StarCraft Betting Sites & Review
StarCraft is a very complex and involved real-time strategy game that relies on careful micromanagement of many different units and buildings, as well as knowledge of how to properly utilise in game currencies to grow strong. First emerging with the first StarCraft in 1998, for many it was the first big esports title to emerge as it was largely played across Asia, and it wasn’t until the big release of StarCraft 2 in 2010 that the game was really able to take off internationally and for a while remained as the biggest esports title in the world and being the first game to feature heavily on streaming platforms and online broadcasts.
Whilst the audience and player base has shrunk a lot over the years, it still certainly holds its place as one of the most impactful esports that helped build the industry and led the way for modern games like League of Legends and Valorant.
StarCraft 2 Top Betting sites
BETTING SITE | WELCOME BONUS | EDITOR RATING | PLAY | |
1 |  | 225% + 225 Free Spins | 4.9/5 | |
2 |  | 100% up to 1 BTC | 4.8/5 | |
3 |  | 100% Up to $30 | 4.5/5 | |
4 |  | 100% Up to $300 | 4.3/5 | |
5 |  | 100% Up to $100 | 4.2/5 |
How StarCraft 2 is played, and what you need to know
In the simplest fashion, StarCraft is played by building an army, farming for resources, and eventually overwhelming your opponent to destroy their main base. Just starting out, players will have access to a few basic units that can gather resources as well as some basic buildings, and over the course of the game they will have to expand the collection of these resources and enhance the buildings they have access to in order to gain new units and more powerful upgrades too – there are three different races or factions to choose from within the game, the Protoss, the Terrans, and the Zerg. Each have their own individual benefits and units and will change the way the game is approached for the top players each time. There aren’t too many terms that you need to know about the game but understanding the game itself does take quite some time as the skill curve is renowned for being one of the highest in esports, particularly as the best players have shown just how good they are.
APM – Standing for actions per minute, StarCraft is well known for the fact that the best players hold extremely fast and impressive actions per minute. Whilst not entirely necessary in order to succeed in the game as high APM is only really needed in very specific circumstances, it is a trend that has carried over to other games too as some professional players feel high APM can help in all instances – the most notable was from a player by the name of Park Sung-Joon, who had a record APM of 818.
Macro – Standing for Macromanagement, it is a part of the game that involves creating new buildings, researching the upgrades those buildings have to offer, and expanding your army and training it to be stronger. Depending on the state of the game, the progression path you follow could change drastically and the way you play your macro may change considerably too, with the start often remaining the same – understanding good macro play is a very important part of succeeding in this game, and it’s something that has been passed down to other games that require on good macro play in order to succeed too.
Micro – As the opposite of macromanagement, micromanagement is the process of controlling more individual units. This is something where the high APM factor comes into the game, the ability to correctly micro your units to control the outcome of a fight or to move your units around the map is often considered to be one of the most important parts of the game, and the ability to do it quickly is well sought after. The ability to change your units positioning or target in a fight can drastically change the outcome, as such having high APM combined with great micro can be the big difference maker, and good macro on top can provide a big difference too.
Which platforms can compete with StarCraft?
StarCraft was only released on the PC platform and as such was the only competitive platform available for StarCraft esports, with the requirement of keyboard and mouse to play it would have been inaccessible for console players. With no plans to release another StarCraft game as of yet either, it’s unlikely that any platform other than PC will ever see a StarCraft release.
StarCraft Betting & Types of Bets
As a whole, StarCraft doesn’t have too many unique markets to bet on for the game – the typical options are;
Match Winner – It can be labelled different across different betting sites, but it’s ultimately which player will win in a single game or a best of series. In professional play, the best players typically have an ELO or rating which can determine the odds, two players with a very similar rating will typically have much closer odds, players with a greater difference in skill come with a greater difference in odds too – but match records can also have an impact on the odds here too.
Map Winner – If it’s a best of 3 or best of 5, different maps will be played which will ultimately impact the overall match winner – you are able to bet on these individual maps however, so even if you feel Player A may win the whole match, you can bet that Player B may win map two or three. The same odds rules apply to the above too, which can influence your winnings.
Correct Map Score – A combination of both above, you can bet on what the overall score of the game will be – whether that’s a 3-0 stomp, a 3-2, or any combination thereof. The same odds rules apply just the same here also.
Outright/Tournament Winner – As the name would suggest, this type of esports betting is placed ahead of a tournament or during to bet on the overall winner of an event – odds rules are a little different here, much like futures betting if you place a bet well ahead of time, you’re likely to get much better esport betting odds than if you place later on in a tournament and retain those better odds to someone who places a bet later on too.
StarCraft Tournaments and Prize Pools
Tournaments for StarCraft have become a little sparse over the years, but there are still plenty of ongoing LAN and Online tournaments. During the height of it’s popularity, the game would host up to 50 major events per year with prize pools ranging from $20,000 all the way up to $250,000 for the biggest – the majority of these events were LAN events too which saw some of the biggest talents travel around the world to compete for their chance to win big.
Modern options are much different, however, with only 15 currently scheduled major events for the year with prize pools having not changed in that same period of time ranging from $25,000 to the highest currently being at $118,000. The majority of these events are also hosted online too, as many of the bigger LAN events don’t have the same draw for either StarCraft players or StarCraft fans, so it’s much more difficult to host the biggest events. The majority of the biggest games are played in Asia where South Korea still has a popular StarCraft 2 scene, but other regions rarely hold events these days and international players are fewer and far between.
How to gain an edge with StarCraft wagering
It has become more difficult over time to gain a significant edge with betting on StarCraft games as many of the bigger streamers are only represented on less accessible streaming sites, but the best tip for getting started is to seek out the best players in the world and to look at their streaming schedules to see if you can catch them live. It’ll help gain a better understanding of the game with information more specific to the highest levels of play and may provide some insights into what make these players the best. Alternatively, there’s over two decades of tournament play and high-end gameplay content too, whether this be from official events or from fan made options too and looking back through these clips can provide the same.
Every esports title also have the benefit of the huge fan followings that catalogue each match and big event too, so there are plenty of statistics available through both retired and active players too, if there’s an event upcoming and you know all possible fixtures, then looking at the past results certain players have had in specific events and against specific players too can give an edge as you see the likely odds of them winning, not just from the perspective of the bookmaker but also from the perspective of actual performance too.
As with all esports titles too, hands on experience will always provide an edge, so if you’re not scared of the huge learning curve then playing the game will certainly provide enough insight to help you get started, and perhaps even to help develop a passion for the game which effectively built esports and the reason why many big games today have been able to reach the heights they have.
Star Craft 2 Betting Conclusion
Although certainly on a downward trend, StarCraft is undeniably one of the most important games in all of esports history, and whilst betting options are far fewer than they once were, it still has a very dedicated and passionate fan base keeping the game alive. There’s no certainty when all events will end particularly as they become fewer and fewer as each year passes, but it’s an incredibly complex and rewarding title to learn, and gaining an understanding will help better appreciate all modern esports titles and how they have also grown in the way they have.