Newbee snatch EPICENTER Moscow Chinese qualifiers spot from EHOME

Newbee put end to EHOME’s last hopes to participate in EPICENTER Moscow. The TI4 Championship team convincingly wiped out EHOME 3:0 in the EPICENTER Moscow Chinese qualifiers to secure a spot in the closed qualifiers. The second phase of the qualifiers is scheduled to take place in Moscow, on May 9th.

#Dota2 @epicentergg – China Qualifiers / Grand Final @NewbeeCN [3:0] @EHOMECN pic.twitter.com/8BGh4fnYyP

— dota2score (@dota2score) April 5, 2016

Newbee’s new lineup proved to be in considerable form already during the EPICENTER Moscow Chinese qualifiers. Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi and Wong “ChuaN” Hock Chuan are looking to be a fearsome support duo and Damien “kphoenii” Chok is finding himself doing well in his new home. The team was able to convincingly wipe through EHOME in the grand finals 3:0 on Tuesday, April 5th. Their dominant performance gives fans new hope for the upcoming season.

Newbee’s new roster was created in March, during the Manila Major/TI6 team registration period. Meng “Xiao2lei” Lei and Zhang “le” Xuanhao moved to Newbee.Young while Kphoenii and Kaka joined the team. Kaka had last played for EHOME and kphoenii is an Australian player who played for MVP.Phoenix and EHOME.King.

With their loss, EHOME’s second chance at participating in the highly anticipated EPICENTER Moscow event was extinguished.

On March 9th – five days after the EPICENTER Moscow LAN was announced – the organizers decided to revoke EHOME’s direct invite, due to the team’s recent roster changes. EHOME was replaced by the Shanghai Major runner-up squad, Team Liquid and was forced to then participate in the EPICENTER Moscow Chinese qualifiers for a chance to attend.

EPICENTER Moscow will take place between May 9th-15th at the Crocus City Hall, in Moscow. Six invited teams – Team Secret, Team Liquid, OG, Evil Geniuses, Virtus.Pro, and Alliance – and two qualified ones will compete for a total prize-pool of $500,000.

EPICENTER Moscow qualifiers

Southeast Asia was the first region to have completed the online qualifiers. Fnatic earned a spot to represent SEA in the offline qualifiers, in Moscow, after taking down the Korean team MVP.Phoenix, 3:0, in the regional qualifiers’ Grand Finals.

Days later compLexity once again surged forward with considerable strength to secure the Americas spot in the EPICENTER Moscow closed qualifiers after besting Shazam in the grand finals, 3:2.

The European qualifiers are still underway.

The four qualified teams will then compete in an offline qualifier taking place in Moscow to be one of the two teams that will advance into the main event.

EPICENTER Moscow format

May 9th – Offline Qualifier

• Held at a prestigious hotel in Moscow.
• One team from each region will participate.
• Four teams will compete for the two spots available in the group stage.

May 10th-11th – Group Stage

• Eight teams will compete – six invited teams and two coming from the offline qualifiers.
• Top two teams from each group will advance into the Upper Brackets of the main event.
• Bottom two teams from each group will start the main event in the Lower Brackets.
• The group stages will be closed to the public and, just like the offline qualifier, they will be held at a prestigious hotel in Moscow.

May 12th-15th – Main Event

• All series will be best-of-three.
• The Grand Finals will be best-of-five, with not Upper Bracket advantage.
• The main event will take place at the Crocus City Hall, in Moscow. Tickets will go on sale in early April.

Crocus City Hall

Crocus City Hall is a multi-faceted venue, located in the 3rd pavilion of Crocus City in Moscow, Russia. It has a seating capacity of more than 7000. The arena is equipped with a state-of-the-art acoustic system.