Global StarCraft II League

Global StarCraft II League (GSL) is a StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void tournament hosted by afreecaTV[1] and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. GOMeXp (formerly GOMTV) had hosted it until the last season of 2015. There is also an English language stream available. The tournament features two leagues, Code S (major) and Code A (minor). Code S and Code A are mainly cast by Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski and Nicolas "Tasteless" Plott, they are sometimes helped by former professional player Jake "NoRegreT" Umpleby. The event is broadcast Wednesdays and Saturdays on TwitchTV.

Global StarCraft II League (GSL)
SporteSports (StarCraft II)
FoundedSeptember 2010
CEOSeo Soo-kiel
CountrySouth Korea
ContinentAsia
Most recent
champion(s)
Jun "TY" Tae Yang
Most titlesJeong "Mvp" Jong Hyeon, Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung, Cho "Maru" Seong Ju (4 titles)
Official websitehttp://afreeca.tv/36840697

As of the end of 2015 GSL Season 2, GOMTV has given away over 3.6 billion Korean won (over $3.1 million USD) from the individual GSL and Arena of Legends leagues in StarCraft II.

Foreigner qualification house

GOMTV used to run a house for select foreigners to live in while attempting to qualify for Code A. The house could accommodate up to 8 players. Players are responsible for travel to the GOM house, but all expenses other than food were covered by GOMTV.[2] The house closed in November 2012.[3][4]

GSL-MLG Exchange Program

Major League Gaming and GOMTV have announced a player exchange program between the tournaments. MLG will invite and provide travel for four Korean players every tournament and the players will be seeded directly into Championship pool. Starting from MLG Anaheim 2011 the winner of the tournament is given GSL Code S seed and top three non-Korean players (top four if the winner is Korean) are given Code A seeds.[5]

MLG Columbus 2011 was the first event to see Korean invites. Moon "MMA" Sung Won won the tournament and the other invites finished 2nd, 3rd and 8th. Non-Koreans players accepting Code A seeds were Johan "NaNiWa" Lucchesi, Marcus "ThorZaIN" Eklöf and Jian Carlo "Fenix" Morayra Alejo. They will participate in both GSL August and GSTL August team league. For the team league they will form a team F.United together with players from a Korean pro team WeMadeFox.[6]

It was thought that NaNiwa would have gotten the Code S spot for his second-place finish at the national finals at MLG Providence 2011, but it was revealed afterwards that Code S would not have been given out at that event.[7]

The GSL-MLG Exchange Program has since been nullified, as GSL is now partnered with IPL.[8] MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni has hinted at the Naniwa Code S scandal as possible reasoning for the breakup of the partnership.[9]

With the closure of IPL, the partner program between the two is now finished.

Since 2013, the GSL took over as the Korean part of the World Championship Series created by Blizzard Entertainment.

Main Events

GOMtv Studio in Gangnam

2010 Open Seasons

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 500,000 USD) and a prize of 100 million Won for the winner. These attracted worldwide attention as they featured the largest prize pool in the history of e-Sports.[10] The purpose of the Open Seasons was to sort the players into Code S and Code A for the 2011 season.[11]

Sponsorship League

Sponsorship League is the regular tournament that is held multiple times a year. Code S is the major league and consists of 32 top players in Korea. Winner of Code S is crowned GSL champion. Code A is the minor league of 32 players. Winner of code A qualifies to Code S. Top seven Code A players and bottom eight Code S players participate in Up & Down Matches in groups of five players. Top two of every group qualify to Code S. Code A qualifiers are held before the start of a new season. Only top ranking players (called Code B) in Korean Battle.net server are allowed to participate. Foreign players are allowed to attend qualifiers without meeting the criteria though.

For the 2011 GSL November season, it was announced that the format would be changing to deal with certain issues that have come up in Code S and Code A.[12] A chart was later released that would illustrate the new format. The new format would be a dual tournament format with double-elimination four-player groups, where players in Code S immediately drop to Code A, and would have to continue playing if they want to get back up to Code S.[13] The new GSL format means that there would no longer be a Code A champion.

