Valve has opened the latest Open Registration period for squads hoping to qualify for The International 8 this year, allowing teams and players to register, re-register and leave their squads. According to a tweet by Valve via the official Dota 2 account, this will be the second and final registration period before TI8.

Originally created for the 2015-2016 Majors season, the roster registration system attempts to prevent excessive shuffling before The International each year. The addition of a “two-phase” system in 2016-2017 helps prevent players from being left in the dust before invites and qualifiers. With the Dota Pro Circuit point system, it now also seems to act as an anti-abuse system, punishing teams and players that frequently use substitutes that were not registered.

As per previous Dota 2 roster lock seasons, there will be two “phases” with separate ending dates. All teams must be registered by the end of the registration period in order to be considered for The International.

Phase One is a re-registration and player release date—more of an “alteration” period for existing rosters. During this period, players can be released from a team without any consequence to the team banner, nor the players’ points. Teams can also be re-registered, carrying over players from the prior registration period.

In Phase Two, new teams and players are able to be registered. However, for any teams that are already registered, players cannot be released from the team in this phase. This is essentially the core part of the Open Registration period, allowing any team and player to join the Pro Circuit run.

Phase One is from time of writing until January 22, at 5:00 PM PST. From there, Phase Two will take place until February 8 at 5:00 PM PST. (These times are subject to change, as they have in some prior seasons.)

Some things to note, via the FAQ:

Players and teams are required to renew their registration.

Players are locked to their teams for the full season.

Substitutes do incur penalties after the registration period.

The next registration period will be after TI8.

There’s no penalty to not re-registering a team during Phase One, then reinstating them Phase Two; it’s a common occurrence for teams hiding rosters.

Teams playing with subs during the registration period will not incur penalties.

The Registration hub will be an essential site for teams, players and fans alike. Here, players and teams sign up for the seasons, and some of the most notable players and teams will be included on the Team Rosters page. Fans can also check for the status of their favorite players on this page.