StarCraft II officially unveiled the opening week of its upcoming World Championship Series Global Finals. This is the ninth installment of the WCS Global Finals and Blizzard is all set to introduce a special event during the first round of competition. Beginning October 24 and until October 27, 16 of the world's best StarCraft II players are set to fight for glory in Seoul, the birthplace of professional StarCraft.
According to Blizzard, anyone has the chance to attend the Round of 16 of the WCS Global Finals which is to be held at the AfreecaTV FreecUP studio located in Seoul. This is the first time this is being done. While entry is free, it is going to be on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, radio headsets are going to be provided for English speakers to hear live commentary.
Blizzard also revealed that the event's production is managed by the same team that ran the Global StarCraft II League. With the most experienced StarCraft production team in the world, expect some excellent coverage. The broadcast is also being levelled up with a full roster of English-speaking commentators and analysts.
One big change to the Round of 16 is that matches are not going to be best-of-five, instead of best-of-three. The format remains the same with the classic double-elimination groups of four players with the only difference being that players now need to win three matches instead of two. It not only heightens the competition, but also offers fans more StarCraft action.
Below are the schedule for the opening week:
- Day 1: October 24 (11:00 PM EST)
- Group A - Match 1
- Group A - Match 2
- Group A - Winners
- Group A - Elimination
- Group A - Decider
- Day 2: October 25 (11:00 PM EST)
- Group B - Match 1
- Group B - Match 2
- Group B - Winners
- Group B - Elimination
- Group B - Decider
- Day 3: October 26 (11:00 PM EST)
- Group C - Match 1
- Group C - Match 2
- Group C - Winners
- Group C - Elimination
- Group C - Decider
- Day 4: October 27 (11:00 PM EST)
- Group D - Match 1
- Group D - Match 2
- Group D - Winners
- Group D - Elimination
- Group D - Decider
