North American Star League
Encyclopedia
The North American Star League is a professional e-sports league that features the games StarCraft II
and Heroes of Newerth
. Originally modeled after successful South Korean professional StarCraft leagues, it was founded in 2011 by Russell Pfister and Duncan Stewart. Following the mid-year departure of Stewart, Mark K. Brown was tapped to fill the position of Chief Operating Officer in August 2011, and currently serves in that capacity.
was originally a South Korean phenomenon that began in the early 2000s. Leagues such as Starleague and GOMTV offered 24-hour television coverage and live competitions held in arena venues. However, until the formation of the NASL, North American StarCraft competitions were limited to one-off events hosted by Major League Gaming
and smaller gaming associations.
The NASL was developed by Russell Pfister, owner of the video-game coaching website Gosucoaching. The source of the funding for the start-up's first season and first season's finals event prize pool were not revealed. Before the start of the NASL's season two in September 2011, multiple season sponsors were announced, including Eizo Nanao Technologies, Kingston HyperX, and iBUYPOWER, Although Starcraft games are one-on-one, head-to-head matches, players are typically sponsored and represented by teams.
(known as "SlayerS_Boxer"), one of Korea's most successful and recognized players, joined the NASL in March. Other notable players include the leading Starcraft progamers Jang Min Chul
("oGs.MC"), Park Sung-Joon
("JulyZerg"), Lee Yun-Yeol
("NaDa"), rival former professional Warcraft 3 players Jang Jae Ho
("Moon") and Manuel Schenkhuizen ("Grubby") as well as caster/player Daniel Stemkoski ("Artosis").
4-3 and walked away with $50,000 in prize money.
StarCraft II
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A sequel to the award-winning 1998 video game StarCraft and its expansions, the game was released worldwide on July 27, 2010...
and Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth is a free-to-play science fantasy, action real-time strategy game developed by S2 Games for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The game was heavily inspired by the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne custom map, Defense of the Ancients and is S2 Games' first game title in the...
. Originally modeled after successful South Korean professional StarCraft leagues, it was founded in 2011 by Russell Pfister and Duncan Stewart. Following the mid-year departure of Stewart, Mark K. Brown was tapped to fill the position of Chief Operating Officer in August 2011, and currently serves in that capacity.
Origins
Professional-level competition in StarCraftStarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
was originally a South Korean phenomenon that began in the early 2000s. Leagues such as Starleague and GOMTV offered 24-hour television coverage and live competitions held in arena venues. However, until the formation of the NASL, North American StarCraft competitions were limited to one-off events hosted by Major League Gaming
Major League Gaming
Major League Gaming , founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso, is a North American professional Electronic sports organization, headquartered in New York City, New York. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada. Major League Gaming...
and smaller gaming associations.
The NASL was developed by Russell Pfister, owner of the video-game coaching website Gosucoaching. The source of the funding for the start-up's first season and first season's finals event prize pool were not revealed. Before the start of the NASL's season two in September 2011, multiple season sponsors were announced, including Eizo Nanao Technologies, Kingston HyperX, and iBUYPOWER, Although Starcraft games are one-on-one, head-to-head matches, players are typically sponsored and represented by teams.
Format
In its first season, the league was made up of 50 StarCraft players divided into 5 divisions. Divisional matches were played weeknights for a nine-week period. Then, in a week-long open invitational tournament, 1000 players competed for a single berth in the league finals. The finals consisted of a sixteen person play-off with the tournament winner receiving $50,000 US out of a total $100,000 US, a record prize pool amount at the time.Notable players
Lim Yo-HwanLim Yo-Hwan
Lim Yo-Hwan , known by the pseudonym SlayerS_`BoxeR` , is one of the most successful players of the real-time strategy computer game StarCraft to date...
(known as "SlayerS_Boxer"), one of Korea's most successful and recognized players, joined the NASL in March. Other notable players include the leading Starcraft progamers Jang Min Chul
Jang Min Chul
Jang Min Chul , nicknamed MC, is a Korean professional player of the computer game StarCraft 2. He has won the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League twice, and as of 2011 is considered one of the top Starcraft 2 players in the world. He is part of the Korean team Old Generations . MC plays...
("oGs.MC"), Park Sung-Joon
Park Sung-Joon
Park Sung-Joon is a professional player of the real-time strategy game StarCraft. He is known by his pseudonym July, a shortened version of JulyZerg...
("JulyZerg"), Lee Yun-Yeol
Lee Yun-Yeol
Lee Yun-Yeol, , also known as '"NaDa", is a South Korean professional gamer who competitively plays StarCraft II and before that, StarCraft: Brood War...
("NaDa"), rival former professional Warcraft 3 players Jang Jae Ho
Jang Jae Ho
Jang "Moon" Jae Ho is a South Korean professional gamer of the popular Blizzard real-time strategy games Warcraft III and StarCraft II. He is seen by many as the best Night Elf player in the world...
("Moon") and Manuel Schenkhuizen ("Grubby") as well as caster/player Daniel Stemkoski ("Artosis").
Season One
The North American Star League's broadcast debut was made on April 5, 2011. After nine weeks of play and a playoff bracket, along with an open qualifier tournament, the Grand Finals of the first season took place July 8–10, 2011 in Ontario, California. In a best of seven series, South Korean player Puma, who clinched the final spot out of the open bracket for the Grand Finals, defeated fellow Korean MCJang Min Chul
Jang Min Chul , nicknamed MC, is a Korean professional player of the computer game StarCraft 2. He has won the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League twice, and as of 2011 is considered one of the top Starcraft 2 players in the world. He is part of the Korean team Old Generations . MC plays...
4-3 and walked away with $50,000 in prize money.
See also
- StarCraft: Brood War professional competition
- Starleague (Ongamenet)
- MBCgame StarleagueMBCgame StarleagueThe MBCgame StarCraft League, also known as MSL, is a StarCraft tournament hosted by MBCGame. The tournament started outin 2002 under the name of KPGA, and in 2003 it was renamed the MSL.-League Championships:-2009 Avalon MSL:...
- GOMTV Global Starcraft II LeagueGOMTV Global Starcraft II LeagueGOMTV Global Starcraft II League is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty tournament hosted by GomTV and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. There is an English stream available for non-Korean viewers. The tournament features two leagues, Code S and Code A...