The new year is just getting started but the Dota 2 year is already reaching the halfway mark. With The International serving as the pinnacle of every competitive year, the next six months are jam packed with LAN tournaments. Teams will be competing at their best in order to make their impression on Valve and claim as many titles as possible to gain the coveted invite to The International 6.
Only six months remain until TI6, but the space between is filled with premier LANs to keep fans satisfied and teams in tip top shape. We’ve outlined the biggest ones scheduled, giving a brief synopsis to help fill your calendar.
MarsTV Dota League winter LAN (MDL)
Date: January 27th-31st
Location:China
Prize-pool: $250,000
Teams: 6 Direct Invites (ViCi Gaming, OG, Evil Geniuses, LGD Gaming, EHOME, Team Secret), 1 Chinese qualified team (TBD), 1 European qualified team (Team Spirit), 1 Americas qualified team (compLexity Gaming), 1 South East Asian qualified team (Mineski)
Defending Champion: Team Secret
The event was originally announced back in July 2015 and will take place January 27th-31st. The organizers were determined to avoid scheduling conflicts with other events and provide organizers and teams ample time to prepare.
Four teams,one from the four regions – China, SEA, NA and EU- will qualify for the event. The teams will compete against six directly invited teams in the LAN playoffs in China start start the new year off in January 2016. The prize pool is $250,000.
- Format
- Round Robins best-of-two series format
- Top two teams from each group seeded into Upper Brackets
- Next two teams from each group seeded into Lower Brackets
- Last team from each group eliminated
- playoffs set as best-of-three double elimination brackets
- Grand Finals best-of-five
Shanghai Major
Date: March 2nd-6th
Location: Shanghai, China
Prize-pool: $3,000,000
Teams:8 Direct Invites (Evil Geniuses, OG, Team Secret, EHOME, CDEC, ViCi Gaming, Virtus.Pro and Alliance), 2 Chinese qualified teams (LGD Gaming, Newbee), 2 European qualified teams (Team Liquid, Team Spirit), 2 Americas qualified teams (compLexity Gaming, Team Archon), 2 South East Asian qualified team (Fnatic, MVP.Phoenix)
Defending Champion: OG (Frankfurt Major)
The second Dota 2 Major will be held in Shanghai, China, at the Mercedes-Benz Arena – an indoor arena located on the former grounds of Expo 2010 in Pudong, Shanghai, China, with a seating capacity for 18,000 people. The total prize-pool of $3,000,000 is a fixed amount and Perfect World will be in charge of production.
Perfect World also hosted The International 5 Chinese qualifiers.
- Format
- Four groups of four teams
- Double elimination best-of-three series format
- Top two teams from each group seeded into Upper Brackets
- Bottom two teams from each group seeded into Lower Brackets
- First lower bracket game is best-of-one
- playoffs set as best-of-three
- Grand Finals best-of-five
Dota Pit League Season 4
Date: March 19-20th
Location: Split, Croatia
Prize-pool: $100,000 base
Teams: 4 Direct Invites (Virtus.Pro, Team Secret, OG, Evil Geniuses), 2 European qualified teams (TBD, TBD), 1 Americas qualified team (compLexity Gaming), 1 SouthEast Asian qualified team (MVP.Phoenix)
Defending Champion: Evil Geniuses
The fourth season of Dota Pit League was announced in July, boasting a bigger and better season.
Dota Pit Season 4 had made plans to be bigger and better than previous seasons, including hosting the LAN finals in Croatia at the Spaldaium Arena in Split, Croatia. The venue boasts a 10,000 seat capacity and was built in 2008 as a state of the art arena.
