Dota Pro Cuicuit, the opportunity for new teams to rise

Valve has just announced new details regarding the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) system.

Valve officially confirmed what we know a few weeks ago when next season 12 teams will qualify for The International 2019 through the DPC points system, with the remaining 6 slots reserved for the regional qualifiers, one slot per major region (Europe, CIS, Southeast Asia, China, North America, South America).

Dota Pro Circuit team registration is now open. Make sure to read the updated FAQ. https://t.co/GeAUCs08r1 and https://t.co/zg06McmXO0

— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) September 5, 2018

The latest news released by Valve regarding the amount of points distributed to tournaments in the Pro Circuit. Majors will have a total of 15,000 points, while Minors will have a total of 500 points. In addition, this season will have another important change compared to the previous season to help low tier teams.

Minors won’t help your team qualify for TI, but they will get you into the Major

In Valve’s Q&A:

Can teams attend both the Minor and the Major?
No, only teams that did not qualify for the Major can qualify for the Minor

In other words, Valve didn’t just lower the Minor, making people realize that they couldn’t play the Minor enough to win 1 of the 12 tickets to TI9. In addition, Gaben also barred all Major competitors from participating in the Minor of that Major. This is why the Major qualifiers always take place first, and then the Minors begin.

To better understand how a Minor/Major pair works, it is simplified as follows:

Major Qualifier → Minor Qualifier → Minor → Major, repeat 4 times

Why would a team want to go to a Minor?

Despite the extremely low score, the Minor now has one more important thing. Winning the Minor will help the team qualify for the next Major. This is not a new rule in Valve games as CS:GO already uses a similar, but not quite the same system.

Distribution of DPC points in the Minor period:

1st place: 120 DPC points
2nd place: 100 DPC points
3rd place: 90 DPC points
4th place: 70 DPC points
Rank 5-6: 40 DPC points
Rank 7-8: 20 DPC points

While the points are currently quite small, the Minor still has a prize money of $300,000, which is quite a lot for any small team. The Minor is also more meaningful now than it was last season, and thanks to the rules for getting into the next Major, this season is sure to be interesting for everyone.

Major qualifiers, places and scores

Major qualifiers now require at least two entries from each region, with the tournament open to all six regions. That means 12 teams will win the right to participate, plus one more Minor won, we have a total of 13 teams. To get all 16 teams to attend the Major, the last 3 slots are decided by Valve, not the organizers, for the selected region. That means each China Major qualifier will have 3 slots, similar to North America and Southeast Asia or any other region combined.

Another important change regarding the amount of DPC points distributed is that this year, all Major teams have a share of 15,000 points. Regardless of who organizes the tournament, the amount of points distributed will still be the same:

Distribution of DPC points at the Major:

1st place: 4950 DPC points
2nd place: 3000 DPC points
3rd place: 2100 DPC points
4th place: 1350 DPC points
Rank 5-6: 900 DPC points
Rank 7-8: 450 DPC points
9-12th: 150 DPC
13-16th place: 75 DPC points

After realizing the huge difference between the DPC points of the Major and the Minor, some will ask the following question: why would the organizers want to host the Minor when only low tier teams can attend?

Theoretically, lower tier teams mean lower viewership, lower box office receipts, and other corollaries. As in the previous season, the vast majority of minor Minors have the first 2 new slots as TI7 champion and runner-up. With the new season, Valve continues to sponsor the Minors and Majors, with 50% of the prize money contributed by Valve. Tournament organizers should remember that their events help make Dota 2 better and more professional. Upon realizing this, the parties will immediately understand why the regulations regarding the Minor are so important. Just a few months ago, there was a team that almost lost their spot at TI8, but with just over 35 DPC points, they overtook Team Faceless, who had dominated their region all season.

Penalty for DPC points for roster changes and stand-ins

Valve makes big changes in this area. They completely give the power to own the score to the organizations, not the players. This will eliminate the case that a player with a large amount of points can be transferred for a high fee to claim that number of points. The new rule will definitely benefit low tier teams as they are the team that usually have lower DPC scores.

Valve doesn’t ban players from standing-in during DPC events, but the penalty is now higher. “Any team that enters a LAN tournament with a stand-in will be fined 40% of the points earned in that tournament, Valve has made that clear in the new rules. It goes like this: if a team takes a stand-in at the Major and wins the tournament, they only get the same amount of points they can get as 3rd place.

With these changes, and with only 5 Majors with 5 Minors taking place next season, Valve has opened the registration page for teams so they can sign up for rosters and the deadline is September 15th. Qualifying for the next Major. will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to begin the journey to TI9.

According to vpesports