The 2012 tour had the tournament format changed slightly, resulting in a longer season with slight changes with prize money in Code A. Due to the extended season, there will only be 5 GSL tournaments in the year.[14]

World Championship Series 2013

In 2013, the GSL and the OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) shared the duty as the Korean league for Blizzard Entertainment's World Championship Series (WCS) under the name "WCS Korea".[15]

World Championship Series 2014

With OnGameNet having stopped its StarCraft II activities, GSL became the only individual league in South Korea and ran every season of WCS Korea under its own name again (GSL).[16]

World Championship Series 2015

In 2015, the GSL and SPOTV's newly established StarCraft II StarLeague (SSL) ran parallel to each other as the focus of professional play in South Korea. Each league had three seasons throughout the year, for a total of six individual league seasons.[17]

World Championship Series 2016

The GSL and the SSL continued to run as parallel leagues in South Korea for 2016. Each league had two seasons throughout the year, for a total of four individual league seasons, with the finalists of their first and second seasons playing in the first and second season Cross-Finals events.[18]

The first season of GSL for WCS 2016 was preceded by two GSL Pre-Season tournaments which both granted seeding into the main competition to their respective winners.[19]

World Championship

The World Championship was a yearly tournament that invites top eight non-Korean players to South Korea to play against the top eight Korean players. This is a two part tournament, the first being a Korea versus the World team tournament, the second being a 16-man single elimination tournament.[20]

The 2012 tour will not have a World Championship event.[14]

Super Tournament

Similar to the 2010 Open Seasons, the Super Tournaments are a 64-man tournament featuring a prize pool of 202 million Korean Won. Participants are determined by the total GSL points obtained throughout the year.[21]

The 2012 tour will not have a Super Tournament event.[14]

Blizzard Cup

The top 10 players of the year will compete in a tournament to decide the best player of the year in a two phase event including a group stage and a playoff stage. The 2011 event featured the top 5 players in terms of GSL ranking and champions of other events such as MLG, BlizzCon and World Cyber Games 2011.[22]

Special Events

Arena of Legends

The Arena of Legends are a special tournament series that are only available to premium users. They are generally online tournaments as opposed to the offline ones of the standard GSL. The first one featured four invited representatives of each race that was broadcast throughout the month of September 2011 on Saturdays and Sundays.[23] Another Arena of Legends tournament was announced on November 2, 2011 called the Team Ace Invitational featuring two players from each team battling it out to see who is the strongest ace.[24] The third Arena of Legends tournament was announced on December 27, 2011 called "Arena of Legends: King of Kong", featuring all of the non-champion runner up players from previous GSL tournaments.[25] A "Kong" is Korean for a pea, and refers to Hong Jin-Ho, a Brood War legend who was famous for getting second place.

Champions

Code S and other Major Tournaments

This is a list of all major GSL tournaments. They are considered equal by AfreecaTV and the winner of any of these tournaments is called a GSL champion.

