These days, StarCraft 2 tournaments have seen a slight drop in popularity, but there are still developments being made. For more than a decade, StarCraft 2 has been at the forefront of the esports industry, boasting some hugely valuable tournaments. As we move into 2023, there’s something of a stacked schedule for StarCraft 2, featuring multi-million-dollar events. Let’s break down the 2023 schedule for the most notable StarCraft 2 tournaments.
ESL Pro Tour – The Highest Level
Following the conclusion of the most exciting event of the year, IEM Katowice 2023, the upcoming structure for the next season of StarCraft 2 competitive has been revealed!
Specifically, we’re referring to the ESL Pro Tour. For those unaware, the ESL Pro Tour has been the home of Tier 1 SC2 Tournaments for the past few years, working with other event organizers in multiple regions, and featuring the best StarCraft 2 players.
Considering the success enjoyed this season, ESL is ramping things up for the coming season, taking over the full funding of the series of events, and implementing some major changes. For example, DreamHack Masters will now be renamed to ESL StarCraft II Masters, and DreamHack Winter SC2 will now be named ESL StarCraft II Masters Winter.
Firstly, the season will feature weekly ESL Open Cups, two online ESL StarCraft II Masters Regionals with live finals and the EPT Championship.
StarCraft 2 Tournaments – ESL SCII Masters Regionals
Beyond the weekly ESL Open Cups, the ESL StarCraft II Masters events take place in four regional leagues as follows:
- Americas – North America and Latin America
- Asia – China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Oceania, Rest of Asia
- European
- Korea (operated by GSL)
Indeed, merging the smaller regions has been done to improve the level of competitive StarCraft 2 overall, exposing weaker regions to stronger regions.
At each of the two Masters Regionals, the top players in the world will have two opportunities to make it to a live final:
- ESL StarCraft II Masters Summer – $200,000 – Online Regionals (2-21st May), Finals in Jonpoking, Sweden (16-18th June)
- ESL StarCraft II Masters Winter – $200,000 – Online Regionals (31st October-19th November), Finals in Atlanta, USA (15-17th December)
Players will want to make it to the Finals to earn more ESL Pro Tour Points and to have a shot at the prize pools!
Furthermore, although unannounced, the ESL Pro Tour looks to make format changes to the Regionals and offline Finals to be announced later in the season.
EPT StarCraft II Championship – World Championship
Following an intense season of competition, where the open ecosystem implies that literally, anyone can compete, everything draws to a final post-season event.
Titled the EPT StarCraft II Championship, this is one of the most highly anticipated esports tournaments, featuring only the top players in the entire world.
Typically hosted in Katowice, Poland, this event features the largest prize pool of the year – $500,000 – and will officially crown a new season World Champion! Earning such a title involves battling it out as one of the top thirty-six SC2 players in the world, across multiple stages of competition. This past month, 2022’s World Champion, ‘Oliveira’ was crowned the best SC2 player on the global level.
Considering the stakes and excitement surrounding this event, it’s simply the best StarCraft betting opportunity all year long, worth marking your calendar for.
GSL 2023 – Korea as the Top Region
Moving on, we need to place emphasis on the GSL – the organizer running South Korean SC2 Tournaments. Running alongside the ESL Pro Tour, the passion for the esport in this region merits such an approach. Here’s the schedule of GSL, Global StarCraft II League, events for 2023:
- GSL Season 1 2023: April-May
- GSL Season 2 2023: June-July
- GSL Season 3 2023: September-October
Out of all the regions for the ESL Pro Tour, Korea is without a doubt worth considering for StarCraft II betting as it’s the top regional StarCraft 2 tournament. Regardless, ESL Pro Tour points are on the line and this is the particular format for this region.
StarCraft 2 Tournaments – Third-Party Events
Besides the main events in the ESL Pro Tour, there are a number of third-party events which, while they may not be best for esports betting, are great for some fun and bring a different element, such as team-play to StarCraft II.
Here are some examples of events which will likely take place this year:
- HomeStory Cup
- TeamLiquid StarLeague
- World Team League
Overall, it seems like StarCraft 2 esports is looking to grow this coming season, with multiple changes such as renaming DreamHack Winter SC2 to ESL StarCraft II Masters Winter, merging regions and adjusting formats.
Correspondingly, opportunities for StarCraft betting are only improving – everything starts as soon as April!
