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If there is a truly legendary real-time strategy, then this certainly will be Starcraft. The original game released in the far 1998 became the award-winning franchise. Many gamers saw the potential of Starcraft to become something more than just an awesome game with a balanced online multiplayer. Overall, original Starcraft is the predecessor of the main RTS esports title nowadays – Starcraft 2.
Starcraft 2 has become a sort of reboot for the series. However, the gameplay did not change significantly in comparison to the first game. Moreover, it preserved the original pace and intensiveness of the gaming experience by adding the advantages of a completely modern graphic engine.
Before we pass to SCII gambling, let’s see what the game is about and view some of its features further.
Firstly, Starcraft II is a complex strategy game that has a pretty sharp learning curve. Just like any game from the real-time strategy genre, Starcraft II requires strong micro and macro management skills. We suggest discussing the game mechanics, understanding which is crucial for SCII betting.
The first part of Starcraft II gameplay is focused on the base construction by setting up multiple core buildings. Every player starts with a predetermined number of resources. There are 2 types of resources in SCII – minerals and vespene gas. In order to create more buildings and eventually develop the base, it is required to extract as many resources as possible.
So, with the help of minerals and vespene gas deposits, the player can unlock new buildings which in turn allow learning new technologies and form an army that consists of different types of troops. The troops in SCII act on the land and in the air – namely land forces and the fleet. However, it is impossible to produce stronger combat units without building all the advanced buildings beforehand.
Once the army is counting dozens or even hundreds of units depending on the chosen race, then it is about time to fulfill the main point of the game – to crush the opponent’s base. However, the player should not overlook the defense of his own base against the enemy army.
10$
Curacao
N/A
10+
2016
5/5
€10
Curacao
€100
15
2015
5/5
$15
GSC
$25
7
2017
5/5
$1
Curacao
No
10+
2017
5/5
$1
Curacao
100%
10+
2017
5/5
0.0005 BTC
Curacao
No
10+
2016
5/5
10$
Curacao
10$
3/5
2007
3/5
$50
Curacao
No
10+
2017
5/5
There are many options to play Starcraft II in Battle.net since the game has several maps and the possibility to have allies. However, the SCII esports match usually represents the fierce duel of professional players in 1v1 mode. This provides a lot of opportunities to bet on SCII.
Before every match, players are expected to pick one of the three-game races. Each Starcraft 2 race is characterized by unique units, gameplay specifics, and strategies. Each faction can be both interesting and fun to play. Let’s name them.
The Terran is the first race to mention here. Basically, this is the human faction that seems to be balanced both for aggressive and defensive gameplay – Terrans are adaptable. Unlike 2 other races, Terrans can construct buildings everywhere they want. Additionally, their base is mobile and it is possible to relocate all the buildings to another place if necessary. Terrans have one of the most destructive weapons in the game – the tactical nuke.
The Zerg. This race is represented by the swarm of insectoid aliens. Playing Zerg is extremely dynamic since they can easily outplay any other race with their enormous number of units. Zergs develop very quickly – they do not need to build a lot of buildings to win. This advantage can be used to crush the game at the early stage – the famous “Zerg Rush”. However, their strength in numbers is perfectly balanced of the overall weakness of Zerg units in comparison to other factions.
The third and final race is the Protoss. This faction features technologically advanced aliens. Although the Protoss units are small in numbers and require substantial micromanagement skills, these units are more powerful than Terrans and Zergs. Protoss has the upper hand in construction, as they do not need to manually generate buildings. The Protoss become swift and strong in the late game, though at the early stages they can be beaten up by other factions.
It is important to admit that the Starcraft II match can be played with people picking identical races against each other. Another fact to consider for SCII betting is that the pro players are usually specialized in one race that they can excellently play.
As we have said earlier, Starcraft II is praised for its unique gameplay and setting. The funny fact is that the release of Starcraft II Wings of Liberty was celebrated in South Korea as the national holiday. The original game was well received in 1998 and so was the sequel.
