StarSeries i-League Season 7 announced with $500000 prize pool in Shanghai
StarLadder have announced StarSeries i-League Season 7, the seventh rendition of their sixteen-team seasonal tournament series. The event is set to take place from March 30th to April 7th and has seen a major venue change, with the tournament now taking place in Shanghai, moving over from Kiev.
Along with the move comes a substantial increase in the event's prize pool, with StarLadder now putting $500,000 on the line, up from $300,000 previously featured in past seasons.
While the event has seen substantial changes to its location and prizes, the event will still remain a sixteen-team event, with thirteen invited teams and one team from the N orth American qualifier. Details surrounding the qualifiers are set to be announced this Friday. In addition, StarLadder have invited the Brazilian team WILD, who recently won Gamecon Brasilia 2018, in an effort to help boost the South American scene.
The lone change that was made to the event's format sees the return of best-of-three matches in the Swiss stage. StarLadder previously used this format in Season 5, before briefly reducing the matches to best-of-one's in Season 6, and is currently the only major organizer to boast the use of this format.
ENCE is the current champion of StarSeries i-League, reigning victorious in Season 6 after defeating Vega Squadron in a 3-2 grand final. NRG have been the strongest North American contender for the past two seasons, reaching the semifinals of last season and falling to Natus Vincere in the grand finals of Season 5.
