The first 4 Direct Invites for ESL One Genting 2018 have been announced

ESL One Genting 2018 will be the 12^th tournament of the Dota Pro Circuit. The event has a prize pool of 400.000 dollars, offers a total of 400 qualifying points and is scheduled to take place in Genting, Malaysia between January 23 and January 28.

ESL One Genting 2018 is the most prestigious Minor of the 2017-2018 competitive season. And not just in terms of qualifying points and prize money, but also as a viewing spectacle for Dota 2 fans around the world. That’s because the number of participants at this tournament is 16 instead of the usual 8, so a lot of great teams will be present to delight the audience and put on a great show.

Out of the 16 spots available for this event, 8 are up for grabs and another 8 are offered directly by the organizer (ESL). The first 4 of these last 8 have already been awarded to 4 of the best teams so far this season: Virtus.pro, Newbee, Mineski, and Team Liquid.

All of these teams deserve their direct invite, as their recent performances have been excellent.

Virtus.pro won the ESL One Hamburg Major and are currently a top 3 team in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings.

Newbee took 3^rd-4^th place at ESL One Hamburg, 2^nd place at DPL.T Season 4, 3^rd place at AMD SAPPHIRE Dota PIT League and 1^st place at Perfect World Masters. At the moment, they’re sitting at number 4 in the Dota Pro Circuit Rankings.

Mineski are one of the strongest teams in Southeast Asia, won the PGL Open Bucharest Minor and placed 2^nd at StarLadder i-League Invitational #3.

Team Liquid won StarLadder i-League Invitational #3, AMD SAPPHIRE Dota PIT League and Midas Mode. They also placed 3^rd-4^th at ESL One Hamburg and 2^nd at DreamLeague Season 8.