Starting Monday, February 4, Major League Gaming will begin broadcasting the first of two invite-only events featuring top StarCraft II players from around the globe as they clash in frenzied Heart of the Swarm competition. The season opens with the Online Winter Season Showdowns, spanning the next 28 days, and concludes with the Winter Championship Exhibition Tournament in mid-March.

Online Winter Season Showdowns

The Winter Season kicks off with a bang as 56 professional StarCraft II players square off in 28 best-of-five matches, all of which will be broadcast live over the next five weeks. Those who triumph over their opponents will be rewarded with an invitation to attend the Winter Championship Exhibition Tournament, taking place in Dallas, Texas from March 15–17.

If you're eager to catch all of the Winter Showdown action, be sure to tune in to the show at 23:00 CET on the official MLG website, or the MLG Twitch.tv stream, every weekday and select Sundays, from February 4 through March 8. Additionally, you can stay on top of the Showdown program and player lineup by taking a look at MLG's complete broadcast schedule. Mark your calendar, set an alarm, and post a note on the refrigerator, because you won't want to miss a single second of these Heart of the Swarm matches on the road to the Winter Championship.

Winter Championship Exhibition Tournament

If you've kept up with Major League Gaming during seasons past, you know that each culminates in a weekend-long Championship Tournament and the first season of 2013 is no exception. The tournament takes place live, from the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, and runs from Friday, March 15, through Sunday, March 17.

The 28 players who manage to earn seats at the Winter Championship by toppling their Showdown opponents will be joined by Lee 'Life' Seung Hyun, Lee 'Leenock' Dong Nyoung, Choi 'Bomber' Ji Sung, and Lee 'Flash' Young Ho, who were invited based on their performances at MLG events in 2012. Over the course of the weekend, these 32 competitors will clamber for their share of the $75,000 prize pool while MLG's broadcast covers every match on two live streams.

Once again, you will be able to tune in to the show on the official MLG website, as well as MLG's Twitch.tv stream, and of course, every nail-biting game will take place in the Heart of the Swarm expansion for StarCraft II. Welcome, eSports fans, to Major League Gaming's 2013 Winter Season, and a new evolution of StarCraft II competition.