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Global StarCraft II League
Global StarCraft II League (GSL) is a StarCraft II tournament held in South Korea from 2010 to the present. It has been hosted by afreecaTV since 2016; GOMeXp (formerly GOMTV) hosted it from 2010–2015. Blizzard Entertainment was involved in co-producing and co-funding it for much of its history, although their involvement reduced in later years. For the first two years of the tournament, it featured two leagues, Code S (major) and Code A (minor); afterward it ran as a single combined tournament.
An English language stream is available, aimed at a global audience. The English cast was mainly performed by Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski and Nicolas "Tasteless" Plott until 2022; in 2023, it switched to Tasteless and Ryan "State" Visbeck. Early broadcasts were done on GOMTV's website and player; it switched to Twitch and Afreeca's own platform after Afreeca took over; and the program now broadcasts on Mondays and Thursdays, with the English casts on YouTube, since 2020.
As of the end of 2015 GSL Season 2, GOMTV has awarded over 3.6 billion Korean won (over $3.1 million USD) from the individual GSL and Arena of Legends leagues in StarCraft II.
The 2010 Open Seasons were the first tournaments for the GSL, featuring three initial events with an overall prize pool of 600 million Korean Won (approximately US$500,000) and a prize of 100 million Won for the winner. These attracted attention as they featured the largest prize pool in the history of e-Sports.[citation needed] The Open Seasons were used to sort the players into Code S and Code A for the 2011 season.
The major tournaments of the early era were divided into Code S and Code A. Code S is the major league and consists of 32 top players in Korea, with the winner of Code S crowned GSL champion. Code A is the minor league, also of 32 players. The initial rules were that the winner of the Code A tournament automatically qualifies to Code S. The top seven Code A players and bottom eight Code S players participate in Up & Down Matches in groups of five players. The top two of each group qualified to Code S. Code A qualifiers were also held before the start of a new season. Top ranking players (informally called Code B) on the Korean Battle.net server were allowed to participate, as were invited foreign players.
For the 2011 GSL November season, it was announced that the format would be changing. The new format would be a dual tournament format with double-elimination four-player groups (also known in esports generally as "GSL-style groups"), where losing players in Code S immediately drop to Code A. The new GSL format meant that there would no longer be a Code A champion, but rather victors would proceed into the Code S tournament.
The 2012 tour changed the tournament format slightly, resulting in a longer season. Due to the extended season, there was only be 5 GSL tournaments in the year.
In 2013, the GSL and the OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) jointly ran the Korean qualifier league for Blizzard Entertainment's World Championship Series (WCS) under the name "WCS Korea".
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Global StarCraft II League AI simulator
(@Global StarCraft II League_simulator)
Global StarCraft II League
Global StarCraft II League (GSL) is a StarCraft II tournament held in South Korea from 2010 to the present. It has been hosted by afreecaTV since 2016; GOMeXp (formerly GOMTV) hosted it from 2010–2015. Blizzard Entertainment was involved in co-producing and co-funding it for much of its history, although their involvement reduced in later years. For the first two years of the tournament, it featured two leagues, Code S (major) and Code A (minor); afterward it ran as a single combined tournament.
An English language stream is available, aimed at a global audience. The English cast was mainly performed by Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski and Nicolas "Tasteless" Plott until 2022; in 2023, it switched to Tasteless and Ryan "State" Visbeck. Early broadcasts were done on GOMTV's website and player; it switched to Twitch and Afreeca's own platform after Afreeca took over; and the program now broadcasts on Mondays and Thursdays, with the English casts on YouTube, since 2020.
As of the end of 2015 GSL Season 2, GOMTV has awarded over 3.6 billion Korean won (over $3.1 million USD) from the individual GSL and Arena of Legends leagues in StarCraft II.
The 2010 Open Seasons were the first tournaments for the GSL, featuring three initial events with an overall prize pool of 600 million Korean Won (approximately US$500,000) and a prize of 100 million Won for the winner. These attracted attention as they featured the largest prize pool in the history of e-Sports.[citation needed] The Open Seasons were used to sort the players into Code S and Code A for the 2011 season.
The major tournaments of the early era were divided into Code S and Code A. Code S is the major league and consists of 32 top players in Korea, with the winner of Code S crowned GSL champion. Code A is the minor league, also of 32 players. The initial rules were that the winner of the Code A tournament automatically qualifies to Code S. The top seven Code A players and bottom eight Code S players participate in Up & Down Matches in groups of five players. The top two of each group qualified to Code S. Code A qualifiers were also held before the start of a new season. Top ranking players (informally called Code B) on the Korean Battle.net server were allowed to participate, as were invited foreign players.
For the 2011 GSL November season, it was announced that the format would be changing. The new format would be a dual tournament format with double-elimination four-player groups (also known in esports generally as "GSL-style groups"), where losing players in Code S immediately drop to Code A. The new GSL format meant that there would no longer be a Code A champion, but rather victors would proceed into the Code S tournament.
The 2012 tour changed the tournament format slightly, resulting in a longer season. Due to the extended season, there was only be 5 GSL tournaments in the year.
In 2013, the GSL and the OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) jointly ran the Korean qualifier league for Blizzard Entertainment's World Championship Series (WCS) under the name "WCS Korea".