There is no surprise that SCII has joined and even dominated in esports as the reigning king of the RTS game genre. Furthermore, Starcraft 2 is confidently standing in one row with sensational MOBA games like Dota 2, League of Legends, or Smite. These games have eliminated all other RTS candidates to become major esports. For this reason, more and more online sports bettors ask where to bet on SCII.
Starcraft 2 was balanced to perfection and this is why it is so beloved by gamers. Besides its competitive multiplayer, Starcraft 2 has two huge expansions that provide the players with more hours spent in the single player. The first DLC that came out in 2013 is called the Heart of the Swarm, which is the Zerg campaign pack. In November 2015 the final expansion for the Protoss race was published – Legacy of the Void. This release attracted more active players to SCII on the Battlenet.
Although these expansion packs have introduced some changes to the game, the balance was not reworked drastically. Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of the Starcraft franchise, is introducing only minor modifications of the gameplay not to anger the vast majority of the gaming community. This is a completely different approach to the metagame because in Dota 2 the balance is altered quite often with the different updates.
Starcraft 2 tournaments do not attract less attention than any other esports title. Watching live games can be exciting and each match is different from many sides. Moreover, there are no team fights in the premium tournaments, only player vs player model. Another interesting thing about Starcraft II pro scene is that the prize for the first place really feels like a privilege – the winner earns a lot. Essentially, the prize pool for Starcraft 2 tournaments is very close to those in LoL, Dota 2, or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The main Starcraft 2 event is the World Championship Series, commonly referred to as WCS in the short form. WCS takes place every year and are hosted by Blizzard. The company also cooperates with a great number of sponsors and coordinators. To participate in the World Championship Series, the player has to be personally invited by Blizzard Entertainment. This is why Starcraft 2 pro scene is not easy to enter, as the player should possess a very high skill in this strategy game.
With the fast growth of esports popularity, the prize pools for the key tournaments are increasing too and Starcraft 2 World Championship Series events are not an exception. For instance, in 2016 the total prize pool for WCS was $500,000 in total. For the first place, the pro player got $200,000 prize money. Such prize pools show that placing SCII bets is definitely worthwhile.
WCS is not the only tournament, where professional SCII are competing against each other. Another popular esports event organizer which holds Starcraft 2 competitions is the ESL or Electronic Sports League. To be more specific, the widely watched ESL Starcraft II tournament is known as the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM). For the punters, it is vital to track all the major events, including those of Starcraft 2. To do this, we recommend you to visit the Blizzard WCS Homepage or check the tournament schedule at SCII best betting sites such as Betway.
The alternative source of information is Liquipedia that brings up-to-date about the diverse pro league matches, provides information about the players and their achievements, etc.
Starcraft II is perhaps one of the most successful spectator sports, which means that each major event attracts thousands of gamers to watch the live matches. The “homeland” of the Starcraft series was and always will be South Korea, where the esports part of the game initially emerged. Moreover, almost half of the total sales for the original Starcraft game came from this country. Similar results apply to the release of the sequel as well. Starcraft II Wings of Liberty was sold with 4.5 million copies from its release date in July up to December.
Starcraft II matches gather whole stadiums of viewers that watch the pro players fighting for the prizes. On a side note, the most successful SCII players come from South Korea. The majority of the multimillion prizes was awarded to the South Korean players. Undoubtedly, Starcraft II was the first game to become a major esports discipline.
In order to get solid prizes for betting on Starcraft 2 is to bet at the proficient SCII bookmakers. One of the best sportsbooks with a focus on esports is Betway esports. There you will find all the popular esports titles and favorable odds for all Starcraft 2 events. So what are the betting types accessible for betting on Starcraft II?
