With over 40 StarCraft 2 events taking place each year, esports bettors are spoiled for choice when it comes to betting opportunities. The biggest events feature large prize pools of up to $50,000 for winning participants, but you can win big too! Not sure where to start? Our guide to betting on StarCraft 2 is sure to bring you up to speed.
Beginner’s Guide to StarCraft 2
What, Where and When?
StarCraft 2 is generally regarded as the greatest real-time strategy game ever created. The game is divided into three installments: Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. Not long after the base game’s 2010 release, StarCraft 2 became a hugely successful eSport title.
The highly-anticipated follow up to 1998’s StarCraft, StarCraft 2 is a military science-fiction game brought to us by Blizzard Entertainment. If you’re not familiar with Blizzard, you’re likely to know a few of their many successful titles, including Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and the Warcraft, World of Warcraft and Diablo series.
The game is now is an established esport with a flourishing professional scene. StarCraft 2 matches and tournaments take place almost every month, bringing together the very best pros and fans from around the world. Some of the most prestigious premier events include the World Championship Series, Intel Extreme Masters and the Global StarCraft 2 League. These tournaments take place across the globe, with previous events taking place in China, Canada and Germany.
Who to back?
For those new to the scene, it may seem tempting to simply back the odds on a favourite when betting on esports. You’ll find that the world’s best, including Maru, Classic, Rogue, Serral, Stats, Dark and soO, will be the sportsbook favourites in most matches. While it’s likely that this strategy will land you a few winners, the bookmaker isn’t always right. Having a thorough understanding and knowledge of the StarCraft 2 esports scene will allow you to take advantage of such opportunities and find some great value for your bet slip.
Aside from keeping up with the top tournaments through live streams, punters can benefit from taking a statistical approach to making picks. Many esports bettors look at head-to-head records, recent form, map-based stats and race-based stats when trying to pick out their best bet at an esports betting site.
StarCraft 2 Betting Markets
Once you’ve done your research, you’ll be ready to place your bets. Here’s a list of the most popular StarCraft 2 betting markets:
- Match winner: for this type of bet, simply pick the winner of a particular match. Most StarCraft 2 matches are settled in a best-of-3 or best-of-5 format.
- Handicap: In lopsided battles between odds on favourites and massive underdogs, you’ll find there’s little value in the match result market. Instead, bet on the handicap. The handicap levels the playing field and gets you a much better price. You’re simply betting that a certain team will win a particular match while starting with either an advantage or a handicap, such as being 1.5 maps behind or 1.5 maps ahead.
- Map winner: here, you are betting on the result of a particular map within a match. This type of bet is comparable to betting on the result of a game within a Tennis match.
- Tournament winner: here, you’re betting on a certain team to win a particular tournament.
- Tournament finalist: this market allows you to pick a team to make the finals.
- Race of tournament winner: this type of bet is available before the start of a tournament, allowing you to pick the race (Terrans, Zerg or Protoss) of the winner.
How to play StarCraft 2
StarCraft 2 is a fast-paced esport game with matches that usually last between 5 and 15 minutes. The game is incredibly difficult to master, with the very best players dedicating a huge amount of time to rank among the best StarCraft 2 players.
In professional competitions, StarCraft 2 matches are played in a player vs player format. The two adversaries can choose one of three races – Terrans, Zerg and Protoss and then spawn at different locations on a given map. Each of them begins the game with a base structure: Command Center for Terrans, Hatchery for Zerg and Nexus for Protoss, as well as a set of units that can be used to gather resources and build additional structures.
The first objective for both players is to gather minerals and Vespene gas. These resources can then be used to build structures and units. The next objectives are to build worker and fighter units, expand on the map by creating additional bases, and evolve technologically. As the game advances, players usually explore the map in search of one another. At any given moment, they can send units to attack their opponent. The final objective is to destroy all of your opponent’s buildings or force them to surrender.
Bet on StarCraft 2
Now that we’ve taken you through everything you need to know about betting on StarCraft 2, you’ll be betting like an esports pro in no time! Fancy a flutter? We’ve carefully curated a list of the very best esports betting sites on the market. It’s jam-packed full of the top bonuses, esports markets and promos available online. Simply compare, sign up and place your bets!
