The MLG Dota 2 Invitational, MLG's first real venture into competitive Dota 2, will take place today at MLG Full Sail in Anaheim. The premier team of the four teams which got here through the online qualifiers will walk away not just $10,000 richer, but will also earn themselves a spot at the MLG Columbus competition which will take place towards the end of next month, from November the 22nd until the 24th.
Behind the names of Typical Mistakes and noM hide two names which should be more familiar to those who've followed the road to Full Sail, namely Pretty Boy Swag and Shadowfiend Eats Cake. Both North American squads were asked by MLG to change their names for the tournament for the sake of a more professional outlook, something which MLG has said they will likely not enforce for future events. This signaling that the organizers are slowly learning a bit more about the North American scene, which they look to foster with competitions like this.
Favourites going into the event are naturally enough, Team Dignitas. While only recently having confirmed their new lineup, Team Dignitas is still composed of veteran players with the experience that will set them ahead of any concerns about their lack of team synergy at this early stage in the team's development. The player to keep an eye on during this tournament will be Dignitas' newcomer Francis 'Inphinity' Pravongviengkham. How well this new offlaner acclimatizes to his first major LAN experience will be an important indicator to see if Dignitas will be able to become a strong LAN team in the future, as the rest of the squad are all well adapted to this competitive sphere.
The casting will be done by David 'GoDz' Parker and Ben 'Merlini' Wu from BeyondTheSummit. They will be appearing on MLG's own stream over at MLG.tv instead of their usual BTS stream, as well as through DotaTV with the MLG NA League and Full Sail LAN ticket.
Prizepool
1st Place - $10,000 + Invite to MLG Columbus
2nd Place - $5,000
Schedule:
Friday, October 18 – Dota 2 – all times CEST (EDT+6)
19:00 CEST - Dr Pepper Pre-Game Show
19:15 CEST - Group Play – Dignitas vs. Typical Mistakes
20:15 CEST - Group Play - noM vs. The Joikernaught
21:15 CEST - Halftime Show presented by Planetside 2
21:30 CEST - Group Play – Winners Match
22:30 CEST - Group Play – Losers Match
24:00 CEST - Group Play – Final Match
01:00 CEST - Championship Match
Sources: MLG
Headline image by MLG.