StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Preview

Dota 2
05/03/2019
Radu Muresan

StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor is the 3rd Minor of the Dota Pro Circuit. The event marks the middle of the 2018-2019 competitive season and represents a key moment for some of its participants to make a comeback and earn a spot at the DreamLeague Season 11 Major.

StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor offers a prize pool of $300.000 and a total of 500 qualification points for The International 2019. More importantly, it offers its winner a ticket to the subsequent Major, which is what most of the 8 participants probably aim for.

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© StarLadder Dota 2

StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor will take place in Kiev, Ukraine between March 7th and March 10th.

Event Participants

StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor brings together 8 teams from the main regions of professional Dota 2.

  • CIS: Old but Gold, Gambit Esports
  • North America: Flying Penguins
  • South America: Playmakers Esports
  • Europe: OG
  • Southeast Asia: BOOM ID
  • China: Royal Never Give Up, Vici Gaming

This is a rather impressive lineup given that this is a mere Minor. It’s quite extraordinary that we actually have a TI champion (OG) and a former TI finalist (Vici Gaming) at this level. However, the fierce competition in Europe and China sent these very strong teams into this Dota 2 hell, out of which only one competitor will make it out alive.

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© StarLadder Dota 2

Prizes

StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor offers the standard rewards for a Minor. Normally, you’d think that the money is decent but the qualification points are not. Well, because of the ongoing situation within the Dota Pro Circuit and the caliber of these 8 teams, the situation is actually reversed.

Most of the 8 participants will be a lot more interested in the points than the money. And that’s because of the following fact: the 12th team in the DPC rankings is currently Alliance. And they have only 225 points. With a victory here and the standard 75 points they would get by participating in the Major, the winner of StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor can actually get very close to breaking into the top 12, even if they totally fail to do anything at the DreamLeague Season 11 Major.

The prizes offered by StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor will be split among its 8 participants in the following way:

  • 1st: $125.000 + 120 qualification points + ticket to DreamLeague Season 11
  • 2nd: $70.000 + 100 qualification points
  • 3rd: $35.000 + 90 qualification points
  • 4th: $25.000 + 70 qualification points
  • 5th – 6th: $15.000 + 40 qualification points
  • 7th – 8th: $7.500 + 20 qualification points

Going into StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor, the main favorites are Vici Gaming, Gambit Esports and OG.