StarCraft II's best compete at New York Comic Con on the road to BlizzCon

The world's best StarCraft II players are competing at this weekend's Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) event held by the Electronic Sports League inside of New York Comic Con. The event marks the last chance for many players get points for Blizzard's World Championship Series Grand Finals to be held at BlizzCon later this year.

Competitors include Brood War legend Lee "Flash" Young Ho, Swedish powerhouse Johan "NaNiwa" Lucchesi, DreamHack Valencia Champion Ko "HyuN" Seok Hyun, Evil Geniuses' Canadian Protoss player Chris "HuK" Loranger, and German Zerg Dario "TLO" Wünsch. Korean Zerg GSL Champions Park "DongRaeGu" Soo Ho and Lee "Life" Seung Hyun qualified into the main tournament from the first day of Open qualifiers at New York Comic Con.

Lucchesi is currently holding onto the 16th and final qualifying spot for BlizzCon, and is currently the only non-Korean player in the top 16 point standings. Last-minute replacement Kim "Revival" Dong Hyun is ahead of Lucchesi by 275 points, while Wünsch and Ko are within striking distance at 625 points and 850 points behind, respectively.

Korean Protoss players Song "HerO" Hyeon Deok and Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin have secured themselves spots in the top 16, with only 100 points separating them. Due to Flash's recent loss in WCS Korea Season 3, he will be unable to qualify for BlizzCon no matter his results at IEM NYC.

Players will have final opportunities to gain points for BlizzCon at the upcoming WCS Season 3 Korean and North American Finals, as well as the overall Season 3 Finals held by NASL in Toronto, Canada, October 25-27.

GameSpot eSports is currently live from the floor at IEM New York at Comic Con, and will be providing live coverage all weekend.