Blizzard Axes LAN Play for StarCraft 2

Blizzard senior VP Rob Pardo has confirmed that the company's upcoming RTS sequel StarCraft II will not feature LAN multiplayer support. The only multiplayer available will be on Battle.net.

IncGamers also got a clarification from Blizzard, shortly after the interview, saying the choice of excluding a LAN feature "is because of the planned technology to be incorporated into Battle.net," a topic they will reveal more about at a later date.

The original StarCraft gained popularity largely because of the easy LAN mode, used on massive LANs like Dreamhack or small personal networks between friends, so this is a surprising move by Blizzard.
it worked wonders for hellgate, sure why stop at flagship with this idea