Big changes for Dota 2 are typically announced right around The International. However, a big announcement was made this early in the season, and it's not even about the game itself. The news is more on the competitive scene. For example, there's now going to be Regional Leagues, which hope to give more Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams a chance. You can read more on Regional Leagues here.
This change also means that Majors are also going to experience changes in a big way. Today we look at what these changes include.
In the current format, there's are a total of four Majors where teams earn DPC Points, with the year ending in TI. Unlike in years past, all teams need to go through a qualifier instead of getting direct invites. However, with the addition of the Regional Leagues, the Majors are going to undergo a change as well.
Next year will have three seasons with each season having six regional leagues. Each season then leads to a Major, which features 18 teams and offers a $500,000 prize pool along with DPC Points. Those slots are filled by the top spots of the Upper Division of each regional, with regions getting a fixed amount of slots:
- Europe: 4 slots
- CIS: 2 slots
- North America: 3 slots
- South America: 3 slots
- China: 4 slots
- Southeast Asia: 2 slots
The Majors are going to be composed of three rounds. These are:
- Wildcard
- Six teams play a best-of two round robin. The top two teams advance to the Group Stage, with the other four being eliminated.
- The teams are:
- EU League 3rd place
- EU League 4th place
- CN League 3rd place
- CN League 4th place
- NA League 3rd place
- SEA League 3rd place
- Group Stage
- Eight teams play best-of two round robin.
- Top two teams advance to the playoffs upper bracket.
- 3rd-6th place advance to the playoffs lower bracket.
- Two teams are eliminated.
- The teams are:
- EU League 2nd place
- CN League 2nd Place
- NA League 2nd Place
- SA League 2nd Place
- CIS League 2nd Place
- SEA League 2nd Place
- 1st Wildcard
- 2nd Wildcard
- Playoffs
- 12 teams play in a Double Elimination.
- Upper Bracket
- EU League 1st place
- CN League 1st place
- SEA League 1st place
- SA League 1st place
- NA League 1st place
- CIS League 1st place
- Group Stage – 1st place
- Group Stage – 2nd place
- Lower Bracket
- Group Stage – 3rd place
- Group Stage – 4th place
- Group Stage – 5th place
- Group Stage – 6th place
- Upper Bracket
Another change to the Majors is the size of the prize pool and the number of DPC Points. The prize pool for Majors is now lower at $500,000. The DPC Points are lower as well, with the first place now getting 500 points rather than 4,850 points. The distribution is going to be:
- 1st Place
- $200,000
- 500 DPC points
- 2nd Place
- $100,000
- 450 DPC points
- 3rd Place
- $75,000
- 400 DPC points
- 4th Place
- $50,000
- 350 DPC points
- 5th Place
- $25,000
- 300 DPC points
- 6th Place
- $25,000
- 300 DPC points
- 7th Place
- $12,500
- 200 DPC points
- 8th Place
- $12,500
- 200 DPC points
At the end of the third season, the top 12 ranked teams qualify to The International 2021. The remaining spots are then going to be decided through six regional final chance qualifiers. However, there aren't going to be any open qualifiers. Instead it's going to be a competition of the eight best teams in the region that weren't invited to TI.
Finally, Dota 2 also released the dates of each season and Major, which are:
- Season 1
- Fall League: Oct 5th – Nov 15th
- Major: Dec 7th – Dec 19th
- Season 2
- Winter League: Jan 4th – Feb 14th
- Major: Mar 8th – Mar 20th
- Season 3
- Spring League: Apr 12th – May 23rd
- Major: June 21st – July 3rd
Any dates not included in the schedule can be used for third party tournaments.
What do you think? Is this a good way to improve the competitive scene? Or does this make things more complicated? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
