The OSC team are opening the borders and will be welcoming all Chinese players under the SEA flag for the purpose of SEA Only tournaments. We are following the lead set by Philosopher in recent SEAcraft Weeklies, where a small group of the Zenith of Origin players have been participating, encouraging their academy members to play in our SEA competitions for mutual practice. Some SEA players have already come forth supporting this move, with calls for #letthemplay. And so we shall trial this change until the end of the year, and readdress then if necessary.
The Chinese server and players are a lot like our own in a lot of ways, isolated, small community, and lacking exposure compared to other regions. We also share a WCS challenger pathway to America. They have some top tier players, Jim, TooDming, XiGua, MacSed, etc, but i think these guys are at least on par with our regions elite, and achieveable scalps for our up and comers. A couple of recent results include iaguz 2-0 Jim in WCS America Premier, and Blysk narrowly losing to TooDming 1-2 in SEAcraft Weekly #20
This includes Masters Cups, and SEA Rising Stars (where elibigle, eg no WCS qualified players.), and while not a requirement, we will encourage our partners to follow suit if they are so inclined. And following Masters Cup rules, If a Chinese player is lucky enough to win two SEA Masters Cups in a row, they must take a break from the next SEA version, same as if it was a KingKong or Petraeus, etc. We think this shall be a mutual benefit to both regions, and might even develop into a friendly rivalry/comradeship Also adding in China still works for Oseanic
We wish our new Chinese friends, and all SEA players best of luck in all remaining tournaments leading up to the big end of year OSC Finals!
*This change also applies to Japan, and other non SEA Asian nations generally excluded, except South Korea and Taiwan, who both have very active scenes of their own.
The Oseanic StarCraft 2 Championship Series (OSC) is the SEA regional championship, which follows a yearly season format, where players earn points for placing in all partnered tournaments. The top 32 players ranked via SEA Power Rankings / OSC Player Leader board at the end of the season are then invited to play in the Grand Finale to determine the yearly champion!
Without these companies contributing to our tournament it's fair to say the prizepool would be far smaller. But it's not just about the $'s. All these companies have a long history of supporting Starcraft 2 and esports in SEA. They care about the scene and our community. So many thanks to them all! If you esports fans, players etc can send them some love and thanks for supporting SC2 + the SEA Championship Series it would be appreciated in return. They all are leaders in their industry, so if it comes down to a choice between brands, pick these guys who support esports!
Silicon Sports are a Melbourne based company, responsible for the succesful Melbourne Barcrafts. They also have a quality SC2 team and academy, plus a dedicated casting team. They also do a lot of work in the DOTA community.
Thermaltake is a well known brand for gaming & DIY in Case, Cooler, and PSU for years. Due to the constant requests for keyboards and mice from gamers and end users, Thermaltake decided to create a series of gaming keyboards, mice, and headsets with the Tt eSPORTS brand. By using Tt eSPORTS, we want to extend our product lines into the gaming industry, and provide more ''personalized gaming'' gears to gamers and enthusiasts worldwide. With years of experience in gaming industry, Tt eSPORTS is committed to bring the most personalized and the highest quality weapons for the most competitive cyber battles.
Even the smallest donations help keep sc2sea running! All donations go towards helping our site run including our monthly server hosting fees and sc2sea sponsored community tournaments we host. Find out more here.