Tournaments

In season two of the IGN Pro League, we are offering an expanded player pool and a $50,000 prize pool in addition to our proven quality of broadcast. The top four players from last season will be joined by 28 top level pros from around the world, selected from an open qualifier system, to fight it out and see who is the best and take home the gold!

The eSports division of IGN Entertainment is happy to announce IGN Pro League season two, offering an expanded player pool and a USD $50,000 prize pool. This comes following the success of the first season, an invitational tournament that exemplified the quality of IPL players and demonstrated high production value. In season two, the IPL will be broadening the player pool with an open qualifier to include competitors from the North American, South American and European servers. The top four players from season one have received automatic qualifier spots for season two. The remaining 28 spots will be awarded through IGN's open qualifier system, powered by Z33K. Z33K, a tournament web service, will maintain the IPL qualifiers and ensure it is a smooth and efficient process.

The goal of the IGN eSports division is to provide a professional, polished viewing experience to fans of eSports while supporting the development of eSports globally through a sustainable tournament system that rewards its players. IPL 2 will be the first full-fledged StarCraft II tournament for IGN Entertainment; the aim is to repeat success and grow out eSports at IGN and beyond.

Get the latest developments

Get the latest developments from IGN Pro League headquarters by following us:
http://www.youtube.com/user/IGNProLeague
http://www.facebook.com/IGNProLeague
http://twitter.com/IGNProLeague
http://www.justin.tv/ignproleague

Qualified Players

  • Seed 1: EGIdrA
  • Seed 2: ROOTKiWiKaKi
  • Seed 3: dSeleCT
  • Seed 4: EGAxslav
  • Seed 5: 1st Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 6: 1st Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 7: 1st Place Qualifier #3
  • Seed 8: 1st Place Qualifier #4
  • Seed 9: 2nd Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 10: 2nd Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 11: 2nd Place Qualifier #3
  • Seed 12: 2nd Place Qualifier #4
  • Seed 13: 3rd Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 14: 3rd Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 15: 3rd Place Qualifier #3
  • Seed 16: 3rd Place Qualifier #4
  • Seed 17: 4th Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 18: 4th Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 19: 4th Place Qualifier #3
  • Seed 20: 4th Place Qualifier #4
  • Seed 21: 5th Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 22: 5th Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 23: 5th Place Qualifier #3
  • Seed 24: 6th Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 25: 6th Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 26: 6th Place Qualifier #3
  • Seed 27: 7th Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 28: 7th Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 29: 7th Place Qualifier #3
  • Seed 30: 8th Place Qualifier #1
  • Seed 31: 8th Place Qualifier #2
  • Seed 32: 8th Place Qualifier #3

Qualifier Information

All matches at 10:30 AM PDT / 1:30 PM EDT / 7:30 PM CEST

  • May 7-8: Qualifier #1 (Top 8 advance to Main Event)
  • May 14-15: Qualifier #2 (Top 8 advance to Main Event)
  • May 21-22: Qualifier #3 (Top 8 advance to Main Event)
  • May 28-29: Qualifier #4 (Top 4 advance to Main Event)

HOW DO I SIGN UP?


1) Go to http://www.z33k.com
2) Register an account
3) Click on 'Profile'
4) Click on 'Account'
5) Fill out your NORTH AMERICAN SERVER BNet Character Name, Character Code, Race, League and MAKE SURE TO COPY/PASTE YOUR BATTLE.NET PROFILE URL into the designated space
6) Either find the first qualifier tournament on the website or go to this link: http://www.z33k.com/starcraft2/tournaments/710-ign-pro-league-season-two-qualifier-1
7) Click 'Sign me up!'
8) Join the IPL group for automatic notifications of when Qualifiers 2, 3 and 4 come online.
9) Remember to check back in one hour before start time to check in and secure your spot. If you do not check in your spot will be forfeited!

