Esports tournament organizer ESL has announced their decision to transform the upcoming ESL One Los Angeles and Birmingham Dota 2 events into online tournaments. The ESL One Los Angeles Major was postponed earlier this month due to the coronavirus pandemic, while the Birmingham event was set to go on in May. Both events will now be split into regional online leagues.
ESL One Los Angeles was meant to be the third Major of the 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit, running from March 15-22nd with $1,000,000 and 15,000 DPC points on offer. The event will now take place online, splitting the participating regions into their own divisions. The prize pool has been divided among these regions, with North America, South America, and Southeast Asia each receiving $40,000. China receives $55,000, and the combined European and CIS division will get $200,000.
The Europe and CIS region will host sixteen teams, China will host six, and NA, SA, and SEA will each host four. Each region’s group stage will be played in a best-of-three round robin format. The Chinese and European and CIS divisions will utilize a double elimination play-off bracket, while the remaining regions will use a single elimination gauntlet. Each region will crown its own champion, and it is unknown if an overall winner will be determined. It is also currently unclear how this event will fit into the Dota Pro Circuit system, if at all.
The third consecutive ESL One Birmingham tournament was scheduled to go on in late May with a $300,000 prize pool on offer. As the event moves online, that prize pool has been raised to $335,000, to be split across the competing regions. The event is expected to use the same league-style best-of-three round robin group stage format as the Los Angeles online tournament.
Like previous years, ESL One Birmingham was set to host twelve teams, eight of which were to be directly invited. OG Esports, TNC Predator, Evil Geniuses, and Invictus Gaming were the first four teams to be invited to the England event. ESL One Birmingham online is set to take place in May.
More information regarding the online tournaments will be released soon. ESL One Los Angeles will begin online on Saturday, March 28th, and run until April 19th.
Source: ESL