The 3rd Dota Pro Circuit is drawing closer

Only two weeks are left until the start of the new Dota Pro Circuit, which will begin with the qualifier for the first set of tournaments (a Minor and a Major). The exact details of these first two esports tournaments are yet to be announced. All we know is that they’re scheduled for November, while the qualification process takes place between October 5^th – 10^th.

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Dota Pro Circuit Format (2019 – 2020)

The 3^rd Dota Pro Circuit will borrow the structure of the 2^nd one, with slight modifications. It will have a total of 10 tournaments: 5 Minors and 5 Majors. These tournaments will take place in pares and will be preceded by unified qualifiers. I say unified qualifiers because there will no longer be two separate qualification tournaments for each of them. Just one.

• Read also: Dota 2 Roster Changes: waiting for the third season of the Dota Pro Circuit

One other important change for the new DPC has to do with the qualifiers, which now offer qualification points (370 per event). When compared to Majors (15.000 points), the amount isn’t very significant. But consider the following two things: Minors only offer 660 points. That’s the first. The second one is that last season, the 12^th placed team in the DPC, and hence the last directly invited team to The International 2019, had less than 1200 points. So every single point is important.

The schedule of the Dota Pro Circuit for 2019-2020 can be found below:

• 1^st Qualifier Event: October 5^th – 10^th
• 1^st Minor Tournament: November 7^th – 10^th
• 1^st Major Tournament: November 16^th – 24^th
• 2^nd Qualifier Event: December 1^st – 6^th
• 2^nd Minor Tournament: January 9^th – 12^th
• 2^nd Major Tournament: January 18^th – 26^th
• 3^rd Qualifier Event: February 9^th – 14^th
• 3^rd Minor Tournament: March 5^th – 8^th
• 3^rd Major Tournament: March 14^th – 22^nd
• 4^th Qualifier Event: March 29^th – April 3^rd
• 4^th Minor Tournament: April 23^nd – 26^th
• 4^th Major Tournament: May 2^nd – 10^th
• 5^th Qualifier Event: May 17^th – 22^nd
• 5^th Minor Tournament: June 11^th – 14^th
• 5^th Major Tournament: June 20^th – 28^th

Competitive Formats

The competitive formats for the upcoming DPC events will be the following:

Majors

Majors will consist of two stages (groups and playoffs) and feature 16 teams, just like last season. For the Group Stage, the teams will be divided into four groups. Out of every group, the top two teams advance to the Upper Bracket while the bottom two advance to the Lower Bracket. All matches are Bo3 at this stage. The format used for this stage is GSL or double-elimination bracket (for every group).

The Main Event is played in a TI format. The first round of Lower Bracket matches consists of Bo1 battles. Every other match is Bo3, with the exception of the Grand Final, which is Bo5. The format for this stage is GSL.

Minors

DPC Minors have eight participants and are played in two stages. For the Group Stage, the teams are divided into two groups. Each of these groups will use the double-elimination format. The matches are Bo3. The best two teams from each group advance to the Playoffs, which consist of two Semifinals and the Grand Final.