WPC-ACE will kick-off today, with a match between eastern teams LGD and Newbee opening up the tournament. Their game is scheduled at 10:30 CET (17:00 SGT).
NewBee's current leader, Zhang 'xiao8' Ning, used to be the captain of LGD. On the short history these two teams currently have, it is NewBee who has the edge as they have won all three previous matches.
LGD and Newbee are only two of the twelve teams included on the eastern group. Among the participating teams were six invited Chinese squads and four other Chinese teams who have advanced from the qualifier. Also, two Southeast-Asian teams were invited.
The teams will play every other team on one best-of-two series, with each win garnering a team a point. The six teams with the highest points after the round-robin will advance into the playoffs of the WPC-ACE tournament, wherein they will be guaranteed at least $3,600. You can view the full schedule of the eastern group here.
All the games on the eastern group, including those of the SEA teams, will be played on a LAN environment. The games will be held at the Shanghai ESports Center, and the whole group stage will last until 18 May.
The western division is less crowded, as it only has five teams. Only two, however, will be advancing into the playoffs to be held in China in late May. It will follow the same tournament format as the east's. All the games on the west are packed across three days, which will span from 10 to 12 April. You can view the full schedule of the western group here.
BeyondTheSummit will be providing the English cast. You can purchase the DotaTV ticket on the Dota 2 store for $9.99.
WPC-ACE still has the highest base prize pool among all the third-party tournaments. $245,000 is at stake, with a very hefty $161,000 going to the Champion. Last year's champion, team DK, is among the favorites heading into the tournament.
If you want to get more hyped about this tournament, feel free our pre-WPC interview with LaNm. You can also try watching WPC-ACE's trailer below.
