For those who might have missed the most important news from the past week in the competitive Dota2 scene, here is a short recap.
Tournament news:
Kiev Major format; Swiss format replaces GSL
Kiev Major format was revealed, with a big surprise switch up! Replacing the more common GSL group stage format, the Swiss format will be implemented over the span of two days. Swiss format is used with a single pool of teams and is based on scores - so teams will face others of the same performance and result level and will not play every team.
Kiev Major format
Group stage:
- April 24-25
- One group of 16 teams
- Four Rounds of matches will be played
- All matches are best-of-three
- Matchups are based on same win/loss record
- Teams will not play same team twice
Main event:
- April 27-30
- Single elimination bracket
- All matches best-of-three
- Grand Finals best-of-five
The Summit 7: Virtus Pro receive first direct invite
Returning champions Virtus Pro have received the first direct invite to Beyond The Summit's seventh iteration of their annual tournament. The LAN final will feature eight teams, half of which will be direct invites like Virtus Pro, and the other half from regional qualifiers held in the NA, EU, China and SEA regions. The SEA qualifiers are already well underway while NA, EU, and China's qualifiers will begin on the 7th of May. The LAN event, which will feature a group stage and a final top four elimination bracket will start on June 14 and run until the 18th.
Newbee and VG J announced for SL i-League Invitational Season 2
Little to no info was released by the tournament organizers regarding the number of direct invites or the qualifier process. However, with only Chinese qualifiers already played, the first two direct invites went to VG J and Newbee. Invictus Gaming claimed the Chinese qualifier spot.
Register now for EPICENTER: Moscow open qualifiers
Two separate rounds will grant a total of six teams - two from NA/SA, two from SEA, one from EU and one from CIS a place in the closed qualifiers for their respective regions. Separate Chinese qualifiers will be forthcoming. The first of two rounds of EPICENTER: Moscow open qualifiers kicks off this weekend - April 21-23rd for NA/SA, SEA and CIS regions. One team from each region will advance into the closed qualifiers. The following weekend will be the second set of EPICENTER: Moscow open qualifiers -April 30-May 2 NA/SA, SEA and this time EU teams will have a chance to compete for the allocated spot.
EPICENTER: Moscow open qualifiers Round 1:
Registration for NA/SA HERE, SEA HERE, CIS HERE
EPICENTER: Moscow open qualifiers Round 2:
Registration for NA/SA HERE, SEA HERE, EU HERE
Cloud 9 - Taiwan bound for ZOTAC Cup Masters
Cloud 9 is the first team to qualify for ZOTAC Cup Masters - a $100,000 event to be held in Computex Taipei, Taiwan at the end of June. The Danish had qualified in the fourth round of open qualifiers for the first Europe set. They then took on the Turkish team Bogazici, overpowered Team Spirit 2:0, knocked out the CIS team HFZ, before locking horns with the Swedish sweethearts, Alliance.
Team announcements:
Big changes for DC; current roster parts ways, Team Onyx signed
In a twitlonger message to fans Rasmus "MiSeRy" Filipsen revealed that the members of Digital Chaos have separated from the organization and in their place, Team Onyx has been signed.
On the other hand, Thomas Hancock, co-owner welcomed their new roster - Team Onyx who made their entrance into the Americas region this season
Team Onyx/new DC roster
Mason 'mason' Venne
Sam 'BuLba' Sosale
Kim 'DuBu' Doo-young
Jimmy 'DeMoN' Ho
Abed Azel 'Abed' Yusop
Thunderbirds roster:
Aliwi ‘w33’ Omar
Roman ’Resolut1on’ Fominok
David ‘Moon’ Tan
Martin ‘Saksa’ Sazdov
Rasmus ‘MiSeRy’ Filipsen
Adam/343 to stand in for Mineski 'until further notice'
Adam "Adam/343" Shah will be standing in for Mineski 'until further notice'. In the last match the team played for the Manila Masters SEA Quaifiers Adam played in lieu of Nico "eyyou" Barcelon. The changes in the lineup come only two weeks after Mineski finalized their new roster, built around Chai 'Mushi' Yee Fung and only two days after Adam eluded to his separation from B)ears. No formal or official announcement has been provided and fans are left only to speculate that "eyyou" has parted ways with the team on a permanent basis.