Regular SeasonWorld ChampionshipSuper TournamentBlizzard/HOT6 CupOpen Season
YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-Up
2010TG-Intel STARCRAFT II Open Season1Kim "Fruitdealer" Won Gi (TSL) (Zerg)4 - 1Kim "Rainbow" Sung Je (ST) (Terran)
2010Sony Ericsson STARCRAFT II Open Season2Lim "NesTea" Jae Duk (IM) (Zerg)4 - 3Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (Prime) (Terran)
2010Sony Ericsson STARCRAFT II Open Season3Jang "MC" Min Chul (oGs) (Protoss)4 - 1Park "Rain" Seo Yong (TSL) (Terran)
2011Sony Ericsson Global StarCraft II League Jan.Jeong "Mvp" Jong Hyeon (IM) (Terran)4 - 0Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (Prime) (Terran)
20112nd Generation Intel Core Global StarCraft II League Mar.Jang "MC" Min Chul (oGs) (Protoss)4 - 1Park "July" Sung Joon (ST) (Zerg)
2011LG Cinema 3D World Championship SeoulJeong "Mvp" Jong Hyeon (IM) (Terran)4 - 2Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (Prime) (Terran)
2011LG Cinema 3D Global StarCraft II League MayLim "NesTea" Jae Duk (IM) (Zerg)4 - 0Song "InCa" Joon Hyuk (oGs) (Protoss)
2011LG Cinema 3D GSL Super TournamentChoi "Polt" Sung Hoon (Prime) (Terran)4 - 0Moon "MMA" Sung Won (SlayerS) (Terran)
2011Pepsi Global StarCraft II League JulyLim "NesTea" Jae Duk (IM) (Zerg)4 - 0Hwang "LosirA" Kang Ho (IM) (Zerg)
2011Pepsi Global StarCraft II League AugustJeong "MVP" Jong Hyeon (IM) (Terran)4 - 1Kim "TOP" Jung Hoon (oGs) (Terran)
2011Sony Ericsson Global StarCraft II League Oct.Moon "MMA" Sung Won (SlayerS) (Terran)4 - 1Jeong "Mvp" Jong Hyeon (IM) (Terran)
2011Sony Ericsson Global StarCraft II League Nov.Jung "jjakji" Ji Hoon (NSHoSeo) (Terran)4 - 2Lee "Leenock" Dong Nyung (FXO) (Zerg)
20112011 Blizzard CupMoon "MMA" Sung Won (SlayerS) (Terran)4 - 3Park "DongRaeGu" Soo Ho (MVP) (Zerg)
20122012 Hot6ix Global StarCraft II League Season 1Park "DongRaeGu" Soo Ho (MVP) (Zerg)4 - 2Jung "Genius" Min Soo (MVP) (Protoss)
20122012 Hot6ix Global StarCraft II League Season 2Jeong "MVP" Jong Hyeon (LG-IM) (Terran)4 - 3Park "Squirtle" Hyun Woo (StarTale) (Protoss)
20122012 Monsieur J Global StarCraft II League Season 3Ahn "Seed" Sang Won (LG-IM) (Protoss)4 - 1Jang "MC" Min Chul (SK Gaming) (Protoss)
20122012 Hot6ix Global StarCraft II League Season 4Lee "Life" Seung Hyun (StarTale) (Zerg)4 - 3Jeong "MVP" Jong Hyun (LG-IM) (Terran)
20122012 Hot6ix Global StarCraft II League Season 5Kwon "Sniper" Tae Hoon (MVP) (Zerg)4 - 3Ko "Hyun" Seok Hyun (TSL) (Zerg)
20122012 Blizzard CupLee "Life" Seung Hyun (StarTale) (Zerg)4 - 2Won "PartinG" Lee Sak (StarTale) (Protoss)
20132013 Hot6ix Global StarCraft II League Season 1Shin "RorO" No Yeol (Samsung KHAN) (Zerg)4 - 2Kang "Symbol" Dong Hyun (AZUBU) (Zerg)
20132013 WCS Korea Season 1 MANGOSIX GSLKim "Soulkey" Min Chul (WoongJin Stars) (Zerg)4 - 3Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung (STX SouL) (Terran)
20132013 WCS Korea Season 3 JOGUNSHOP GSLBaek "Dear" Dong Jun (SouL) (Protoss)4 - 2Eo "soO" Yoon Su (SK Telecom T1) (Zerg)
20132013 HOT6 CupJeong "Rain" Yoon Jong (SKT T1) (Protoss)4 - 2Kim "Soulkey" Min Cheol (WoongJin Stars) (Zerg)
20142014 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 1Joo "Zest" Sung Wook (KT Rolster) (Protoss)4 - 3Eo "soO" Yoon Su (SKT T1) (Zerg)
20142014 HOT6 GSL Global TournamentJoo "Zest" Sung Wook (KT Rolster) (Protoss)4 - 3Won "PartinG" Lee Sak (SKT T1) (Protoss)
20142014 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 2Kim "Classic" Doh Woo (SKT T1) (Protoss)4 - 2Eo "soO" Yoon Su (SKT T1) (Zerg)
20142014 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 3Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung (SKT T1) (Terran)4 - 2Eo "soO" Yoon Su (SKT T1) (Zerg)
20142014 HOT6 CupKim "sOs" Yoo Jin (JinAir Greenwings) (Protoss)4 - 1Lee "MarineKing" Jeong Hoon (MVP) (Terran)
