The 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is part of the

Battle.net World Championship Series The Battle.net World Championship Series (BWCS) was the shared branding for video game tournaments held by Blizzard Entertainment for their games ''StarCraft II'' (SC2) and ''World of Warcraft'' (WoW) in 2012. The StarCraft II event series, the Sta ...

, a series of video game tournaments held by

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...

, the creators of the video game ''

StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...

'' (SC2). Tournaments were held in more than 28 countries to find top ''

'' competitors. The top-ranked players from each continent were then invited to compete in the Global Finals in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Korean player

Won "PartinG" Lee-Sak Won Lee-sak, () better known by his in-game name PartinG, is a South Korean ''StarCraft II'' Protoss player. He was the winner of the 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series. He has played for yoe Flash Wolves, SK Telecom T1, and Team Playe ...

emerged victorious in the final match against Jang "Creator" Hyun Woo, with third place going to Jung "Rain" Yoon Jong.

Background

Blizzard Entertainment partnered with

Turtle Entertainment Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

, the company behind the

Electronic Sports League The ESL Gaming GmbH, doing business as ESL (formerly known as Electronic Sports League), is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, ...

(ESL). The Electronic Sports League helped run national level tournaments for the series in eleven countries:

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

; Wroclaw,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

;

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

;

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

;

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

;

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

;

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

;

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

;

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

;

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. In addition, ESL hosted an event for citizens of other European countries which did not have a national level tournament. ESL also helped operate the South American Continental Finals which took place in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Blizzard also partnered with

DreamHack DreamHack is an ESL Gaming brand specializing in esports tournaments and other gaming conventions. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records and Twin Galaxies as being the world's largest LAN party and computer festival with the world's fa ...

for the European Continental Finals and the Nordic Nationals, with MLG for the North American Continental Finals and respective nationals,

GOM TV GOM Player is a media player for Windows, developed by GOM & Company. With more than 100 million downloads, it is also known as the most used player in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in Ea ...

for the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n Nationals,

NetEase NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce. The company was founded in 1997 by Ding Lei. NetEase develops and operates online PC and mobile game ...

for the Chinese Nationals, the Asian Continental Finals and the Global Finals, the

Taiwan eSports League The Taiwan eSports League (TeSL) () is an eSports league in Taiwan. TeSL was the first to have live StarCraft II games on national TV. Teams * Flash Wolves (Formerly 7-Elevens Ironmen, Xpec Ironmen, and Yoe Ironmen/Flash Wolves or Taichung F ...

for the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese nationals, eSports Tournaments NZ for the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Nationals and the Australian Cyber League for the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n Nationals and Oceania Finals.

Seeding

The WCS began in April 2012, starting at the local level, with qualifiers held in 28 countries. Players that win a seed at the local level advance to the national level championships. From there, the top seeds are invited to one of several continental championship events, with the winners of those events advancing to the final stage of the series: the WCS Global Finals. The season included more than 30

electronic sports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although org ...

events.

National finals

The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

national finals were held in

at the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

on June 30 and July 1, 2012. The top three players from the event were invited to the next stage in the series: the European continental finals. 1000 spectators were estimated to attend the event in person, with others watching it online through live broadcasts hosted by Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner and casting by

Nick "Tasteless" Plott Nicolas Plott (born August 11, 1984), known by his alias Tasteless, is an American esports commentator. He moved to Seoul, Korea in 2007 to give commentary to e-sports competitions. He has provided commentary for multiple '' Starcraft'' and ''S ...

and

GomTV GOM Player is a media player for Windows, developed by GOM & Company. With more than 100 million downloads, it is also known as the most used player in South Korea. Its main features include the ability to play some broken media files and find ...

's Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski. Japan Expo 13 - Starcraft - Samedi - 2012-0707- P1410720

The

national finals (sponsored by AsusTek ''Republic of Gamers'' brand) were held in

at The 13th Impact Japan Expo in Paris-Nord Villepinte from July 5 to 8, 2012. with a prize pool of $15,000 Also The top three players from the event qualified for the European continental finals. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

national finals were held in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

at The

Anaheim Convention Center The Anaheim Convention Center is a major convention center in Anaheim, California and is the largest exhibition facility on the West Coast of the United States. It is located across from the Disneyland Resort on Katella Avenue. The original comp ...

from June 8 to 10, 2012. with a prize pool of $30,000 Also The top sixteen players from the event qualified for the North America continental finals.

Continental finals

The 2012 WCS European finals took place in the

Ericsson Globe Avicii Arena, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; "the Globe"), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stockho ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on September 15–16 with a prize pool of $60,000 Also The top six players from the event qualified for the World Championship finals. The 2012 WCS North America finals took place in Anaheim at The 2012 MLG Pro Circuit/Spring in Anaheim Convention Center from August 24 to 26, 2012 with a prize pool of $60,000 Also The top seven players from the event qualified for the World Championship finals.

Global Finals

The WCS Global Finals were held at the

Shanghai Expo Mart The Shanghai Expo Mart (), formerly the Africa Joint Pavilion (), is an exhibition hall near the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China. The hall was originally constructed for Expo 2010 and consists of of indoor area and of outdoor space. The hall und ...

as part of the Battle.net World Championship event. The event included both the StarCraft II WCS Global Finals as well as the World of Warcraft Arena Global Finals. The event sold out, and the coordinators expected over 10,000 attendees.

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n player

took first place in the StarCraft II WCS, with Creator and Rain following for second and third, respectively.

References

External links

*
Video archive
{{Professional StarCraft II competition StarCraft II World Championship Series 2012 in esports