i-League and StarLadder partnership seems to have come to an end after five years during which the two tournament organizers worked together to host multiple Minors and Majors for Dota 2. For the first time since 2015, i-League is announcing a Dota 2 tournament held without their partner.
For i-League 2021, the tournament operator, ImbaTV announced on Weibo to have joined forces with the Chinese DOTA2 Professional Association(CDA). The event will feature teams only from China, fighting for a share of the $184,427 total prize pool. The tournament will unfold across two months with games hosted both online and offline.
Seven of the best teams in the region received direct invites to the event and will be joined by one more squad coming from closed qualifiers matches.
i-League 2021 will unfold April 3 to May 31 and will overlap with the second season of Dota Pro Circuit Regional Leagues.
i-League 2021 directly invited teams:
PSG.LGD
Elephant
Vici Gaming
Team Aster
EHOME
Invictus Gaming
Royal Never Give Up
TBD (closed qualifiers winners)
Additionally, a total of eight squads were invited to the closed qualifier set to be held March 22-31 in a double elimination bracket format. The Main event portion will be played on LAN at IMBA E-Sports arena and one series per week will be played at Shanghai Aegean complex from Shanghai, China.
The main event will consist of a Round Robin group stage, followed by a double elimination playoff bracket. Detailed information on the format is yet to be announced along with the prize pool distribution.
