Valve has announced the official format and rules for the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit, a series of five Majors and five Minors that hands out DPC points to determine which 12 teams will be directly qualified to The International 2020 in Stockholm. While fleetingly similar to the DPC season 2018-2019, there are some major changes and new tournament formats worth a mention.
Last year's DPC had some extraordinary results, with tournament favourites falling at the last hurdle while Team OG triumphed again at The International. How did you do with your predictions? Remember to watch and bet on Dota 2 games right here at Luckbox. 18+ and always gamble responsibly.
DPC 2019-2020 Schedule
- Minor #1: November 7-10, 2019
- Major #1: November 16-24, 2019
- Minor #2: January 9-12, 2020
- Major #2: January 18-26, 2020
- Minor #3: March 5-8, 2020
- Major #3: March 14-22, 2020
- Minor #4: April 23-26, 2020
- Major #4: May 2-10, 2020
- Minor #5: June 11-14, 2020
- Major #5: June 20-28, 2020
Minors will have a $300,000 prize pool, while Majors will have a $1m prize pool.
Changes in DPC 2019-2020
Qualifiers now award DPC points
Every team that participates in the regional qualifiers - even if they fail to qualify to the Major/Minor - will still be rewarded DPC points based on their placement in the qualifiers.
Minors give more DPC points
Minors now give a total of 660 DPC points instead of 500 the previous season, while Majors will still give a total of 15,000 DPC points.
A new distribution format
For Majors, the rewards 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 rewards 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
*Since the Minor winner also gets to participate in the Major, they will only get DPC points for the event in which they placed better (e.g: If they place last in the Major, they will only get 140 points for winning the Minor. If they place 8th instead, they'd get the 450 points for the Major but not the 140 points from the Minor)
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 organizer.
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 a player 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.
New 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
New 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.
*Waiting for the the DPC season 2019-2020 to start, check-out all Dota 2 matches schedule and live streams. Make your predictions and win real cash! 18+ and always gamble responsibly. *
