The Kuala Lumpur Major preview

The Kuala Lumpur Major is the first Major of the Dota Pro Circuit for the 2018-2019 competitive season. The tournament takes pace in Malaysia, brings together 16 of the world’s best teams and lasts for 10 days.

Being a Major event, The Kuala Lumpur Major has a prize pool of 1 million dollars and offers a total of 15.000 qualification points for The International 2019.

Participants

The Kuala Lumpur Major features 16 teams from 6 different regions:

• Europe: Team Secret, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Alliance
• CIS: Virtus.pro, Gambit Esports
• North America: Evil Geniuses, Forward Gaming, J.Storm
• South America: paiN Gaming, paiN X
• Southeast Asia: Fnatic, TNC Predator, Tigers
• China: PSG.LGD, Vici Gaming, Team Aster

© PSG Esports

Tournament format

The Kuala Lumpur Major has a very exciting format and lasts for 10 days. Both the duration and the competitive format are similar to those of The International 2018 and that can only mean one thing: hype!

For the Group Stage, the teams will be divided into 4 groups of 4. Each group will be played in a GSL format (double elimination bracket). The top 2 teams advance to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event while the bottom 2 teams advance to the Lower Bracket.

The Main Event (Playoffs) is played over 7 days, with the final 3 days being held in front of a live audience. With the exception of the first round of Lower Bracket matches (Bo1s) and the Grand Final (Bo5), all matches will be Bo3 series.

The format of this stage is identical to that of The International 2018. In other words, we will have a double elimination bracket, with a total of 3 rounds of Upper Bracket matches to reach the Grand Final and a total of 6 Lower Bracket rounds.

© The Kuala Lumpur Major

Prize pool distribution

The Kuala Lumpur Major offers a prize pool of $1 million and 15.000 qualification points for The International 2019. These rewards will be distributed among the 16 participants in the following way.

• 1^st place: $350.000 – 4.950 points
• 2^nd place: $170.000 – 3.000 points
• 3^rd place: $100.000 – 2.100 points
• 4^th place: $80.000 – 1.350 points
• 5^th – 6^th place: $60.000 – 900 points
• 7^th – 8^th place: $40.000 – 450 points
• 9^th – 12^th place: $15.000 – 150 points
• 13^th – 16^th place: $10.000 – 75 points

Unlike the previous season, Dota Pro Circuit events now offer qualification points to every single competitor. So overall, that should give us an even more accurate picture of how well each team has performed during a season, prior to TI. This marks the start of a new and improved way of doing things and should lead to a better competitive environment.

Top contenders

While it is still early to say who the best Dota 2 teams are right now, we will likely see a number of the The Kuala Lumpur Major participants excel in this tournament. These teams are PSG.LGD, Virtus.pro, Evil Geniuses and Team Secret. One of these 4 will almost certainly win the event. The only question is: which one?