Restrictions

  • Player must be in a Master or Grand Master league on the North American, South American or European ladder to participate and LIVE in one of those regions.
  • All games must be played on the North American server for both the qualifier and the main event.
  • Acccount sharing is not allowed, players must own a North American account.
  • By signing up for the qualifiers, it is agreed that the player will be available on the following dates leading up to the main event of the tournament (in the event that the player is eligible):
  • On June 11th we will do WR 1, WR 2 and LR 1, LR 2
  • On June 12th we will do WR 3, WR 4 and LR 3, LR 4, LR 5
  • On June 18th we will do WR Finals and LR 6, LR 7
  • On June 19th we will do LR Finals and Grand Finals

If you will be at Dreamhack we will work with you to play your games early! No exceptions will be tolerated for the scheduled dates unless you have a seriously urgent issues. If a player wins a qualifying spot and fails to be present for the tournament, IGN reserves the right to find the next highest finisher from the qualifier as a replacement. The penalty for a qualifier no show is a two season ban for future IPL qualifiers.

Seeding


The top 4 finishers from IPL 1 receive seeds 1 through 4 in order of their finishes. The place awarded to the player in the qualifiers will determine the seed for the IPL 2 Main Event, descending from seed 5, in order of qualifier. For example, if a player were to finish first in the first qualifier, he will receive the overall seed of 5. If a player finished first in the second qualifier, he would receive the overall seed of 6.

Casting


IGN eSports is trying to figure out a way to improve normal qualifier viewer experience, which normally consists of wasting large amounts of viewer time while casters are trying to find games or are waiting for players to finish games. For the IPL 2 Qualifiers anyone will be able to check out the brackets up to the round of 32, and then at that point the games will still be played, but the results and replays will not be public. During the following week a crew of hand-picked casters will be commentating some of the best matches from the Round of 32 and beyond for your enjoyment! Full details can be found at the broadcast schedule.

On Fridays we will reveal the full Round of 32 bracket and update our website with those who qualified!

Thank you everyone who applied to cast the IPL 2 Qualifiers - we got flooded with applications and we really appreciate the interest. The casters picked to cast the IPL 2 Qualifiers does not necessarily mean they will be casting the IPL 2 Main Event so your applications should still be considered still active until we make final decisions for IPL 2!

Rules

All qualifier rules are located at the tournament page on Z33K - http://www.z33k.com/starcraft2/tournaments/710-ign-pro-league-season-two-qualifier-1

IPL2 Main Event Information

Commentators

  • LGPainUser
  • CatsPajamas
  • More will be announced

Format

  • 32 Player Double Elimination
  • First 3 Winner's Rounds: Best of 3
  • Winner's 4rd Round and Winner's Round Finals are Best of 5
  • irst 5 Loser's Rounds: Best of 3
  • 6th and 7th Loser's Rounds and Loser's Round Finals: Best of 5
  • Finals are Best of 5

Map Pool

  • MLG Metalopolis
  • MLG Shattered Temple
  • MLG Shakuras Plateau
  • MLG Xel'Naga Caverns
  • GSL Cross Fire SE
  • GSL Crevasse
  • GSL Terminus SE
  • SL Tal'Darim Altar

Prizes


$50,000 total prize pool, exact breakdown to be revealed at a later date.

In addition, the top 16 finishers from this event will be automatically qualified for IPL 3. After the conclusion of IPL 2, four qualifiers will occur where the top four players will advance to IPL 3.

The eSports team at IGN Entertainment looks forward to providing viewers with quality matches and an exciting tournament. Please tune in to catch the action!

IGN Entertainment and its eSports division is excited to announce the IGN Pro League! The first season of the IPL is an invitational tournament to showcase what we can provide to you, the viewer, as well as serving as a test run for us for all of our new production and operations mechanisms. 16 players representing 9 different North American based clans will be competing for a prize pool of $5,000 and 4 automatic qualifier spots for IPL Season 2!

The goal of the IPL is to bring a professional, polished viewing experience to fans of eSports, as well as supporting the development of eSports both nationally and internationally through a sustainable tournament system that rewards those who play in it.

