Red Bull Battle Grounds Detroit kicks off today in Michigan, where 128 open bracket participants will compete in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.
The event has just kicked off at the Garden Stage Theater and runs until Sunday--you can watch via the livestream embedded below. The winner will earn a place at the Grand Finals, which takes place in Washington, D.C. this September.
It's not just general attendance participants joining in on the action--several established eSports veterans will be trying their luck as well. Competitive Halo legend Walshy (David Walsh) will be coming out of retirement to play in his native Michigan, despite never seriously competing in StarCraft previously. Kim "viOLet" Dong Hwan & Choi "Polt" Seong Hun, the first StarCraft players to be granted a visa by the U.S. government, will also be competing.
The winners of the past events (who will join the Detroit champion in the D.C. finals) can be seen in the above graphic. All of the winners so far are South Korean players, with the exception of Canadian Sasha "Scarlett" Hosyn.
As with most eSports events, the number of players participating will drop rapidly over the course of the weekend. Many of the less skilled open participants will be swept to the way side as the field narrows to the elite competitors. On Sunday, the best players in the tournament will compete in the final rounds of matches. You can watch a teaser for the event here, and tune in live below.