNcontroL and Rotterdam.
2018 Nov
Classic vs Reynor:
- GSL 2018 Season 3 Round of 32 Match 3 (July 4, 2018);
- Match on the Lost and Found map;
- Announcers: Artosis and Tasteless.
2018 Honorable Mention
Yoona Sotala (Serral) vs. Kim Daeup (Stats):
- GSL vs the World 2018 Finals Match 5 (5 Aug 2018);
- Match on the card “16 bit”;
- Commentators: Rotterdam and Tasteless.
Dec 2019
Maru vs. Stats:
- GSL Super Tournament 2019 # 1 Round of 16 Match 4 (April 18, 2019);
- Match on the map “Year zero”;
- Announcers: Artosis and Tasteless.
Honorable Mention for 2019
Yoona Sotala (Serral) vs. Oh Yeonsoo (soO):
- IEM Katowice 2019 Quarterfinals Match 3 (2 March 2019).
- Match on the map “Year zero”.
- Commentators: Rotterdam and Tod.
Is StarCraft Legit?
StarCraft is a totally legit e-sport discipline that is supported by top companies and the gaming community. Starcraft 2 is a professional type of eSports that bookmakers accept bets on. Among the main bets on StartCraft 2, we will single out:
- match outcome: W1/W2 (standard bet on the player’s or team’s victory) ;
- map outcome: determining the strongest on a separate map. Starcraft matches are played in bo1, bo3, bo5, and so on. In the first case, one victory on the map is enough, and to enter bo3, the player or team must win on two maps out of three. It all depends on the format of the battle, which the tournament organizers announced in advance. The format of the match determines the further appearance of bets on total, handicap, even, or odd cards;
- total: the outcome determines the number of maps that will be played in the match. Total higher (2.5) means that teams must play three maps to enter the bet. Each side must win once for this to be possible;
- handicap: the essence of this outcome is simple – to predict the gap in the score. For example, to win a bet on a handicap (-1.5), the team must get a victory with a difference of two or more maps;
- accurate Score: Predicting the exact outcome of the StarCraft game is much easier than it is in football or tennis. The format of the match determines the number of maps that the player must take to win. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the clear favorite beats the opponent with a score of 2:0 (if the duel is in bo3 format) ;
- long-term bets: this type should include bets on the finalists of the event and the winner of the tournament.
Best StarCraft players
Let’s find out some top players that reached the highest position in all possible rankings.
TOP PRO Players all time
Let’s highlight some of the best players of the last few years:
- Joona “Serral” Sotala (Finland) – the reigning world champion, five-time winner of the WCS Circuit stages;
- Alex “Neeb” Sunderhaft (USA) – four-time WCS Circuit champion;
- Riccardo “Reynor” Romiti (Italy) – European champion in WCS Winter;
- Sasha “Scarlett” Khostin (Canada) – champion of the “Olympic” stage Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang;
- Nikita “SKillous” Gurevich (Russia) – winner of WCS Spring and one of the most promising Russian players.
Player rankings
Rank | Nick | Real Name | Race | Years | Active |
1 | Rouge | Lee Byeong Yeol | Zerg | 2012 | Present |
2 | Maru | Cho Seong-ju | Terran | 2010 | Present |
3 | Mvp | Jung Jong-hyun | Terran | 2010 | 2014 |
4 | Flash | Lee Young-ho | Terran | 2011 | 2015 |
5 | INnoVation | Lee Shin-hyung | Terran | 2012 | Present |
6 | Serral | Joona Sotala | Zerg | 2011 | Present |
7 | Reynor | Riccardo Romiti | Zerg | 2013 | Present |
8 | Life | Lee Seung-hyun | Zerg | 2011 | 2016 |
9 | Trap | Cho Sung-ho | Protoss | 2012 | Present |
10 | Clerm | Clément Desplanches | Terran | 2013 | Present |
Best StarCraft player ever
Lee “Rogue” Yeol is the most paid StarCraft player ever. He earned more than $1 million of prize money. From 2017 to 2021, Rogue claimed eight top Premier victories, two biggest Major victories, and more than fifty minor wins on other tournaments.
StarCraft esports history
StarCraft 2 is a popular online sci-fi strategy game. The franchise was launched back in 2010 and is considered a central discipline in esports.
Blizzard Entertainment diversified the Wings of Liberty base platform from which the game began with two installments of Heart of the Swarm (2013) and Legacy of the Void (2015). Each part continues and complements the storyline of the previous one and creates an exciting trilogy for fans of fantastic adventures.
The plot is based on the confrontation of three races – Terrans, Protoss, and Zerg. The player’s goal is to extract useful resources, build and develop his own army, which will subsequently destroy the opponent and his forces. A popular custom mode is a 1v1 duel.
Competent gameplay, detailed graphics, and unpredictability of events made StarCraft 2 a professional eSports discipline with a multi-million army of fans.
StarCraft tournament prize money
Now top esports players participate in StarCraft tournaments with large prize pools:
- GOMTV Global Starcraft II League is an annual international championship held in South Korea. Often the prize fund of the tournament does not fall below 200 thousand US dollars;
- Intel Extreme Masters is a major March event organized every year by the reputable ESL company;
- The North American Star League. The tournament takes place in the USA, and the size of the prizes reaches $100,000;
- DreamHack is a Swedish stage for 64 players sponsored by AMD. The tournament takes place at different times of the year, and its prize fund is 60 thousand US dollars.
The World Championship, sponsored by Blizzard’s strategy developer, the World Championship Series, deserves special attention. The event was born in 2012 and now takes place in three regions every year. During the competition, players collect points, which are then considered when distributing quotas for trips to other tournaments.
Since 2020, the World Championship Series has been replaced by the ESL Pro Tour. The main event organizer is the Electronic Sports League, and Blizzard Entertainment is responsible for funding. World Championship status now belongs to the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice tournament.
Leave a Reply