For the past two years, Dota 2 had a unique position in esports. It offered the highest prize pools despite only hosting three events. This led to established teams attending fewer events and fewer incentives for them to attend third-party tournaments. To address this issue, Dota 2 developer Valve has implemented a new tournament structure for the upcoming year, consisting of 27 events over nine months, including a new subset of tournaments called Minors.
11 Majors and 16 Minors:
Previously, Valve only hosted three events per year, but now there will be a total of 27 tournaments in the 2017-2018 circuit. Majors will have a prize pool of at least $1 million, while Minors will offer at least $300,000.
Tournament dates and locations:
The season will start on Oct. 11 with the StarLadder Minor in Ukraine. Roughly four tournaments are scheduled each month, providing daily action throughout the season. The season will conclude on June 10, followed by a month-long break before The International 8. Tournaments will be held in the U.S., Singapore, China, Ukraine, Romania, and Germany.
Circuit points:
A new addition is the use of “Circuit points” to determine which teams secure a direct qualification to The International 8. Majors will award winners 1,500 circuit points, while Minors offer 300. Only the top four teams will receive circuit points, with the winning team earning 50% of all available points. The size of the prize pool determines the number of circuit points awarded.
Qualifiers and regional representation:
Regional qualifiers for the events will consist of teams from North and South America, Europe, Southeast Asia, China, and CIS. Each tournament will have an open qualifier for each region, but organizers can also invite teams to the main qualifier.
These changes aim to rejuvenate the Dota 2 competitive scene and provide more opportunities for teams to compete. The increased number of events and the introduction of Circuit points will add excitement and structure to the tournament circuit.
Keywords: Dota 2, esports, tournament structure, Majors, Minors, Circuit points, regional representation.
