The 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit schedule comprises 15 events, including majors, minors and qualifiers in which teams can accumulate points to climb the DPC rankings and earn a place at The International 10.
DPC rankings
The top 12 teams in the DPC rankings qualify for The International and will avoid having to go through TI qualifiers at the end of the Dota Pro Circuit 2019-20 season.
Last updated January 27, 2020
DPC rankings table shows majors and minors only, points aquired during qualification are between parenthesis
DPC schedule
There are five Majors and five Minors in the DPC 2019-2020 season, with Majors each worth 15,000 points overall, and Minors 660 (instead of 500 last year). Teams can also improve their positon in the DPC standings by playing in major qualifiers, which also award DPC points.
DPC 2019-2020 Majors
Nov 16-24, 2019
Prize pool: $1,000,000
Chengdu, China
Jan 18-26, 2020
Prize pool: $1,000,000
Leipzig, Germany
ESL One Los Angeles 2020
Cancelled
Prize pool: $1,000,000
Los Angeles, USA
EPICENTER Moscow
Cancelled
Prize pool: $1,000,000
ONE Esports Singampore Major
Jun 20-28, 2020
Prize pool: $1,000,000
Picture: StarLadder / Flickr
Dota 2 Minors in 2019 and 2020
Nov 7-10, 2019
Prize pool: $300,000
Los Angeles, USA
WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 (Nigma)
Jan 9-12, 2020
Prize pool: $300,000
Bukovel, Ukraine
StarLadder ImbaTV Minor Season 3
Mar 5-8, 2020
Prize pool: $300,000
Kyiv, Ukraine
Minor TBD
Apr 22-26, 2020
Prize pool: $300,000
Minor TBD
Jun 9-13, 2020
Prize pool: $300,000
DPC points
For Majors, the DPC points distribution is as follows:
- 1st - $300,000 - 4,850 DPC Points
- 2nd - $160,000 - 3,000 DPC Points
- 3rd - $110,000 - 2,100 DPC Points
- 4th - $80,000 - 1,350 DPC Points
- 5th-6th - $60,000 - 900 DPC Points
- 7th-8th - $40,000 - 450 DPC Points
- 9th-12th - $20,000 - 150 DPC Points
- 13th-16th - $12,500 - 100 DPC Points
For Minors, the Dota Pro Circuit points distribution is as follows:
- 1st - $72,000 - 140 DPC Points *
- 2nd - $60,000 - 120 DPC Points
- 3rd - $54,000 - 110 DPC Points
- 4th - $42,000 - 90 DPC Points
- 5th-6th - $24,000 - 60 DPC Points
- 7th-8th - $12,000 - 40 DPC Points
For qualifiers, there are 340 points up for grabs, with elimiated teams being awarded 10 points and qualifiers for the minor being awarded 20 DPC points.
The Majors all have $1m prize pools, with the winner taking home $300,000, equaling the total sum on offer at a Minor.
Even winning one of the "qualifiers" for a Major isn’t too bad financially, with the top team getting $125,000 and a spot at the Major where they can turn it into even more, making it a double prize for some of the less well-funded teams.
DPC ranking determines invites to the Regional Qualifiers
Invites to the Regional Qualifiers are now handed out to the current top 8 teams with most DPC points per region, as long as the team aren't disbanded and still have an active roster.
Valve decides the distribution of excess qualifier slots
In addition to the required 2 slots per region for Majors and 1 slot per region for Minors, the distribution of the excess qualifier slots are decided now by Valve, not the organiser.
Picture: StarLadder / Flickr
The use of substitute players
During qualifiers, playing with at least four of the team's five registered players will cause no DPC points penalty. During the LAN portion of the tournament, the use of subs will cause a 40% reduction to the points earned in that tournament with exception to special cases. (e.g: countries barring specific nationals from obtaining a visa).
Removing players after qualifying to the tournament
Removing a player from the roster after that team qualifies to a tournament is allowed, however this will incur a 20% additional penalty to the pre-existing 40% penalty from not having the full 5 registered players during the event.
Rules regarding player switching
Teams can no longer drop their players after the beginning of the final Minor. However, incomplete teams can still acquire players until 12PM Pacific Standard Time of the day after the final Major concludes.
Rules for teams participating in the TI Open Qualifiers
Teams that belong to or work for a team that has qualified directly to TI or qualified for the Main Regional Qualifiers will not be allowed to join the Open Qualifiers. That means no junior/academy/side teams.
TI Main Qualifiers invites are now based on DPC rankings too
The top eight teams with highest DPC points from each region will be assessed whether they still have their full roster or not, and those who did but still haven't qualified for TI already will be directly invited to the Main Qualifiers.
Valve now determines the tournament formats
Majors
Consists of group stage and playoffs. Teams will be divided into 4 groups and play in a GSL format, where the top 2 teams from each group advances to the Upper Bracket while the rest starts from the Lower Bracket. Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket where the first round of Lower Bracket is a Bo1, the Grand Finals is a Bo5, and the rest is a Bo3.
Minors
Consists of group stage and playoffs. Teams will be similarly divided into 2 groups and play in a GSL format, but only the top 2 teams from each group advances to the Playoffs and the rest are eliminated. Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket where all teams start at the Upper Bracket, and all matches are played in a Bo3 except the Grand Finals which is a Bo5.
Major and Minor qualifiers are now combined
The previously seperated qualifiers are now combined to a shorter, simpler one to allow teams to have more time to rest and take care of their visas.
Qualifiers dates are as follows:
- Qualifier #1: September 30-October 5, 2019
- Qualifier #2: December 1-6, 2019
- Qualifier #3: February 9-14, 2020
- Qualifier #4: March 29-April 3, 2020
- Qualifier #5: May 17-22, 2020
Combined qualifiers format
Other than the 8 direct invites through DPC rankings, there are also 2 Open Qualifier slots each region, for a total of 10 slots. In case of not enough teams having DPC points to fill all the direct invite slots, Valve will decide on how to distribute the remaining slots.
The qualifiers is divided into three phases:
Phase 1 - Group Stage
The 10 teams will be divided into 2 groups of 5, and play in a round-robin format where the top 2 teams from each group directly advance to Phase 2 and the 3rd place from each group advance to Phase 3. The rest gets eliminated and receives 10 DPC points.
In case if a region receives either an additional Major or Minor slot, the 4th place from each group battle in a Bo3 to determine who proceeds to the next Phase accordingly. If a region receives both an additional Major AND Minor slot, both 4th place teams advance to the next Phase.
Phase 2 - Major Qualifier Playoffs
The Major Qualifier Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket, where all 4 teams start from the Upper Bracket and the Top 2 teams qualifies for the Major. If the region have an additional Major slot, then the Top 3 teams qualifies to the Major. The rest advances to Phase 3.
Phase 3 - Minor Qualifier Playoffs
The Minor Qualifier Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket, where all 4 teams start from the Upper Bracket and the winner qualifies for the Minor. If the region have an additional Minor slot, then the Top 2 teams qualifies to the Minor. The rest are eliminated and gets 20 DPC points.
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