What to watch this week; Elite League edition

What should you be watching in the Dota 2 scene this week? Elite League is happening this week with the Swiss Stage, followed by the Round-Robin Stage.

For the next two weeks, fans will be able to catch (most) of their favorite teams in competitive action. Boasting a total of 24 teams, Elite League will showcase both fresh blood and some old favorites that we've been missing such as Nigma featuring Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi, Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan,  and Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi. 

• Read Fresh blood injected to Elite League; First four teams qualified

Elite League is an online tournament taking place from March 31st through April 15th. Teams will be competing for the lion's share of the $960,000 prize pool. 

This week will feature 16 teams (nine from qualifiers and seven invited) competing in the Swiss Stage. By Thursday, only half will remain standing to advance to the next stage which will begin immediately after.

Elite League Main Event

• Participants
  • Nine teams from closed qualifiers seeded into swiss stage (group stage 1)
    •  nouns (NA)
    •  Entity (WEU)
    •  rest farmers (WEU)
    •     KEV (CN)
    •    9Pandas (EEU)
    •   Blacklist International (SEA)
    •   Talon Esports (SEA)
    •   BOOM Esports (SA)
    •   Nigma Galaxy (MENA)
  • Six teams invited are seeded into swiss stage (group stage 1)
    •  OG
    •   Tundra Esports
    •   Aurora Gaming
    •   Shopify Rebellion
    •   Heroic
    •   Virtus.pro
    •   PSG Quest
  • Eight teams invited are seeded into round-robin stage (group stage 2)
    •   Team Spirit
    •   BetBoom Team
    •   Team Liquid
    •   Gaimin Gladiators
    •   Team Falcons
    •   Xtreme Gaming
    •   Azure Ray
    •   LGD Gaming
• Swiss Stage (Group Stage 1) - March 31 - April 4, 2024
  • One modified swiss-system of sixteen teams
  • All matches are Bo3
  • Top eight teams advance to round-robin stage (group stage 2)
  • Remaining teams are eliminated
• Round-Robin Stage (Group Stage 2) - April 5 - April 11, 2024
  • Two single round-robin group of eight teams each
  • All matches are Bo2
  • Top two teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of playoffs
  • 3rd-4th place teams from each group advance to the lower bracket of playoffs
  • Remaining teams are eliminated
• Playoffs - April 13 - April 15, 2024
  • Double-elimination bracket
  • All matches except Grand Final are Bo3
  • Grand Final is Bo5