StarCraft II Proleague

StarCraft II Proleague, also known as StarCraft Proleague or Proleague for short, was the longest running StarCraft league in the world and the most prestigious team league. Hosted by the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA), the league was played offline in South Korea. Proleague began in 2003 with the game StarCraft: Brood War before switching over to StarCraft II in 2011 and then discontinued in 2016. It was broadcast by SPOTVGames prior to being discontinued.

StarCraft II Proleague
SportStarCraft, StarCraft II
Founded2003
Ceased2016
CountrySouth Korea
ContinentAsia
Last
champion(s)		Jin Air Green Wings
Most titlesSK Telecom T1
Official websiteProleague Official Page (Korean)

History

In 2003, the game broadcasting company MBCGame created the KPGA Team League, the first major team league in StarCraft professional competition.[1] MBCGame's competitor, OnGameNet created their own team league in response and so two major team leagues were active in the early 2000s.

In 2005, KeSPA merged the two team leagues to create the Proleague, a unified league.[1] SK Telecom T1 swept the first two rounds of the newly formed league and ended up winning the grand finals as well to be the first champion. From its inception, the Proleague format had the teams alternate between 1vs1 and 2vs2 games in a best of five or best of seven match. However, the 2vs2 matches were discontinued in 2008, leaving only 1vs1 games.[2] After the 2008 season, the format of Proleague changed again to span a longer portion of the year, typically starting from the end of one year and ending in the Fall of the next. The 2009 – 2010 season led to the creation of the modern Proleague format where teams face off each other in four or five rounds of round robin. At the end of the season, the highest scoring teams face off in a single-elimination playoffs bracket to determine the champion.

Prior to the release of StarCraft II in 2010, Blizzard Entertainment, disputed with KeSPA over intellectual property rights of broadcasting StarCraft games.[3] This put pressure on KeSPA and in 2011 the case was resolved with an eSports commentator noting that the case was a push to expand the broadcasting market into StarCraft II.[4] The 2011 – 2012 Proleague ended up being a transitional season for the league as featured both Brood War and Wings of Liberty. Each match was played alternating between Brood War and Wings of Liberty, with each player having to prepare for both games as well.[5] Following the closure of MBCGame in 2012, SPOTVGames broadcast Proleague alongside OnGameNet.[1]

The full transition into StarCraft II came into place for the 2012 – 2013 season which also featured EG-TL, a partnership between rivals Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses which made them the first non-Korean team to play in Proleague.[6] EG-TL did not achieve much success in Proleague and ultimately pulled out of the league in the following season. OnGameNet stopped broadcasting Proleague starting the 2013 – 2014 season, leaving SPOTVGames as the sole broadcaster for the league.[7]

KeSPA announced on October 18, 2016, that Proleague would be discontinued citing sponsorship issues, declining amount of professional teams, and match fixing scandals.[8]

Tournaments

OnGameNet and MBCGame Leagues

MBCGame hosted their first major team league in 2003.[1]

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-up
20032003 KeMongSa KPGA Tour Team LeagueSuma GO3–1STX SouL
20032003 LifeZone KPGA Team LeagueSuma GO3–2Hanbit Stars
2003–20042003–2004 LG IBM MBC Team LeagueSK Telecom T13–2KTF MagicNs
20042004 Tucsan MBCGame Team League ISK Telecom T14–3Suma GO
20042004 Tucsan MBCGame Team League IISK Telecom T14–3Suma GO
2004–20052004–2005 MBCMovies MBCGame Team LeagueSuma GO3–2WeMade FOX

OnGameNet also hosted their own team competitions in 2003 and 2004.

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-up
20032003 KTF EVER CupSK Telecom T13–0Woongjin Stars
20032003 Neowiz Pmang CupSuma GO3–0Pantech EX
20042004 SKY Proleague Grand FinalHanbit Stars4–2Pantech & Curitel Curriors

United League

OnGameNet and MBCGame came together to host Proleague starting in 2005.

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-up
2005SKY Proleague Grand FinalSK Telecom T14–2KTF MagicNs
2006SKY Proleague Grand FinalMBCGame HERO4–3Pantech EX
20072007 Shinhan Proleague Grand FinalLecaf OZ4–2Samsung KHAN
2008Shinhan Bank ProleagueSamsung KHAN4–1Hite SPARKYZ
2008–2009Shinhan Bank ProleagueSK Telecom T12–0Hwaseung OZ
2009–2010Shinhan Bank ProleagueKT Rolster4–2SK Telecom T1
2010–2011Shinhan Bank ProleagueKT Rolster4–3SK Telecom T1
2011–2012SK Planet Proleague Season 1SK Telecom T14–3KT Rolster

Hybrid League
StarCraft II Proleague Season 2 grand final at the Jamsil Students' Gymnasium

Prior to the switch to StarCraft II, the 2011 – 2012 SK Planet Proleague Season 2 league featured both games.

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-up
2011–2012SK Planet Proleague Season 2CJ Entus2–0Samsung KHAN

StarCraft II Leagues

Proleague fully switched to StarCraft II starting with the 2012 – 2013 season.

YearName of TournamentWinnerResult of FinalRunner-up
2012–20132012 – 2013 SK Planet ProleagueSTX SouL4–2Woongjin Stars
2013–20142014 SK Telecom ProleagueKT Rolster4–2SK Telecom T1
2014–20152015 SK Telecom ProleagueSK Telecom T14–2Jin Air Green Wings
20162016 SK Telecom ProleagueJin Air Green Wings4–0KT Rolster

Teams

For the 2016 season, the final season, there were 7 teams in Proleague.[9]

Prize Pool

The prize pool for the grand finals of the 2014 – 2015 Proleague season was a total of 70,000,000 KRW. In addition, each round had its own separate prize pool and additional awards were given out to outstanding players.

PlaceAmount (KRW)
1st50,000,000
2nd20,000,000

See also

References
  1. "MBCGame: In Memoriam". January 31, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  2. "스타2 프로리그 2014, 프리시즌 이벤트전 개최" [StarCraft 2 Proleague 2014, Pre-season Event Information] (in Korean). December 11, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  3. "StarCraft Losing in Gaming League". May 19, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  4. "Blizzard – KeSPA license official". May 17, 2011.
  5. "[SPL] Opening Day". May 20, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  6. "Unholy Alliance". December 4, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  7. "[스타2] SK텔레콤 스타크래프트2 프로리그 2014시즌 – 미디어데이 (+ 사진)" [[StarCraft II] SK Telecom StarCraft 2 Proleague 2014 Season – Media Day (and Pictures)] (in Korean). December 14, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  8. "KeSPA announces discontinuation of StarCraft ProLeague". October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  9. "Proleague Media Day". Retrieved February 16, 2016.
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