SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

WCS for the lesser, lesser knowns~
 

It's been a while since my last post, with a complete overhaul in the structure of the SC2 in the announcement of WCS, I think this is a good time to catch up.

Before the WCS announcement climbing the pro-gaming ladder was very straight forward. GSL sits on top of the food chain as the ultimate goal for every SC2er. A tier below that would be MLG, IEM, IPL, Dreamhack, NASL, Homestory Cup. Another level down would be the global online tournaments, Playhem, ZOTACs. Below that would be regional online/offline tournaments, and below that would be Blizzard ladder rankings. Lets call this pre-WCS format.

It was very straight forward for up & coming, up & coming players like myself (yes, 2x up & coming). It was a free world. I could try and compete in MLG/Dreamhack in the open qualifiers anytime if I felt I had to skill to put up a fight and be worth the investment of taking a trip to NA/EU from SEA. The only real per-requisite is a Master 1200 point ranking to have a shot in Code A in South Korea (not 100% sure on the points) which imo is very fair, so they keep quality players within GSL as it is THE tournament everyone is yearning to win.

For someone like myself there weren't really any big decisions to make. It was just a matter of getting my skill level up there and start traveling and competing globally. Now with the new WCS format everything feels a tad different as there are so many restrictions in place.

WCS feels like it just clumped everything up together, and it's no longer as simple as getting our skill level up there and giving it a shot. Geography & finances seems like a very important issue to consider now. Season 1 still has the majority of the NA/EU rounds online, but from all news lately it seems like they are very determined to get as much of it as offline as possible season 2 onwards.

For me personally, my choices are NA & KR. I live in SEA, and frequently fly home to TW. KR is a 2-3hr plane ride max from TW. The whole non-residency requirement region lock thing makes me feel that my best choice is to choose KR. If NA becomes offline like it is in KR now, I would have to consider the cost of flying a 18hr+ flight to NA to play in the open qualifiers against the same league of players in KR. Whereas I could do the same by trying out for Code A/B in KR investing significantly less and traveling significantly less.

Many would argue that the KR route is insane, and shouldn't be considered cause I would have zero chance. I won't disagree there, but I do feel that to improve its best to play against the best of the best. Lose or win isn't the issue. I want the experience. I'm hunting for progress & improvement.

It feels kind of odd that no tournaments really matter anymore except for WCS. NA open qualifiers signups are in 2 days, and it feels like Blizzard hasn't released all info on WCS. In the latest Blizzard FAQ, it says that players are given 1 chance to change regions between Season 1 & Season 2. Total Biscuit releases a statement that he has sources that firmly say that is false, and no region switches will be allowed. Looking at the Blizzard FAQ it also states that participating in the open qualifiers mean you are locked into that region. I'd very much like to participate in WCS Season 1 NA open qualifiers, I'm willing to pay the $18.75 entry fee (now free) purely for the experience. But if participating means I'm locked into NA, then this becomes a true head scratch-er.

I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. Right now, it seems my best plan is to sit out Season 1 completely, get my KR accounts up to KR per-requisites in points, and fly down to KR to tryout for Season 2 or Season 3.

I find it kind of funny that I am no where near decent competitive level, but I already have to plan way way ahead in my route in eSports. When life throws curve balls at you, there's nothing to do but try your best to catch it.

The things we do to chase a dream ^-^~


Map-reading dream chaser,
Reere.