Players

Zerg Protoss Terran
ROOTCatZ FnaticMSITTI SeleCT
FXOSheth ROOTKiwikaki VTSpades
EGIdrA ROOTMinigun ROOTdrewbie
EGMachine LGAgh FnaticFenix
sixjaxViBE EGiNcontroL coLstalife
  EGAxslav  

Commentators

  • DJ Wheat
  • Total Biscuit
  • HDStarcraft and LGPainUser

Schedule

All matches at 8:00 pm EST

  • Thursday, April 21: 6 Sets of Winner's Round 1
  • Friday, April 22: 2 Sets of Winner's Round 1 and Winner's Round 2
  • Saturday, April 23: Loser's Round 1
  • Sunday, April 24: Loser's Round 2
  • Thursday, April 28: Winner's Round 3 and Loser's Round 3
  • Friday, April 29: Loser's Round 4 and Loser's Round 5
  • Saturday, April 30: Winner's Round 4 and Loser's Round 6
  • Sunday, May 1: Finals

Format

  • 16 Player Double Elimination
  • First 2 Winner's Rounds: Best of 3
  • Winner's 3rd Round and Winner's Semifinals are Best of 5
  • First 3 Loser's Rounds: Best of 3
  • 4th, 5th, 6th Loser's Rounds: Best of 5
  • Finals are Best of 7

Brackets

Map Pool

  • MLG Metalopolis
  • MLG Shattered Temple
  • MLG Shakuras Plateau
  • MLG Xel'Naga Caverns
  • GSL Cross Fire SE
  • GSL Crevasse
  • GSL Terminus RE
  • GSL Tal'Darim Altar

Prizes

  • 1st - $2500
  • 2nd - $1500
  • 3rd - $1000

In addition, the top 4 finishers from this event will be automatically qualifiers for IPL 2! Check out more details on IPL 2 below.

I want to emphasize that this is our test run for future events and we welcome any and all constructive criticism or advice you all have!

The whole eSports team here at IGN Entertainment looks forward to providing you all with some great quality matches and an exciting tournament. We hope you all tune in to catch the action!

FAQ

What about the North American Star League? Are you trying to edge them out?

Absolutely not. We have a good relationship with the NASL and intend on keeping it as such. We believe there is room for both of us to exist and thrive. The IPL and NASL both succeeding means nothing but good things for eSports.

What are the details about IPL Season 2?

The basic rundown is that it will be a 2 month long, 32 player tournament, with the 4 automatic qualifiers from IPL Season 1 plus we plan to do a massive qualifier tournament for the other 28 spots. That's right; the other 28 spots will be filled through a semi-open qualifier. I say semi-open because there will be restrictions on who can compete in terms of geographical location and skill level. We want to, and plan to, include as many areas of the world and skill levels as we can but we cannot promise anything outside of North America right now. We will release more details on how you can qualify as IPL Season 1 progresses.

Why only $5,000 for Season 1?

$5,000 is the maximum you can give as prize money before you have to jump a bunch of hoops with Blizzard. We're working with Blizzard in regards to our future events but for now, for our test run, we're just working with that amount. Also, not to say that $5,000 is an insignificant amount, but our future events will significantly eclipse that mark.

How many seasons is this going to run?

Our goal is not to burn out after making promises we can't deliver on, so each season's prize pool is scaled to make sure it is sustainable. We are not keeping a single dime of revenue for ourselves for the first couple of seasons, but are instead re-investing whatever we make from streams and ads back into eSports to fund our events. Ideally we will go on for years with ever increasing prize pools as more and more people tune in and follow the IPL!

Any plans for something like GOM TV's Code S and Code A?

We do not plan on having multiple divisions of the league running, however the current plan for IPL Season 2 and beyond is for the top 16 to automatically qualify for the next season with the bottom 16 dropping out and refilling our league from another set of open qualifiers.

How can I help?

We have absolutely crazy growth potential in terms of production capacity and prize pool if we can get the viewership numbers to warrant a large cash infusion into IGN eSports. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your parents, tell random people on the street! Get them excited about IGN and StarCraft 2 eSports!

Who are you working with on this project?

We're working closely with Justin.tv to provide a great viewing experience for all of our viewers. In addition, we have hired on the team at Well Played Productions to assist with our post-production efforts to make the IPL as polished and professional as possible.