In surprising turns of events, popular e-commerce platform Shopify just announced its venture into esports territory. The first order of business for their newly formed esports organization – Shopify Rebellion – was to put together a StarCraft II team consisting of some of the most impressive names in the scene.
We’d like to play too.
Introducing the Shopify Rebellion pic.twitter.com/qr7Iz1EzRb
— Shopify Rebellion (@ShopifyRebels) February 19, 2021
Meet the latest StarCraft II professional esports team
Shopify Rebellion made sure to go big when procuring StarCraft II professional talent, attracting some serious heavy-hitters, including Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn, Byun Hyun-woo, and Julian “Lambo” Brosig.
StarCraft II esports fans may recognize Scarlett as the first female competitor to ever win a major tournament since the esport’s conception, while Byun Hyun-woo is famous for being crowned world champion in 2016. Lambo is no slouch either, having stolen first place from Gabriel Raffaele “HeRoMaRinE” Segat in the ESL Meisterschaft – Spring Season 2015.
Led by @TLOgg, @Shopify now has its own esports team named Shopify Rebellion!
Their first players will be 3 StarCraft II players:
🇨🇦@onfireScarlett
🇩🇪@LamboSC2
🇰🇷@SC2ByuN https://t.co/pD9qGz8Mco— Liquipedia (@LiquipediaNet) February 19, 2021
The big names aren’t limited to the players either, with Shopify adding retired pro StarCraft player Dario “TLO” Wünsch as the brand’s esports program manager last September. It seems he likely had a lot to do with putting together Shopify’s first esports team and had this to say:
“What better way than to begin this journey than with three legendary players, playing a game so historically important for esports. After all, it is arguably the game that started it all.”
It comes as no surprise that the e-commerce giant chose StarCraft II to be their entry point in the esports scene considering Shopify CEO and founder Tobias Lütke is a huge fan of the game and has donated to tournament prize pools on multiple occasions. He even went as far as saying that he was inspired by the game when creating his now booming business.
It's a rare honour to be there from day 1 of the ideation and inception of a team. It is with great pleasure that I can finally announce The Shopify Rebellion entering esports. https://t.co/bEuenhGIhF
— Dario TLO Wünsch (@TLOgg) February 19, 2021
The legacy of StarCraft II
StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game that served as a sequel to 1999’s StarCraft – a game regarded by many as the greatest title in the history of the genre. StarCraft II was announced back in 2007 at Seoul’s Blizzard World Wide Invitational and was subsequently released with its first campaign “Wings of Liberty” in June 2010.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is now a retro game. It debuted July 27, 2010. pic.twitter.com/E52Ykq64K1
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) July 27, 2020
The Zerg campaign “Heart of the Swarm” followed nearly three years later while the Protoss storyline “Legacy of the Void” made its debut in November 2015. Fans can look forward to Shopify Rebellion’s first on-stage appearance at IEM Katowice, the final leg of the ESL Pro Tour. The tournament is expected to run from February 20 – 28 this year.
