UPDATE: The semifinal round is set. Here are the match-ups:

MATCH ONE: OriginOfBob vs ShadeS

MATCH TWO: EdenWirefly vs Serge

The first round was:

MATCH ONE: OriginOfBob vs SeraphArc

MATCH TWO: Courageous vs ShadeS

MATCH THREE: Dude vs EdenWirefly

MATCH FOUR: RKnine vs Serge

Updates will be made available as matches here as matches are played. Be sure to stay in contact with me (OriginOfBob) to coordinate your match schedule.

Alright readers, here we go! Tournament time.

Starcraft II is upon us, and good gravy is it ever delicious. So, before we have a huge skill gap develop between people who have played it for 20,000 hours and those who have played it for 3, it’s time to meet one another in glorious combat.

The Astringent Gaming Journal presents: The Astringent Gaming Starcraft II Open!

The tournament will start on Wednesday, August 4th. Registration is due NO LATER THAN Monday, August 2nd. You have all day on Monday, but the first minute of Tuesday will be considered LATE.

To enter, send an email to originofbob@astringentgaming.com, with the following information:

• Subject must contain the words “Starcraft II”
• Your real name
• Your name in Starcraft II
• Your Starcraft II friend code (found by hovering your mouse over your profile image)
• Your shirt size

The top four finishers will receive totally sweet T-shirts commemorating the event. I will post a picture here as soon as the design is finalized. You may also achieve mild fame, because many of the matches will end up posted on my YouTube channel, TAGJStarcraft2. All matches that get posted on YouTube will be getting commentary tracks done by me! Woo. (If someone out there can help me set up a UStream or something for future tournaments, please get in touch with me.)

I, OriginOfBob, will also be adding you as a friend in Starcraft II. I would like to be a spectator in as many matches as possible, but if I can’t, at least one player is required to email me the replay, or the match will be considered void and both players will be disqualified. I will be getting in touch with all players through their Starcraft II accounts and/or email addresses regarding the scheduling of matches. It will be your responsibility to make sure the match gets played. If a match time is agreed upon, any player who is a no-show will be disqualified after 30 minutes of absence.

We will be using only official Blizzard maps. They are as follows:

• Agria Valley
• Crossfire
• Xel’Naga Caverns
• Nightmare
• Terminus
• Lost Temple (only as a tiebreaker)

All matches will be best of three, with the exception of the finals, which will be best of five. To determine which map is played first, players will take turns voting against a map, until one is left. The loser of the first round picks the second map. If it comes to a third round, the map will be Lost Temple.

The final two players will use a separate map list to be announced later on.

So start emailing me! I don’t care how well I know you already, you must send me an email to be considered an entrant. Absolutely everyone is invited to compete, and the more the merrier! Don’t forget to follow the above instructions for sending your email, and please don’t be late.

Alright people, let’s start fighting over shirts!

UPDATE: Here’s my YouTube video advertising the tournament. Please share it with everyone you know!