ESL Launches ESL Academy in Partnership with Dotabuff and Reach
This year, organizations have begun fostering the tier-two Dota scene to create a sustainable place for teams to grow and compete in significant events. ESL is now joining this initiative.
ESL is launching the ESL Academy in collaboration with Dotabuff and its Reach matchmaking service. The ESL Academy provides amateur Dota 2 players with the opportunity to play against high-level competitors, attracting the attention of organizations and tournament organizers.
Reach is a new matchmaking platform that helps high-ranking players find matches quickly by using a constantly changing algorithm. The Contender division within Reach offers scheduled training times and a detailed behavior score system to ensure players are giving their best effort.
Starting in November, players in North America and Europe can participate in individual competitions through the Reach client to improve their rank. The ranking period will last until January 2020, after which the top 40 players from both regions will be placed into a draft pool.
Four Dota veterans will then draft four five-man teams, two from each region, to compete in online tournaments, boot camps, and an ESL LAN event in March.
This initiative improves talent scouting by using in-depth player statistics from Dotabuff and a custom ranking platform instead of solely relying on leaderboards.
By launching the ESL Academy, ESL draws attention to the lack of stability in the tier-two Dota scene, which lacks resources to support teams in the long term.
Reach will also offer a monthly prize pool of $20,000, with 50% reserved for up-and-coming amateurs, incentivizing players to participate and excel. Other companies may be inspired to support similar initiatives, shaping talent scouting in NA and EU.
More information about the ESL Academy, including specific dates for the ranking period, will be revealed in the coming weeks. Players with a Dotabuff Plus subscription will receive priority invitations to the Reach beta and free access to the platform once it fully rolls out.
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