Battle.net

Over the past seven months, StarCraft II players around the world have battled it out for the honor of representing their countries at the Battle.net World Championship in Shanghai, China. Players from more than 30 different countries competed in qualifier, national, and continental events in order to earn their spots at the BWC. Now, 32 of the world’s best StarCraft II players are traveling to China to compete for both country and a share of the $250,000 prize pool. The winner of the event will be taking home the trophy, the prestigious title of StarCraft II World Champion, and a $100,000 cash prize.

The Format

For the event, we’ve picked a tournament format that allows for thrilling games and epic battles. The 2012 World Championship Series Global Finals will feature a double elimination group stage and a single elimination playoff bracket. In the group stage, there will be eight groups with four players each. The seeding for the groups will be conditional, random selection. In order to ensure a variety of players in each group, a maximum of two players from the same continent can be in each group, and every group must have players from at least three continents. In order to achieve this group composition, we will be using the following method:

The first three players from each group will be drawn at random, but players will be redrawn if there has already been a player drawn from that continent for that group. For example, if there is a player from Asia in Group C and the third player drawn for Group C is also from Asia, there will be a redraw. When all eight groups have their first three players selected, the remaining player from each group will be drawn at random. This will ensure that there will be a maximum of two players from the same continent in one group and will ensure that there are no groups with players from only two continents.

In the group stage, the 4 players of each group are split into two pairs and will play each other in best of 3 matches. The order of players will be determined in the group selection draw. The first player drawn will be Player 1 and will play Player 2, who will be the second player drawn. Player 3 in the group will play Player 4. The winners of these two matches will then face each other in the Winner’s match.  The victor places first in the group and will advance to the single elimination bracket. The losers of the initial matches will then face each other in the Loser’s match. The loser of that match places fourth in the group and will drop out of the tournament. The loser of the Winner’s match and the winner of the Loser’s match will face each other in a fifth match. The winner gets second place in the group and advances to the next round. The loser places third in the group and will drop out of the tournament.

After the round of 32 is complete, the sixteen remaining players will be put in a single elimination bracket. Seeding will be determined by the group stage. The matches are best of 5 until the finals, which will be a best of 7. The winner of Group A will play the runner up in Group H in the first half of the bracket. The winner of Group H will play the runner up in Group A in the second half of the bracket. See below.

Additional details on the group selection and tournament prize pool will be announced soon. For more information about the 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals, head to the Battle.net World Championship site.