After ending the first part with the Global StarCraft II League and the GSL/MLG exchange program, we continue our journey through the first year of StarCraft II eSports competition. Now we fly over the pond and review the North American organizations and tournaments.

Major League Gaming—Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger

What is MLG, you ask? It's not a hallucination, but the real deal, that's for sure. Major League Gaming (MLG) is an organization based in the USA that runs the MLG Pro Circuit, a series of tournaments played across the country throughout the year.

Now in its second season with StarCraft II on board, the series has seven concluded tournaments and continues to set the bar higher and higher. The tour went from Raleigh to Washington, D.C. to Dallas in 2010, came back to Dallas in 2011 stronger than ever, gave us a show to remember in Columbus, and followed that up with another rock-solid performance in Anaheim. MLG even overcame a natural disaster with its most recent event, MLG Raleigh. The prize pool has increased too, with almost $75,000 USD already awarded to the winners and more to come: $120,000 USD will be up for grabs in the season finale.

MLG has been a source of memorable moments and games. Just look at the past winners to get an idea of how skilful you need to be to compete in this tournament: Chris 'HuK' Loranger, “the Grack” himself Greg 'IdrA' Fields, the Gorilla Terran Jonathan 'Jinro' Walsh, Johan 'NaNiwa' Lucchesi, Moon 'MMA' Sung Won, Jeong ‘IMmvp’ Jong Hyeon and Choi ‘Bomber’ Ji Sung—what a lineup!

Let’s run through some of the reasons why we loved MLG this year:

The core casters: Sean 'Day[9]' Plott and Marcus 'djWHEAT' Graham; always entertaining!

The epic runs: Johan 'NaNiwa' Lucchesi on his road to victory in MLG Dallas 2011, (it was okay Johan, it sure was) or Moon 'MMA' Sung Won and his solid showing at the star-packed MLG Columbus.

The games: So many amazing finals! Ever think you’d see someone drop 40 nukes in one match? It happened! Then there were all the shockers and nail-biters: MMA vs IdrA anyone? HuK vs IdrA? MC vs IdrA? Hey, do we detect a pattern here?

The rivalries: Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson and Bryce 'Machine' Bates (luck of the draw, huh), Jang 'MC' Min Chul and Greg 'IdrA' Fields, as well as Chris 'HuK' Loranger and Greg 'IdrA' Fields (always fun to follow).

The memes: So, will the cat make it to the other side? How are the eagles doing? We still check up on them from time to time. They can fly now—they grow so fast!

The audience: Always showing support with cool banners, great reactions and growing in numbers from event to event. The cheers of fans can't be misconstrued; the mothership rush is on its way.

North American Star League—The Ambitious Newcomer

Speaking of North America, there’s the North American Star League, featuring a $400,000 USD prize pool over three seasons. Have you seen the application videos for season 1? There are some true gems in there.

The first season was played over a period of three months and ended with live finals in Ontario, California. It was casted by some of the biggest names in StarCraft II eSports: Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson, Andre 'Gretorp' Hengchua, Sean 'Day[9]' Plott, Nick 'Tasteless' Plott, and Dan 'Artosis' Stemkoski. The final event was an impressive display of skill, peaking with one of the most (many would argue the best) intense and fascinating finals in eSports history. People tuned in from everywhere, including bars across America that streamed the games for their customers, much like watching your favourite football team in the local pub. “BarCraft,” as it’s known, was created so that people could meet up and enjoy watching the StarCraft II action together, and you can find more information in this article. The second season is coming!

TeamLiquid StarLeague—The Legacy Continues

The weekends in March and May of 2011 were busy, but we were having lots of fun, of course, because we were watching TeamLiquid StarLeague 3. TSL3 was epic. And we don't just say that—we mean it.

It’s safe to say that this online event, with 32 of the best players in the world fighting for a share of the $34,000 USD prize pool, was a huge success featuring long and entertaining matches, and lots of them. Packed with action, the tense games between Jang 'MC' Min Chul and Marcus 'ThorZaIN' Eklöf were the popular topic of conversations in the weeks following the event. The Grand Final, between ThorZaIN and Johan 'NaNiwa' Lucchesi, streamed live from New York, brought even more suspense and excitement. If you haven't watched those games, you have some catching up to do. You can find all the VODs on TeamLiquid.net.

And more...

So there you have it: a comprehensive look at this first year of StarCraft II eSports, but there’s so much more. Countless online tournaments have been running since the game launched. The ZOTAC Cup, CraftCup, Competo Cup, and 4PL alone have attracted thousands of players from around the globe every week. Many other tournaments are out there, and some of them are just starting to gain speed, with new ones appearing every week. Assembly, which takes place in Helsinki, Finland, received general acclaim for the first event earlier this year and reached another milestone with the recently concluded Assembly Summer 2011. The IGN Pro League (IPL) had a very successful test run with IPL1, and a second season follow-up featuring 32 top players and a $50,000 USD prize pool was also a success. Don’t miss the third season—$100,000 USD prize money is up for grabs and it’s starting soon!

Our own regional tournaments kicked off with the 2011 European Battle.net Invitational and we were blown away by the highly skilled participants and one of the best crowds to ever come to an eSports event—thank you, Poland! With the recently concluded 2011 Latin American Battle.net Invitational, 2011 North American Battle.net Invitational, 2011 China Battle.net Invitational, and 2011 Taiwan Battle.net Invitational, we are slowly approaching the final event at BlizzCon 2011. These competitors are vying for more than just fame and glory: the total combined prize pool for these tournaments is going to be over $300,000 USD.

What a year of competition this has been. We want to thank all the pro-gamers, tournament organizers, sponsors, and eSports fans for tuning in to all these amazing events and making StarCraft II competition such a huge success.