StarSeries i-League to host $500k event in Shanghai

StarLadder will be amping up their efforts in 2019, starting with StarSeries i-League Season 7. The Ukrainian organizer will be hosting their live event in Shanghai and they will be inviting teams and opening a few qualifier events like previous seasons. What’s new this season is the increased prize pool. With a jump from $300,000 to $500,000, it’s clear that StarLadder’s presence in the scene is only continuining to grow.

Here is everything we know about the upcoming StarSeries i-League Season 7 tournament, the dates, and team invites.

StarSeries i-League S7 Schedule

Whilst the exact venue has yet to be confirmed, StarLadder has made it official – season 7 of the StarSeries i-League tournament will take place in Shanghai. The event will start on March 30 and will run up until April 7.

As you’d expect from such a long event, 16 teams will be participating. 12 of these teams will be invited directly to the tournament, leaving 4 slots for qualifiers. There will be a qualifier for North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, each winner of which qualify for the main event.

StarLadder has also confirmed that they will be moving back to a best of three format for the group stage, which, in our opinion is an excellent choice. We get to see each time really try their best. There’s no room for shock upsets like there are in best of ones, but it means all teams will have equal footing to fight for the playoffs.

The grand final will then be a massive best of five event, with the two remaining teams fighting for a $200,000 first place prize.

The South American qualifier has already been completed. Wild will be the first team to sit on the StarLadder team list. Wild is a Brazilian team that recently won GAMECON Brasilia 2018, which served as the South American qualifier.

With so many events planned for 2019, we would expect that StarLadder are still locking the standard invites. It’s likely we’ll hear more about those in the coming weeks. Likewise, the remaining qualifier events will be announced and planned over the next few weeks as well.

Like previous StarLadder events, any team will have the chance to sign up to the qualifiers, although it’s likely there will be limited team slots open for each region. If you want to try in the qualifiers for your own team, you should keep an eye out on StarLadder’s social channels.

You’ll need to grab the opportunity as soon as the sign up page for the qualifiers open – it won’t take very long for all slots to be taken up. There won’t be any entry fee for the qualifiers, but we’d expect the winners will need to pay for flights and accommodation to the main live event in Shanghai.

What are your thoughts on StarLadder’s continued growth in the esports scene? Personally, I think it’s great to see more organizers having true staying power in the esports industry. It’s especially exciting to see a big organizer located in Central Europe, which is undoubtedly one of the biggest hotspots for rising CS:GO talent.