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For two and a half years, Sasha Hostyn, better known to her legion of supporters as "Scarlett", has, in her words, been "at the very top" of the North American StarCraft II league.
The video game, designed in California but whose spiritual home is in South Korea, where it has been adopted as something approaching a national sport, is often compared with chess. Both games are played by two players, each of whom command an army from a bird's eye vantage point. But the analogy is flawed. In StarCraft II, the map changes between each match while each side's troops are asymmetrical: players choose between three "races" at the start of the game, each with its advantages and drawbacks. Among her peers, Scarlett is considered something of a Kasparov - quick-witted, daring, stoic in the face of peril and, crucially for her sponsors, Acer, usually victorious.
But after four years of playing StarCraft II professionally, Scarlett, who lives in Kingston, Ontario, is ready for change. "I...