Spring Major 2017 and TI7 dates announced in advance

The Spring Major 2017 and TI7 dates for the open, regional qualifiers and main event for each have been released. Months in advance, Valve has broken its eleventh hour tradition of revealing information. The news comes on the heals of various tournament disruptions during the current Fall Major season with events such as Summit 6 needing to change plans and teams withdrawing from events such as DreamLeague due to conflicts from late notice. In addition, the Americas region will be split into two – North and South America and Europe will be separated into Europe and CIS regions.

Valve has released dates for the Spring Major 2017 and TI7 – including the the scheduled days for the open and regional qualifiers as well as the main event for each.

The Spring Major Main Event will take place April 20 – 23, 2017, preceded by Open Qualifiers on March 6 – 9, and Regional Qualifiers on March 10 – 13. Wrapping up the competitive season, The International 2017 Main Event will once again be held in the first half of August, with Open Qualifiers running June 22 – 25, and Regional Qualifiers following on June 26 – 29.

The news comes four months before the Spring Major 2017 qualifiers and nine months before the TI7 main event – a welcome shift in the historically late notifications.

The Fall Major was announced on October 5th – qualifiers being less than three weeks later and the event being held two months later. The dates conflicted with the Summit 6 – both taking place December 7-11, forcing BTS to ramp up their schedule a month earlier. Three teams – OG, EG and Team Secret to withdraw from DreamLeague season due to proximity of the playoffs to the Boston Major group stage dates.

In addition, Valve will be adjusting the regions for the Spring Major Qualifiers.

For the Spring Major Qualifiers, we will be breaking the Americas Qualifiers into two distinct regions—North America and South America—and similarly changing the Europe Qualifiers into separate Europe Qualifiers and CIS Qualifiers.

With the separation of regions, no further information was provided as to adjustment of number of teams per region or any regional locks. Many speculated changes would occur following the influx of European teams playing in the Americas qualifiers, initiated by Prodota Gaming.

Spring Major 2017 and TI7 dates

Spring Major 2017

• Open Qualifiers: March 6-9
• Regional Qualifiers: March 10-13
• Main Event: April 20-23

The International 2017

• Open Qualifiers: June 22-25
• Regional Qualifiers: June 26-29
• Main Event: first half of August

Dota 2 Majors

Valve originally announced the implementation of the Majors system at the end of April 2015. The concept is believed to be a proper solution to some significant problems in tournament quality and control that had been voiced in recent times.

Over the last five years, The International has become the pinnacle moment for the world of professional Dota. Now the excitement of the biggest event in esports is coming to the Majors, a series of seasonal marquee tournaments, which will take place throughout the year and around the globe. Dota’s newest tradition begins this fall with the Frankfurt Major.

The first Dota Major was held in Frankfurt, Germany, at the Festhalle Messe – a multi-purpose hall with an area of 6,000 square meters, which can accommodate up to 13,500 visitors. Sixteen teams competed for a total prize-pool of $3,000,000, with ESL Gaming in charge of production. OG made history when they took the championship title, becoming the first qualified team to clinch a Valve-sponsored championship title.

The first Major of the new year, post TI6 will be hosted by PGL at Wang Theater in Boston, USA. Wang Theater is located in a historic 1925 building that seats 3,600 people.

PGL was also responsible for the third and final major held before TI6 in June in Manila, Philippines. The event was praised for it’s success and professionalism giving the production company another shot at hosting one of the most coveted events of the year.

PGL is based out of Bucharest, Romania and has also been responsible for DreamHack Bucharest from 2012-2015 and DreamHack Cluj-Napoca in 2015.