20152015 Global StarCraft II League Season 1Lee "Life" Seung Hyun (KT Rolster) (Zerg)4 - 3Won "PartinG" Lee Sak (yoe Flash Wolves) (Protoss)
20152015 SBENU Global StarCraft II League Season 2Jung "Rain" Yoon Jong (mYinsanity) (Protoss)4 - 1Han "ByuL" Ji Won (CJ Entus) (Zerg)
20152015 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 3Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung (SKT T1) (Terran)4 - 2Han "ByuL" Ji Won (CJ Entus) (Zerg)
20162016 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 1Joo "Zest" Sung Wook (KT Rolster) (Protoss)4 - 2Jun "TY" Tae Yang (KT Rolster) (Terran)
20162016 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 2Byun "ByuN" Hyun Woo (Terran)4 - 1Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin (JinAir Greenwings) (Protoss)
20172017 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 1Kim "Stats" Dae Yeob (Splyce) (Protoss)4 - 2Eo "soO" Yoon Su (Zerg)
20172017 HOT6 GSL Super Tournament IKim "herO" Joon Ho (ROOT Gaming) (Protoss)4 - 2Han "aLive" Lee Seok (mYinsanity) (Terran)
20172017 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 2Koh "GuMiho" Byung Jae (PSISTORM Gaming) (Terran)4 - 2Eo "soO" Yoon Su (Zerg)
20172017 GSL vs. the WorldLee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung (Terran)4 - 0Jun "TY" Tae Yang (Splyce) (Terran)
20172017 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 3Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung (Terran)4 - 3Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin (Protoss)
20172017 HOT6 GSL Super Tournament IILee "Rogue" Byung Ryul (Jin Air Green Wings) (Zerg)4 - 3Kim "herO" Joon Ho (ROOT Gaming) (Protoss)
2018 2018 Global StarCraft II League Season 1 Cho "Maru" Seong Ju (Jin Air Green Wings) (Terran) 4 - 2 Kim "Stats" Dae Yeob (Splyce) (Protoss)
2018 2018 GSL Super Tournament I Kim "Stats" Dae Yeob (Splyce) (Protoss) 4 - 3 Park "Dark" Ryung Woo (Zerg)
2018 2018 Global StarCraft II League Season 2 Cho "Maru" Seong Ju (Jin Air Green Wings) (Terran) 4 - 0 Joo "Zest" Sung Wook (Protoss)
2018 2018 GSL vs. the WorldJoona "Serral" Sotala (ENCE eSports) (Zerg)4 - 3Kim "Stats" Dae Yeob (Splyce) (Protoss)
2018 2018 Global StarCraft II League Season 3 Cho "Maru" Seong Ju (Jin Air Green Wings) (Terran) 4 - 3 Jun "TY" Tae Yang (Splyce) (Terran)
2018 2018 GSL Super Tournament II Kim "Classic" Doh Woo (The Gosu Crew) (Protoss) 4 - 3 Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin (JinAir Greenwings) (Protoss)
2019 2019 Mountain Dew Global StarCraft II League Season 1 Cho "Maru" Seong Ju (Jin Air Green Wings) (Terran) 4 - 2 Kim "Classic" Doh Woo (Splyce) (Protoss)
2019 2019 GSL Super Tournament I Kim "Classic" Doh Woo (Protoss) 4 -1 Koh "GuMiho" Byung Jae (PSISTORM Gaming) (Terran)
2019 2019 Global StarCraft II League Season 2 Park "Dark" Ryung Woo (Zerg) 4 - 2 Cho "Trap" Sung-ho (Jin Air Green Wings) (Protoss)
2019 2019 GSL vs. the World Joona "Serral" Sotala (Zerg 4 - 2 Mikołaj "Elazer" Ogonowski (Zerg)
2019 2019 Global StarCraft II League Season 3 Lee "Rogue" Byung Ryul (Jin Air Green Wings) (Zerg) 4 - 0 Cho "Trap" Sung-ho (Jin Air Green Wings) (Protoss)
2019 2019 GSL Super Tournament II Park "Dark" Ryung Woo (Zerg) 4 - 0 Jun "TY" Tae Yang (Splyce) (Terran)
2020 2020 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament I Cho "Maru" Seong Ju (Jin Air Green Wings) (Terran) 4 - 3 Park "Dark" Ryung Woo (Dragon Phoenix Gaming) (Zerg)
2020 2020 Global StarCraft II League Season 1 Jun "TY" Tae Yang (Afreeca Freecs) (Terran) 4 - 0 Kim "Cure" Doh Wook (Dragon Phoenix Gaming) (Terran)
2020 2020 Global StarCraft II League Season 2 Lee "Rogue" Byeong Yeol (Jin Air Green Wings) (Zerg) 4 - 1 Kim "Stats" Dae Yeob (Afreeca Freecs) (Protoss)
2020 2020 Global StarCraft II League Season 3 Jun "TY" Tae Yang (Afreeca Freecs) (Terran) 4 - 2 Cho "Maru" Seong Ju (Jin Air Green Wings) (Terran)

