Most competitive Starcraft 2 events have players compete individually. Though this is fin to watch and allows the most number of participants, it does not capture the excitement of entire teams going up against each other. However, a few events, like the Global Starcraft 2 Team League are able to do this. In this type of event, teams each send out one player to represent the team, if that player loses he is replaced by another teammate. The team who wins the most games, in most cases five games, is the victor. This sort of team league adds a new kind of strategy to the game, where teams choose which players to send out when, something that helps make these team leagues seem unique.
The Korean-based Global Starcraft 2 Team League just held their finals for the second season of 2012. This season brought all the action packed games fans love to watch, and have grown to expect from the worlds premier team league. Some of the worlds best competitive teams were invited to partake in this 2-month long event. These teams include Prime, Startale, MVP, Team Liquid and eight more of the worlds best teams.
After an action-packed season, only two teams remained, FXOpen and the newly partnered Slayers-Evil Genius team. These finals were extremely hyped up, as both of these teams have some of the best players in the world. However, the finals were extremely one-sided. Representing FXO as a Terran player, Gumiho was able to defeat five players, including some impressive players such as MMA and Puzzle. Gumiho’s impressive preformance secured FXO’s first place finish in the second season in the GSTL. As victors, they recieved $26,000, while Slayers-EG still walked away with $13,00. The teams MVP and TSL both received $3,475 for finishing in 3rd and 4th place.
The popularity and excitement that this season of GSTL brought is a great sign for this format. Watching teams work together rather then just individuals competing brings a whole new flavor to competitive Starcraft 2. Hopefully team leagues such as the GSTL and IGN’s Team Arena Challenge will begin to grow, and possibly give league creators the confidence to create new leagues under this format. Until then, fans can always watch VODs of their favorite team league moments online.
