Now in its sixth year, the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) Global Finals kicked off at BlizzCon 2018 with a bang, with Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin taking out Cho "Maru" Seong Ju in a rapid 3-0. It took just 21 minutes and 50 seconds, give or take, to end a story 11 months in the making—an ultimate showdown between the best of the East and West, Maru and Serral.
That’s the thing about StarCraft II. There are so many intricacies that consistency is never a given; the smallest advantages and disadvantages can turn the tide on any storyline, no matter how long the build-up. That’s what makes it one of the best esports of all time—not just to play, but to watch.
Here at BlizzCon, I hit the audience floor to ask notable community members what it is that makes StarCraft II one of the best spectator sports.
“StarCraft is the best game to watch because the best people play it, you know? It's the most demanding, gruelling, competitive 1v1 game out there, and it really brings out the best in those that play it.”—Kwame “Tempo” Mensah (Twitter – Twitch)
“I think StarCraft has the most enthusiastic and passionate fans in all the world. I think people can appreciate the amount of mechanical and technical skill that goes into playing. You have to think really quickly, with army engagements and micro and build orders and how you encounter problems within the game in a PvP environment. Watching that live and seeing how people react to situations... every game is unique and really intriguing to watch.”—Olivia "Livibee" Seeto (Twitter – Twitch)
“It’s the best game to watch because, if you play it, it’s amazing to see people do things you can’t do. I just watched Rogue defend a push that I would never live through in my life. It’s insane to see things where you think, 'Oh, they can’t win from there,' and it’s amazing to see how fast they react and can do so many things at once—the first-person point of view is always amazing.”—Noah “mLty” Peterson (Twitter)
“I think it’s because Blizzard changes the game up every now and again. They’ll have patches that make things interesting, and they are good about changing the map pool, which is a great way to change things up and make the game fresh and exciting. This year and last year specifically, we’ve had crazy storylines, with players like Neeb and Serral doing amazingly well, which makes things so interesting and brings so much hype.”—Dan "ViBE" Scherlong (Twitter – Twitch)
With one day of competition remaining in the WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon, only four players remain—sOs, Stats, Rogue, and Serral. Tune in tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. PDT to see why watching StarCraft is the perfect way to spend your Saturday.
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Here you will find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: The War Within, Cataclysm Classic, Season of Discovery, WoW Classic Era, and Hardcore.
