As a lot of us know in Korea StarCraft is played competitively in quite a few leagues. Here is the newest - and possibly most exciting - league, which will be cast in English!
Nick Plott
Some of the most exciting news to come out of Korea came about 2 months ago, Nick "Tastless" Plott told us of his move there to cast the GOMTV Star Invitational and although we all wanted to see the finals nobody wanted to see Tasteless put down the microphone. Well have no fear for once again the charismatic shout caster will be back to broadcast the GOMTV Star League!
With the success of the GSI GOM has decided to broadcast its upcoming league in Japanese and English. Thanks to many of you the Invitational got more than one million individual hits throughout the entire run and now we are being rewarded with yet another great set of games to come. The GOM League is set to be the next big thing, it will definitely be up there with OSL and MSL. Tasteless tells GosuGamers that this league is a big step for eSport and StarCraft and that many things are or will be better than with the other Korean Star Leagues at the moment.
- This is much bigger and more significant than any eSport event in StarCraft history, even the GSI. This is a 3rd Star League which will be better funded, more popular and more successful than the OSL or the MSL ever has been.
The League
With such a large audience comes large sponsors, Samsung Electronics has put up 150 million won for this tournament, which comes out to nearly 100,000€. The prize pool will be a whopping 25,000€ for the winner, clearly enough compared to OSL and MSL.
Altogether 64 players will be included in the tournament: 32 from the progamer rankings and 32 will be selected from a preliminary tournament. GOM plans to cast from the round of 32 on, which means we will be seeing quite a few games.
“I hope KeSPA changes their mind in this decision. In order for eSports (and StarCraft) to develop further outside of Korea it is crucial that the GSL gets similar recognition as the other Star Leagues.
- Tasteless about the KeSPA situation
Some minor setbacks
The Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) has brought the only rain cloud over our heads so far. They have yet to officially recognize the GOMTV League which could put a bit of a damper on it. Hopefully they will come to their senses and put this league up where it deserves to be.
Since their inception KeSPA has been the number one authority in the world for electronic sports. They approve or deny every league in Korea and although leagues can be held without their approval, it would mean that GOM would not count in their rankings. This could cause some of the teams to pull players and refuse their support.
What will become of KeSPAs position? Will they relent? Will it affect the GOM League? These questions will have to wait for the time being since the board at KeSPA still has some decisions to make. One thing is for certain though, GOM does not need their approval to hold the league, it will most likely continue one way or the other.
Next month!
In just a few short weeks we will see the League begin with the first preliminary tournaments taking place in early April. Until then we recommend checking out some of the VODs on the GOM website, they are a great refresher course on Tasteless' unique commentary. Also to get ready you will need the GOMTV Player which is free of course! Below are the links necessary to download the player, as well as to watch the VODs enjoy!
Links
GOMTV.com - Official News
GOMTV.com - Vods from the GSI
GosuGamers.net - Previous news
