University DOTA Championship: First European University tournament, organized by students, for students

The “University DOTA Championship” will be the first European University tournament ever held. Students from all over Europe are invited to create University teams and register until February 25th. It has been reported that various Scandinavian and British teams have already joined. Group stages will start in March and finals are scheduled to take place in July.

Dota 2 being played on a university level is not new. In fact, several universities throughout North America and Europe even have Gaming Societies or clubs that organize local events and attract many Dota 2 enthusiasts.

In the UK, there is the University of Leeds gaming society that has notably run the Arrow Esports UK University league in the past. Arrow has crowned the best University Dota 2 team in the UK for at least five seasons of competition.

In Surrey, there are two Dota 2 teams, a CS:GO one and Smash players who all complete in online tournaments.

King of The North is the UK’s largest student-run inter-university esports tournament and gaming festival. The event has been held for the last three years, and the upcoming one will feature Dota 2, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and will be open to all UK University students.

Back in November, players in Gainsville, Florida, at University of Florida organized GatorLAN.

Players can typically find these clubs and organizations through their union website or on Facebook. There is also a Reddit thread that helps players find other Dota 2 enthusiasts at their university.

While most of these societies and clubs tend to be university or locally focused, the University DOTA Championship is looking to expand even further, including the entire European university community.

The University DOTA Championship is Europe’s first international university DOTA tournament. During the months of April and July, teams from universities across Europe will battle out to crown the best DOTA university team of 2016.

Teams should consist of players from the same university and will compete with other university teams from all over Europe. The event will span over the course of four months, from March until July, and a selection of matches will be streamed live.

The tournament will be divided into two stages. A group stage will be held between March 20 and April 20. The organizers would like to host the finals live, in a LAN setting in Stockholm, mid-July. However, the date and final details will be determined and announced later on. All finalists will share a prize-pool funded by sponsors, yet to be determined.

Further information will be released after the registration period ends and the group stage schedule is established.

University DOTA Championship overview

• Game servers will include Europe West, Europe East, and Russia. The default server is Europe West, but the other options are permissible if both teams agree.
• All teams must consist of 5-7 players (maximum of 2 substitutes).
• Each university can be represented by several teams.
• All team members must be enrolled at the same university at the time registration (proof of enrollment may be requested).

University DOTA Championship schedule

REGISTRATION: December 21 – February 25

To register for the tournament a team has to fill out this online registration form by the 25th of February.

GROUP STAGE: March 20 – April 20

• The match schedule will be released on the 27th of February.
• Matches will take place online.
• As many matches as possible will be streamed live on Twitch.
• Team captains are responsible for reporting in the results.
• Admins will be available to review replays in case of a conflict.

FINALS: Mid-July

• The finals will be played over the course of a weekend.

The LAN finals are expected to be held live in Stockholm with accommodation and travel expenses covered for all finalists, depending on sponsorship opportunities.

Students attending a Computer Science class at the Newcastle University

University DOTA Championship prize-pool

In the eventuality that a prize-pool is funded by sponsors, the distribution will be established and announced, accordingly.

University DOTA Championship matchmaking

For those players who would like to join the tournament but don’t know enough Dota 2 players at their local university, there is a solution.

• Fill in this matchmaking form to become a part of a team.
• Registrants will be updated weekly with their status and team info.
• Incomplete teams can also register, indicating the number of players they will need.