Held in Dallas this year, the latest pro StarCraft event kicked off late Friday the 15th of March and ran till the 17th. Record numbers of viewers tuned in to see the new expansion pack Heart of the Swarm played at expert levels. The games certainly did not disappoint. The majority of the brackets were filled with the best Korean players in the world.
A few foreigners were in the mix as well but they did get beaten out fairly quickly. Foreigners are what Americans call other Americans when talking about StarCraft players because of how dominate South Korea is in this e-sport. It’s pretty insane.
There was a fairly even amount of players for all races with Protoss having 12 to the 10 each of Zerg and Terran. Even with the extra players, there still was not a Protoss in the final although few would argue that it was because of balance.
The new Heart of the Swarm has a bunch of changes some of which have lead commentators to speculate that the air Protoss units may be too powerful. This was not on display here as arguably the best Protoss in the world, SK MC, ended up in 4th place.
Flash, possibly the best Brood War player in the world made it all the way to second place as well playing as Terran. A nice change of pace in the tournament scene as original StarCraft players have not transitioned very well by all accounts.
The final match between Life and Flash was really a tale of back and forth momentum. Both of the players were very evenly matched and it almost went to the final game in a best of 7. The final score was 4-2 as Life took the final game in a very convincing manner, outwitting Flash and using his incredible multitasking abilities to assault him on all fronts.
This is the second MLG Championship in a row Life has won. His prize this time was a cool $25,000.
A real newcomer to the scene in the end of 2012, Life looks to be the future of professional StarCraft play.
