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Season one of 2014 StarCraft 2 league play is now underway, according to an announcement on Battle.net.
Along with the start of season one, Blizzard is bringing new maps to the one-versus-one and two-versus-two ladder map pools. League placement, as well as hidden skill ratings in matchmaking, will carry over between seasons. This means that players who were already in a league prior to the end of 2013's season six will only have to play one placement match to get season one of 2014 underway.
On Friday, Jan. 3, Blizzard will also apply a free character name change to all accounts that currently do not have one available. Players can only have one name change at a time and are advised to use the upcoming name change when it hits.
Milestones from the tail end of the previous season, season six of 2013, have been awarded and all bonus pools and standings have been reset. Players can check on their individual results from the 2013 season through their StarCraft 2 character profile in the "Leagues and Ladders" section.
