E-Sports World Championship 2014
 Official logo of the World Championship | |
| Date | November 12, 2014 - November 17, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Location |
Baku,  Azerbaijan |
| Also known as | IeSF 2014 World Championship |
| Organised by | International e-Sports Federation |
| Overall cash prize | $110,000 |
| Official game titles | StarCraft 2, Dota 2, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft |
| Website |
ie-sf |
The e-Sports World Championship 2014 (officially: "6th e-Sports World Championship, BAKU 2014" [1]) was the 6th edition of the annual Electronic Sports World Championship held by the International e-Sports Federation. The event took place in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, starting from November 12, 2014 and ending on November 17th, 2014.
Background
The 6th e-Sports World Championship was the 2014 event of the annual e-Sports World Championship held by IeSF.
This event was the third IeSF-organized eSports competition to be held outside South Korea, after the IeSF 2013 World Championship was held in Bucharest, and the IeSF 2014 Asian Championship was held in the Philippines.
Speculations about Azerbaijan being picked as the host country of the 2014 championship emerged in early January 2014, but it was only in May of the same year that Baku was officially announced as the host city of the championship.[2] Also, the event is the first to feature the series' new official name: "eSports World Championship", after "IeSF World Championship" was used for three years in a row.
The 6th e-Sports World Championship was the first international e-Sports event to be held in Azerbaijan.
Official casters
On 26 October 2014, the IeSF have officially revealed the caster lineup for the competitions:[3]
- StarCraft 2: Artosis and Tasteless
- DotA 2: Tobi Wan, Durka and Capitalist
- HearthStone: Artosis and Frodan
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2 & Ultra Street Fighter IV: F-W0rd & WorstGiefEVER[4]
Official tournaments
In May 2014, the International e-Sports Federation announced three official titles for the event: Dota 2, StarCraft 2, and Tekken Tag Tournament 2.[5]
Some fans of the IeSF found the choice of Dota 2 as official game title over its competitor game League of Legends strange, as League of Legends was the official title of IeSF 2013 World Championship. It was explained that one of the reasons League of Legends was not picked was due to several undisclosed restrictions placed by developer Riot Games in order to operate a League of Legends tournament.[6]
Hearthstone and Ultra Street Fighter IV were later added as official titles, thanks to the recommendation of the host, Azerbaijan CyberSport Federation.[7]
StarCraft 2 has returned as official title for the 4th year in a row, and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 also returns as official title.
Alliance of Valiant Arms was not selected as an official title, marking 2014 as the first year on which A.V.A isn't an official title of the World Championship.
Initially, competitions for Dota 2, StarCraft 2, Hearthstone and Ultra Street Fighter IV were made as men-only tournaments while women-only competitions was held for StarCraft 2 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. A PC Gamer article regarding the separated male and female competitions sparked a major outcry against IeSF policy on social media.[8] Following the news, IeSF swiftly responded by holding an emergency meeting of the Board[9] resulting in an immediate policy change which allowed women to participate in the previously male-only tournaments. The IeSF also posted an apology on its Facebook page,[10] and added an "Open for All" Tekken Tag Tournament 2 tournament to the main roster of competitions.
| Name | Type | Number of participants[11] | Prize amount ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm | Open for All | 15 players | 10,000 |
| Dota 2 | Open for All | 14 teams (70 players) | 50,000 |
| Hearthstone | Open for All | 15 players | 10,000 |
| Ultra Street Fighter IV | Open for All | 9 players | 10,000 |
| Tekken Tag Tournament 2 | Open for All | 12 players | 10,000 |
| StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm | Women only | 7 players | 5,000 |
| Tekken Tag Tournament 2 | Women only | 10 players | 5,000 |
Results
StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm
Open for All
| Place | Player [12] | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Ju "Zest" Seong Wuk | $5,000 |
| 2nd |  Anton "Zanster" Dahlström | $3,000 |
| 3rd |  Silviu "NightEnD" Lazar | $2,000 |
Women Only
| Place | Player[13] | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Ma "Mayuki" Xue | $2,500 |
| 2nd |  Niina "Soyhi" Kahela | $1,500 |
| 3rd | Emily "QueenE" Krumlinde | $1,000 |
DotA 2
| Place | Team [14] | Players | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Newbee |
|
$25,000 |
| 2nd | TeamRO | Borceanu "Illusionist" Razvan
|
$15,000 |
| 3rd | Team Finland | Joona "fragi" Laine
|
$10,000 |
Hearthstone
| Place | Player[15] | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Amine "las3ed" Ben Messaoud | $5,000 |
| 2nd |  Urim "Yhone" Bajrami | $3,000 |
| 3rd | Chae "SeungJae" Seung Jae | $2,000 |
Ultra Street Fighter IV
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lee "INFILTRATION" SeonWoo | $5,000 |
| 2nd | Joni "Jonsai" Wielert | $3,000 |
| 3rd | Mihai "Pokeshark" Ene | $2,000 |
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Open for All
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kim "JDCR" Hyun Jin | $5,000 |
| 2nd |  Mark Andersen | $3,000 |
| 3rd | Alexandre Prodan | $2,000 |
Women Only
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Sofia Degay | $2,500 |
| 2nd |  Milica Tešović | $1,500 |
| 3rd | Tuula Rantala | $1,000 |
Overall performance
Prize given to the nations with the best performance in the World Championship in all official game titles. This is determined by the IeSF Scoring Regulations.[16]
| Place | Nation | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | South Korea | $5,000 |
| 2nd | China | $3,000 |
| 3rd | Finland | $2,000 |
References
- ↑ G&e - the official IeSF newsletter, 2014 vol 1, page 4 - "Official announcement of Host city for 6th e-Sports World Championship"
- ↑ Announcement on IeSF Facebook page
- ↑ Official casters revealed on IeSF Facebook Page
- ↑ Fighting games casting lineup announcement
- ↑ G&e - the official IeSF newsletter, 2014 vol 1, page 3 - "official Titles - 6th e-Sports World Championship"
- ↑ IeSF Facebook post, official answer to a question asking "where did LoL go?"
- ↑ Official Facebook Announcement of the game titles in IeSF official Facebook page.
- ↑ Hearthstone tournament explains why women aren't allowed to play - PC Gamer
- ↑ Official press release regarding Hearthstone Controversy
- ↑ Official Facebook post
- ↑ Official player list
- ↑ International e-Sports Federation 2014 World Championship (StarCraft 2)
- ↑ International e-Sports Federation 2014 World Championship (StarCraft 2 - Women)
- ↑ International e-Sports Federation 2014 World Championship (Dota 2)
- ↑ International e-Sports Federation 2014 World Championship (Hearthstone)
- ↑ IeSF Competition Regulations - IeSF Scoring Regulations