Road to WCG 2009

There's no avoiding facts: the recession has hit Warcraft 3 hard. Downsizing, if not complete closure, is the order of the day.

4Kings, MYM, fnatic... these stalwarts of yesteryear are all gone; and the new formats for WC3L and NGL likely mark the end of an era for team-focused competitive WC3.

With many pessimists suggesting that the golden years of Warcraft are long gone, I'm hoping that this year's WCG bludgeons some much-needed optimism into the scene. I'm particularly looking forward to a chance for Sky to claim a third title; consider the winners so far:

2003: Insomnia
2004: Grubby
2005: Sky
2006: Sky
2007: Creo (2-1 Sky in the finals; damn metamorphosis!)
2008: Grubby (Sky didn't pass the Chinese qualifiers!)
2009: Sky??

UK qualifiers, when announced, will appear here.