The first type of bet does differ much from the traditional sports bets. Basically, the bettor places the wager to predict the winner of the particular SCII match. Although the most-watched Starcraft 2 events feature the series of games where two players go toe to toe, there are special pro leagues that hold 2 vs 2 matches. Nonetheless, the mechanics stay the same but the bettor has to understand each participating team specifics.
Instead of concentrating on a single match, the player can bet on the more global outcome – the winner of the entire tournament or championship. Likewise, the bettor can also put a stake based on the assumption that a certain SCII pro player will win the specific number of matches or how far he will go in the tournament itself.
The great esports online bookmakers such as Pinnacle eSports and Betway eSports offer so-called multiple bet options. This type of wagering allows the player to bet on multiple outcomes for different esports tournaments, where SCII major competitions are included as well. Please that the multiple bets are complex in their nature and present a very big amount of risk to the beginner. However, the payout in the case of successful prediction will be more than just satisfactory.
The last but not the least important SCII bet type in our list is by using the in-game content from Steam games. These items, e.g. from Dota 2 or CS: GO, have real money value. There are special websites dedicated to this type of betting and they provide access to Starcraft II events as well.
Like any other esports title, whether CS: GO, Dota 2, or LoL, it is vital to understand who you are going to bet on. For this reason, it is necessary to get as much useful information as possible. Major sports such as soccer or basketball enjoy a wide range of TV programs and even more websites dedicated to delivering in-depth data analysis after every match is played. This is not the case with esports, including Starcraft II. On the flip side, the best SCII analytical information is mostly available on the Blizzard web page and other sources which are going to discuss further.
In this writing, we have devoted some time to the biggest Starcraft 2 tournament – World Championship Series. The official source of information about these SCII competitions is the WCS Standings on the battle.net. Although you will not access the advanced statistics or some analytical articles on this page, this still can be a good starting point for the player. WCS Standings provide the ranking list of players with the biggest number of WCS points around the globe. These points reflect how successful the player is in comparison to others. The WCS points are also granted for taking part in the specific SCII events. On top of that, every user can access brief pro player bios to get the clearest idea about the background and skill of each top-level player. You can get more information about all this on WCS battle.net.
It is also possible to receive many SCII betting tips by listening to the professional Starcraft 2 esports commentators. During the SCII events, these commentators deliver the most up-to-date information about the pro player’s style, preferences in the strategies, and so on. Starcraft II esports commentators are experts in the game since they spend thousands of hours watching the pro scene. To summarize, from professional commentators you can find out a lot about the following things:
Essentially, SCII is a game with very high barriers to entry, and mastering all the aspects of the game is pretty time-consuming. Besides playing the actual game, bettors can learn a lot from the esports commentators and by following popular SCII streamers on Twitch and Youtube.
Another valuable source of information about Starcraft 2 is Liquipedia, which have mentioned above in this writing. Just to give the basic idea about the content of this site, the bettor is able to check:
Betting SCII seems to be a long-term investment, as the potential to make money on this esports title is growing each year. There is no need to hide the fact that esports are only about to emerge in something truly global like soccer with UEFA, World Cups, etc. The popularity of Starcraft 2 cannot be contested by any other RTS title in esports.
The main types of bets on StarCraft include moneyline betting, handicap, even or odd number of maps. A total number of maps means that all three maps can be played in the match. To do this, players need to win at least one map. Handicap betting means that the first player must win at least one map for a successful bet.
The exact score in StarCraft is much easier to predict than in the same football or hockey. Depending on the format of the match, the player needs to win a certain number of maps to win (no more and no less). For example, a strong player in most cases will win against a weak 2-0 on the maps, provided that the match was held in BO3 (best of three) format.
Depending on your location StarCraft betting might not be a legal option. Everything depends on the regulations and rules of a particular country. Some states prohibit all forms of online betting including eSports games. Before you start looking for bookmakers, check out the legal framework in your country to make sure you do not violate the law. In general, most countries freely allow betting on StarCraft 2 tournaments and matches.