- Format
- 8 teams double elimination brackets
- best-of-three series
ESL One Manila
MALL OF ASIA ARENA
Manila, Philippines © Arquitectonica International Corporation
Date: April 23rd – 24th
Location: Manila, Philippines
Prize-pool: $250,000
Teams: TBD
Defending Champion:N/A
On December 8th ESL officially announced ESL One Manila – the organization’s first Dota 2 tournament to be held in Southeast Asia. ESL One Manila will be organized in collaboration with PLDT Fibr and GameX and is expected to be Southeast Asia’s first premier esports event to date.
A local Filipino Dota 2 team will be invited to compete alongside some of the best Dota 2 teams in the world for a $250,000 prize pool.
As has become habit in ESL’s Dota 2 events – ESL One Frankfurt and ESL One New York, the latest addition to the tournament circuit, ESL One Manila, promises to pit together some of the best teams in the world. A local Filipino team will be invited to compete, in order to help further establish the region’s esports scene.
The Philippine and European open qualifiers begin this weekend. America and SEA open qualifiers will follow soon.
- Format
- Eight teams in a single elimination bracket
- playoffs set as best-of-three
- Grand Finals best-of-three
WePlay Season 3
Date: May 6-8th
Location: Kiev, Ukraine
Prize-pool:$200,000
Teams: 4 invited (EG, OG, Virtus.Pro, Team Secret -all unconfirmed), 1 Eastern Europe qualified team, 1 Western Europe qualified team, 1 Asian qualified team, 1 Americas qualified team (qualifiers are currently underway)
Defending Champion:Na’Vi
WePlay League announced their return to Dota 2 after a two year hiatus. This time, it brings along a $200,000 prize pool, four sets and a LAN in Kiev. Four regional qualifiers will be held to give four teams an opportunity to join the four invited teams in the Ukraine for the playoffs May 6-8th with a $200,000 prize pool.
The four invited teams -EG, OG, Virtus.Pro and Team Secret- are unconfirmed yet and regional qualifiers are just getting started.
- Format
- TBA
Manila Major
The Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines will host ESL One Manila © One FC
Date: Early June
Location: Manila, Philippines
Prize-pool: $3,000,000
Teams: TBD
Defending Champion: TBD in Shanghai
Valve had already announced the Spring Major, the third installment of the new major system, to be held in Manila, Philippines early in June. The event will be the final major of the year leading up to The International 6 to be held in Seattle, Washington mid August.
- Format
- TBA
DreamLeague Season 5 at DreamHack Summer
Date: June 17-19th
Location: Jönköping, Sweden
Prize-pool:(TBA)
Teams:(TBD)
Defending Champion: OG
In DreamLeague Season 4, OG was able to seize their second consecutive after clearing through Team Empire 3:0 in the grand finals.
- Format
- TBA
ESL One Frankfurt
Fantastic atmosphere at the Commertzbank-Arena, in Frankfurt, during ESL One. © Helena Kristiansson/ ESL
Date: June 18-19th
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Prize-pool: $250,000
Teams: (TBD)
Defending Champion: Team Secret
Team Secret claimed their 4th consecutive LAN win at ESL One Frankfurt 2015. The team took the title and trophy after destroying Evil Geniuses, 3:1, in the Grand Finals.
- Format
- TBA
The Summit 5
LD, joined by Puppey and PPD, at the Summit 3 © Beyond The Summit
Date: July 13-17th
Location: Los Angeles, California
Prize-pool: TBD)
Teams: (TBD)
Defending Champion: Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses grabbed The Summit 4 title, bringing themselves close to $8.7 million in 2015 tournament winnings. The team defeated Virtus.Pro in a decisive game five.
- Format
- TBA
The International 2016
Date: August
Location: Seattle, Washington
Prize-pool:$1,000,000 starting base prize pool
Teams:(TBD)
Defending Champion: Evil Geniuses
From the ashes of the Lower Brackets, Evil Geniuses have risen to claim the championship title and the staggering 6.6 million dollars prize at The International 5. The NA team made history, being the first North American team to win a Valve sponsored event when they defeated LGD Gaming 3:1.
- Format
- TBA
Leave a Reply