Blizzard Entertainment
There’s no need to wait for the Global Finals this fall when WCS fans can just tune into GSL vs. The World this week to see the biggest names in StarCraft II esports in a special all-star event. 2018’s top performers in both the WCS Circuit and Korea’s Global StarCraft II League, along with a handful of players voted in by fans, will battle each other in an individual 16-player tournament and a unique team-based competition to see if the world’s best can stand up to the best from South Korea.
The players have been seeded into a playoff bracket intended to produce the greatest number of GSL-Circuit matchups over the course of the event. The most anticipated potential matchup would have to be Serral versus Maru in the tournament final. As strong as Serral’s been in dominating the WCS Circuit this calendar year, including back to back wins at WCS Austin and WCS Valencia, he’ll have to contend with reigning global champion Rogue and a motivated Scarlett in his half of the bracket. Maru is the two-time reigning GSL champion and he could end up facing Zest and Stats, the two players he’s knocked off in the finals to claim each of his GSL titles in 2018, on his way to the championship series.
If those two don’t see each other for the championship, they’ll definitely be leading the way in the GSL vs. The World team competition where it’ll be Team Serral versus Team Maru. As team captains, Maru and Serral will pick a team of pros from the pools of available GSL and Circuit players. The assembled teams will battle each other over nine games with the winner claiming an 11,000,000 (~$10,000 USD) KRW prize and the region (GSL or Circuit) notching the most wins receiving a bonus of 4,000,000 KRW (~$3500 USD).
Fans looking to catch all of the action from GSL vs. The World can check out the up-to-date schedule and live streams in their preferred language:
Broadcast Schedule
|
Date |
Round |
Start Times |
| August 2 | Day 1 – Round of 16 | 3:00 p.m. Korea Standard Time |
| August 3 | Day 2 – Round of 16 | 3:00 p.m. KST |
| August 4 | Day 3 – Quarterfinals and Semifinals | 3:00 p.m. KST |
| August 5 | Day 4 – Final | 3:00 p.m. KST |
Broadcast Streams
| Language | Twitch Channel |
| English | https://www.twitch.tv/gsl |
| Russian | https://www.twitch.tv/starladder_sc2_ru |
| German | Twitch.tv/TaKeTV |
| Polish | |
| French | Twitch.tv/ogamingsc2 |
| Korean | https://www.twitch.tv/afreeca_tv |
| Spanish | http://www.twitch.tv/JimRsng |
| Portuguese | http://www.twitch.tv/DeathzoneTV |
Commentators
- Leigh “Maynarde†Mandalov
- Kevin “RotterdaM” van der Kooi
- Nick “Tasteless†Plott
- Dan “Artosis†Stemkoski
Check out GSL vs. The World at wcs.starcraft2.com starting August 2.
Watch live video from GSL on www.twitch.tv