How it works

Starcraft II

esl pro tour ranking

The ESL Pro Tour Ranking is the connective tissue between all tournaments under the ESL Pro Tour and is the core mechanic behind the Road To Katowice. As in 2019, the ranking will cover Korean tournaments, the ESL Pro Tour as well as global tournaments. Players throughout the year will collect  points from their region as they look to qualify to the Masters Championship at IEM Katowice.
road to mechanic

All points gathered on the Road To Katowice will count towards the IEM Katowice Masters Championship of 2021.

From Zero to Hero 

ESL OPEN Cups
The ESL Open Cups will allow all aspiring professionals and talented players, based in Europe, Korea and North America, to participate in weekly tournaments. These will contribute 15 points towards the ESL Pro Tour ranking and $400* in prize money, each tournament, each region, each week. These tournaments are open for all players, there are no regional restrictions.
0
Cups
0
Weeks a year
0
Regions
$ 0 *
Prize money
+ 0
EPT Points
*All cups receive a $300 increase (+300%) and will move from Sunday to Monday starting May 18th ending January 18th, 2021.
How a Season Works
All SC2 tournaments in 2020 will take place online as multi regional competitions, with a return to offline events expected in 2021. There will be 3 seasons of competitive play, each season will consist of 6 regional divisions. Each season will be played across a 5-6 week period starting with qualifiers and concluding with a Season Finals.
June - July

DH SC2 Masters:

Summer
August - September
CS:GO

DH SC2 Masters:

Fall
September - November
CS:GO

DH SC2 Masters:

Winter

Detailed Season: Divisions

Qualifiers

  • Europe
  • North America
  • Latin America
  • China
  • Oceania/ROA
  • TW/HK/MACAU/JP

Week 1

  • OCE/ROA
  • TW/HK/MACAU/JP
  • Europe
  • Latin America
OCE & SEA Winners Crowned

Week 2

CN Winner Crowned

Week 3

EU, NA Winners Crowned

Season Finals

The season final introduces global competition. Once regional divisions conclude and the best players from each have been crowned, each division will take their top finishing player(s) to compete for the title of Season Champion. This will include players from South Korea, bringing the world together for a weekend of global competition.

New Format
ESL Pro Tour points will split regionally, each region competing within their own division for positions at the Masters Championship.

regional divisions

Europe

32 player

8x EPT ranking
24x qualifier
North America

16 player

4x EPT ranking
12x qualifier
Latin America

8 player

2x EPT ranking
6x qualifier
China

8 player

2x EPT ranking
6x qualifier
OCEANIA/ROA

8 player

2x EPT ranking
6x qualifier
TW/HK/MAC/JPN

8 player

2x EPT ranking
6x qualifier

Prize Money per Season

Each of 3 Seasons in 2020  get the same amount of prize money.

Total $238,500

Championship distribution

Each region will be allocated qualification slots to IEM Katowice 2021.

DivisionEUNALACNTW/HKOCEKRGSLKatowice
Winner		tbd
Ro 24 (20)5211 0 07211
Ro 36 (16)​2111218 0 0 0
Total spots: 3673222115111
EU: Europe | NA: North America | LA: Latin America | CN:China | TW/HK:Taiwan/Hongkong/Japan/Macau | OCE: Oceania/ROA | KR: South Korea | GSL: Global Starcraft League
masters championship
The Masters Championship takes place once per year, with a prize pool of $500,000 in 2021. The Championship will be a week long tournament, as originally designed, 36 players will travel to IEM Katowice 2021. The Masters Championship will take place at IEM Katowice where 36 of the best players compete for the crown of World Champion.
Prize pool: $500,000

RegionAL COMPETITION

Competition is now six regional divisions that compete in three seasons. A season is 5-6 weeks and players collect points to secure their RO24 or RO36 spot per region at IEM Katowice Masters Championship 2021.

Masters Championship

Bigger & Better! The new “Global Playoffs” moves from BlizzCon to Katowice. Formally it was 8 circuit players vs 8 from Korea. Now it’s expected to be about 18 vs 18. The tournament now has 36 of the best players compete for the crown of World Champion.

10 Year Anniversary

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of SC2 and the release of the new ESL Pro Tour system, all tournaments will see a significant prize pool boost totalling an additional $325,000. Happy birthday SC2!

3 YEAR COMMITMENT

ESL & Blizzard have created a partnership that will see the ESL Pro Tour for SC2 run through 2020, 2021, 2022 and into the start of 2023.

pRIZE POOL & POINTS

Both the prize pools and point system have been reworked and rebalanced to a more detailed flatter system.