StarCraft 2′s biggest upsets
In the still-early life of competitive StarCraft 2, we’ve seen hundreds of incredible, memorable matches. Many professional players’ fame or infamy has been earned by toppling the giants who came before them. That shift in attrition, that expert pivot of micro-management or creativity in a single match can surge a single player’s reputation—when an unknown kills a Goliath (no, not that one) he becomes an Internet champion, epitomizing the wonderful parity that’s emerging with competitive SC2. Everyone loves to root for the underdog and watch a good upset—here are StarCraft 2′s top four.
Intern Arena: Will SC2′s expansions do more harm than good?
Once more, our interns enter the arena to debate to the death on gaming’s latest happenings for your entertainment. But first, the thrilling finale to our previous Intern Arena:
Lucas stood victorious over Anthony’s body. Anthony lay on the ground, a broken man, crimson blood dripping from his freshly-broken jaw. Lucas held his swordpoint to Anthony’s throat, ready to deal the finishing slice that the fans were chanting for. But he hesitated, and instead hurled his sword into Josh Augustine’s chest, killing him instantly. “Are you not entertained?!” Lucas screamed, as Dan and Evan continued their work. “Is this not why you are here?!”
In the shadows, Anthony fought through the pain and crawled to safety, his shattered arms barely able to pull his lacerated body. With a grimace, he turned back to look at Lucas with a cold, hateful stare. “This…isn’t…over,” he whispered.
North American Star League StarCraft 2 tournament has $100,000 prize pool
The North American Star League have announced that their first StarCraft 2 competition will have a prize pool of $100,000. The competition will start on April 5 and run for thirteen weeks, with matches being broadcast every weeknight.
PC Gamer US Podcast 256 – Vendebt
Dan, Logan, Josh, Chris, Anthony, Andy, and eventually Evan discuss the new info on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, playtime of the last stand mode in Dawn Of War 2: Retribution, and the latest caped crusades in DC Universe: Online. Other topics include a Starcraft 2 mod that gets Blizzards attention, an enhancement mod for Fallout: New Vegas and deals on some classic games from GOG.com.
Intel Extreme European Championship to test best StarCraft 2, Counterstrike 1.6 and Quake players
The European leg of the Intel Extreme World Championships is set to kick off tomorrow in Kiev. Three tournaments will pit the best Starcraft 2, Counterstrike 1.6 and Quake players against each other. The winners will gain a place in the Intel Masters V World Championship in Hanover in March, as well as a mighty wad of cash. Read on for details.
PC Gamer Podcast 253 – Year Of The Trackball
Logan, Dan, Evan, Josh and Andy share their holiday wish lists and exceptional gaming moments of 2010 on this end-of-the-year podcast.
Download the mp3, subscribe and call in with your exceptional moments, questions and predictions of the future, toll free: 877-404-1337 ext 724.
The £55,000 GSL StarCraft 2 final is about to start, here’s where to watch
The final of GomTV’s second Global StarCraft 2 League is about to kick off – at 10am GMT, 2am Pacific Time. It’s free to watch live, but if you miss it, you need a season ticket to watch it later ($20, likely reduced once the tourney’s over).
Both in terms of prize money and the talent it attracts, the GSL is the biggest StarCraft tournament in the world, and one of the biggest e-sports tournaments ever. The English commentary is done by my personal favourites Tasteless and Artosis, who make high-level play easy to understand even for noobs – season one of this tournament is what turned me around on e-sports. Grab breakfast or a midnight snack, depending on your time zone, and check it out.
Over 5000 Starcraft 2 players banned
Today Blizzard have wielded their +1 master hammer of banning, and have deactivated over 5000 Battlenet accounts for players who have been caught cheating and hacking maps in Starcraft 2.
PC Gamer US podcast 233 – Brotoss
On today’s podcast, Evan, Josh, Dan, and Erik recap the results of yesterday’s office StarCraft 2 tournament and offer their first thoughts on the launch of the game, the campaign (spoiler-free, of course), and Blizzard’s mostly issue-less worldwide launch of one of the biggest multiplayer games of all time. Yesterday’s SC2 tourney champ, Tyler Nagata, senior editor at GamesRadar, also joins us.
At the end of today’s episode we interview “HDStarcraft,” one of the prominent StarCraft 2 professional match broadcasters in the SC2 community. If we can encourage you to subscribe to one YouTube channel (after ours), let it be HD’s elegant, entertaining StarCraft commentary.
PC Gamer’s StarCraft II Tournament!
PC Gamer’s US office is having a StarCraft II tournament today! Check back throughout the day for results, replays, and commentary all leading up to our live streaming finals at 5:00 PM PST, complete with commentary! Come back soon for the result of our first match! Within: a bracket.
Update: we’ve reached our final round. PC Gamer’s own Josh Augustine will face Tyler Nagata of GamesRadar.com in the championship. Watch the championship match with Evan’s commentary here.
SC2 Week: Meet the Zergling
There are 48 units in StarCraft 2. Through next Friday, we’re highlighting seven of our favorite pieces of sci-fi military equipment in Blizzard’s follow-up. Third in our series is the penny of the hive mind, the Zergling.
