WCA 2016 EU main qualifiers begin tomorrow

The WCA 2016 EU main qualifiers will finally get started tomorrow. Six invited teams – Alliance, Team Empire, Fantastic Five, Vega Squadron, Escape Gaming and Team Liquid and two qualified teams – Ad Finem and Kaipi will begin to battle it out for a piece of the qualifiers prize pool and one of two slots for the WCA 2016 LAN. The two winners will travel to Yinchuan, China, in December to compete for the $760,000 prize pool.

In March, it was announced that WCA 2016 would feature three seasons, winners from each competing for the $760,000 prize pool at the LAN finals in Yinchuan, China, in December.

So far the event has played out with three seasons scheduled (one completed, one underway, one scheduled) for China, one SEA qualifier (completed) and two EU closed qualifiers (completed).

Following the two closed EU qualifiers, in which Ad Finem and Kaipi each won, the WCA 2016 EU main qualifiers will now get underway.

Two winners from the EU main qualifiers will advance to the main event, joining the three qualified Chinese teams from seasons 1-3 (Wings Gaming and 2 TBD) and one qualified SEA team (WarriorsGaming.Unity).

Wings Gaming has taken first place and the spot in the main event from Season 1. Newbee and IG.Vitality are set to battle it out for the first place and the spot in the main event for Season 2. One team from China will still have a chance in the third season yet to be scheduled.

WarriorsGaming.Unity had secured the spot for SEA back in May when they wiped through TnC 2:0.

The first match for the WCA 2016 EU main qualifiers is scheduled between Fantastic Five and Ad Finem on August 23rd at 17:00 CEST.

WCA 2016 EU main qualifiers

• Set to begin August 23rd
• Six invited teams – Alliance, Vega Squadron, Team Empire, Team Liquid, Escape Gaming, Fantastic Five,
• Two qualified teams – Ad Finem, Kaipi
• Two teams advance to the WCA 2016 in China

WCA 2016 EU main qualifiers format

• Eight teams
• Double elimination bracket
• All games best-of-three
• Lower Bracket Round 3, Lower Bracket finals and Grand Finals are best-of-five
• Two teams qualify to go to LAN finals in China

WCA 2016 EU main qualifiers prize pool

• First Place – $27,140
• Second Place – $13,570
• Third place -$6,785
• The fourth – eighth place – $1,357

WCA 2016 ticket

The WCA 2016 in-game ticket has appeared in the Dota 2 store.

The $2.99 ticket will be valid only for each season. It is expected that each subsequent season will have its own new ticket to be purchased.

WCA 2015

Photo courtesy of Lawrence “MalystryxGDS” Phillips

The WCA 2015 Grand Finals concluded, giving Alliance their first championship title in one and a half years. The Swedish team bested LGD Gaming in the best-of-five Grand Finals to place their mark on the international scene once again.

WCA 2015 Grand Finals prize distribution

• 1st place – $370,200 – Alliance
• 2nd place – $169,675 – LGD
• 3rd place – $77,125 Team Liquid
• 4th place – $46,275 Wings Gaming

World Cyber Arena

The World Cyber Arena (WCA) is one of the premier organizers of global esports tournaments. In 2015 it boasted a prize pool totaling $3.9 million dollars; the comprehensive series featured four separate titles with invite-only Pro Qualifiers and Open Qualifiers. Players competed for cash and a trip to Yinchuan, China, to play at the WCA 2015 Finals for their share of the $1.9 million Finals prize pool across all titles – WarCraft III, CrossFire, Dota 2, Hearthstone, and Heroes of The Storm.