Despite not having a clear stake anymore, such as a Major ticket, the teams competing in the Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour regional leagues are treating the fans with a breathtaking race at the end of the season.
In Western Europe Division I only Team Liquid and Team Tickles managed to set themselves apart and finished as front runners of the season. Liquid is the Winter Tour regional league winner with a 6-1 series score. In a scenario where the Winter Major would have happened, finishing at the top of the standings would have meant a seed straight into the playoffs bracket, but with the Major gone and no updates from Valve concerning any sort of replacement, the top seed in the league means for now only that Team Liquid ensured themselves 300 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points.
Team Tickles, who placed second in the Western Europe Division I with a 5-2 series score, have earned 180 DPC points.
Division I four-way tiebreaker
Moving further down in the standings, the 3rd to 6th places in the league are still disputed. Four teams finished the regular season tied 4-3 in series and are bound to play extra games to determine who will secure a top four finish.
Tundra Esports forced last night the four-way tiebreaker with a clean 2-0 victory over OG in the last series of the Western Europe Division I league. Their victory ties them with Team Secret, OG and Nigma Galaxy for the third place in the league. The tiebreaker matches are not only to determine the DPC points allocation, but also to determine which other two teams can join Liquid and Tickles in the eventuality of a tournament that would replace the canceled Winter Major.
All tiebreaker matches will be played in a best-of-one format on Friday, January 21. While no precise schedule has been released yet, the matches are expected to commence at noon, CET time and will be broadcast live on the DreamLeague Twitch.tv channel.
More tiebreakers on the menu for Division II
Although uncertainty regarding the stakes clouds Division I, for the Division II teams the goals are clear. A top two finish brings promotion to Division I of the Spring Tour, while a bottom two finish means elimination from DPC. Even so, at the end of the six week league play, only No Bounty Hunter is already eliminated, and that’s due to exceeding the allowed number of forfeits.
Ghost Frogs and Into The Breach are tied for second to last place in the standings with a 2-5 overall series score and will play a best-of-three tiebreaker to determine which one will be eliminated and which will get to continue to play in Division II of the next tour.
Things get even more complicated at the top of the standings. Three teams are tied for first place. Brame, Chicken Fighters and Entity finished the regular season tied 6-1 in series score and will be heading to a three-way best-of-one tiebreaker for promotion to Division I.
All Division II tiebreakers are scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 22, starting at noon, CET time.
headline picture courtesy of Tundra Esports via Twitter