Pre-Season Tournaments

Preceding the beginning of 2016 HOT6 Global StarCraft II League Season 1, two Pre-Season tournaments were held by AfreecaTV, with the winner of each being seeded into the main event.

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-Up
20152016 Global StarCraft II League Pre-Season Week 1Kim "herO" Joon Ho (CJ Entus) (Protoss)3 - 0Lee "Life" Seung Hyun (KT Rolster) (Zerg)
20152016 Global StarCraft II League Pre-Season Week 2Kim "MyuNgSik" Myung-Sik (TCM Gaming) (Protoss)3 - 2Jun "TY" Tae Yang (KT Rolster) (Terran)

Code A

There will be no more Code A champions due to the format change in 2011 GSL November.

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-Up
2011Sony Ericsson Global StarCraft II League Jan.Kim "TOP" Jung Hoon (oGs) (Terran)4 - 3Byun "Byun" Hyun Woo (ZeNex) (Terran)
20112nd Generation Intel Core Global StarCraft II League Mar.Hwang "LosirA" Kang Ho (IM) (Zerg)4 - 3Kim "SuperNoVa" Young Jin (oGs) (Terran)
2011LG Cinema 3D Global StarCraft II League MayChoi "Bomber" Ji Sung (ST) (Terran)4 - 2Jeong "MVP" Jong Hyeon (IM) (Terran)
2011Pepsi Global StarCraft II League JulyKim "Puzzle" Sang-Joon (ZeNEX) (Protoss)4 - 2Kim "Tassadar" Jung Hoon (NSHoSeo) (Protoss)
2011Pepsi Global StarCraft II League AugustKim "GanZi" Dong Ju (SlayerS) (Terran)4 - 3Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (Prime) (Terran)
2011Sony Ericsson Global StarCraft II League Oct.Lee "Curious" Won Pyo (ST) (Zerg)4 - 0Kim "Oz" Hak Soo (FXO) (Protoss)

Special Tournaments

Champions of special tournaments are not considered GSL Champions.

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-Up
2010GomTV All-Stars Invitational 2010Han "Kyrix" Joon (Zenith) (Zerg)2 - 0Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (Prime) (Terran)
2011Arena of LegendsLee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (Prime) (Terran)4 - 1Park "DongRaeGu" Soo Ho (MVP) (Zerg)
2011Arena of Legends: Team Ace InvitationalJeong "MVP" Jong Hyeon (IM) (Terran)3 - 2Kim "GanZi" Dong Ju (SlayerS) (Terran)
2012Arena of Legends: King of KongsPark "DongRaeGu" Soo Ho (MVP) (Zerg)4 - 1Hwang "LosirA" Kang Ho (IM) (Zerg)

Team League

GOMeXp (then GOMTV) also used to run a team league named GOMTV Global StarCraft II Team League (GSTL) however with the 2012 transition in Proleague events from Brood War to StarCraft II (starting with 2011-12 SK Planet Proleague Season 2), GOMeXp decided to stop running its team league at the end of 2013.

See also

References

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