The 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit schedule comprises 15 events, including majors, minors and qualifiers in which teams can accumulate points to climb the DPC rankings and earn a place at The International 10.

DPC rankings

The top 12 teams in the DPC rankings qualify for The International and will avoid having to go through TI qualifiers at the end of the Dota Pro Circuit 2019-20 season.

Last updated January 27, 2020



DPC rankings table shows majors and minors only, points aquired during qualification are between parenthesis

DPC schedule

There are five Majors and five Minors in the DPC 2019-2020 season, with Majors each worth 15,000 points overall, and Minors 660 (instead of 500 last year). Teams can also improve their positon in the DPC standings by playing in major qualifiers, which also award DPC points.

DPC 2019-2020 Majors



Nov 16-24, 2019

Prize pool: $1,000,000

Chengdu, China



Jan 18-26, 2020

Prize pool: $1,000,000

Leipzig, Germany

ESL One Los Angeles 2020

Cancelled

Prize pool: $1,000,000

Los Angeles, USA

EPICENTER Moscow

Cancelled

Prize pool: $1,000,000

ONE Esports Singampore Major

Jun 20-28, 2020

Prize pool: $1,000,000



Picture: StarLadder / Flickr

Dota 2 Minors in 2019 and 2020



Nov 7-10, 2019

Prize pool: $300,000

Los Angeles, USA

WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 (Nigma)

Jan 9-12, 2020

Prize pool: $300,000

Bukovel, Ukraine

StarLadder ImbaTV Minor Season 3

Mar 5-8, 2020

Prize pool: $300,000

Kyiv, Ukraine

Minor TBD

Apr 22-26, 2020

Prize pool: $300,000

Minor TBD

Jun 9-13, 2020

Prize pool: $300,000

DPC points

For Majors, the DPC points distribution is as follows:

1st - $300,000 - 4,850 DPC Points

2nd - $160,000 - 3,000 DPC Points

3rd - $110,000 - 2,100 DPC Points

4th - $80,000 - 1,350 DPC Points

5th-6th - $60,000 - 900 DPC Points

7th-8th - $40,000 - 450 DPC Points

9th-12th - $20,000 - 150 DPC Points

13th-16th - $12,500 - 100 DPC Points

For Minors, the Dota Pro Circuit points distribution is as follows:

1st - $72,000 - 140 DPC Points *

2nd - $60,000 - 120 DPC Points

3rd - $54,000 - 110 DPC Points

4th - $42,000 - 90 DPC Points

5th-6th - $24,000 - 60 DPC Points

7th-8th - $12,000 - 40 DPC Points

For qualifiers, there are 340 points up for grabs, with elimiated teams being awarded 10 points and qualifiers for the minor being awarded 20 DPC points.

The Majors all have $1m prize pools, with the winner taking home $300,000, equaling the total sum on offer at a Minor.

Even winning one of the "qualifiers" for a Major isn’t too bad financially, with the top team getting $125,000 and a spot at the Major where they can turn it into even more, making it a double prize for some of the less well-funded teams.

DPC ranking determines invites to the Regional Qualifiers

Invites to the Regional Qualifiers are now handed out to the current top 8 teams with most DPC points per region, as long as the team aren't disbanded and still have an active roster.

Valve decides the distribution of excess qualifier slots

In addition to the required 2 slots per region for Majors and 1 slot per region for Minors, the distribution of the excess qualifier slots are decided now by Valve, not the organiser.



Picture: StarLadder / Flickr

The use of substitute players

During qualifiers, playing with at least four of the team's five registered players will cause no DPC points penalty. During the LAN portion of the tournament, the use of subs will cause a 40% reduction to the points earned in that tournament with exception to special cases. (e.g: countries barring specific nationals from obtaining a visa).

Removing players after qualifying to the tournament

Removing a player from the roster after that team qualifies to a tournament is allowed, however this will incur a 20% additional penalty to the pre-existing 40% penalty from not having the full 5 registered players during the event.

Rules regarding player switching

Teams can no longer drop their players after the beginning of the final Minor. However, incomplete teams can still acquire players until 12PM Pacific Standard Time of the day after the final Major concludes.

Rules for teams participating in the TI Open Qualifiers

Teams that belong to or work for a team that has qualified directly to TI or qualified for the Main Regional Qualifiers will not be allowed to join the Open Qualifiers. That means no junior/academy/side teams.

TI Main Qualifiers invites are now based on DPC rankings too

The top eight teams with highest DPC points from each region will be assessed whether they still have their full roster or not, and those who did but still haven't qualified for TI already will be directly invited to the Main Qualifiers.

Valve now determines the tournament formats

Majors

Consists of group stage and playoffs. Teams will be divided into 4 groups and play in a GSL format, where the top 2 teams from each group advances to the Upper Bracket while the rest starts from the Lower Bracket. Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket where the first round of Lower Bracket is a Bo1, the Grand Finals is a Bo5, and the rest is a Bo3.

Minors

Consists of group stage and playoffs. Teams will be similarly divided into 2 groups and play in a GSL format, but only the top 2 teams from each group advances to the Playoffs and the rest are eliminated. Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket where all teams start at the Upper Bracket, and all matches are played in a Bo3 except the Grand Finals which is a Bo5.

Major and Minor qualifiers are now combined

The previously seperated qualifiers are now combined to a shorter, simpler one to allow teams to have more time to rest and take care of their visas.

Qualifiers dates are as follows:

Qualifier #1: September 30-October 5, 2019 Qualifier #2: December 1-6, 2019 Qualifier #3: February 9-14, 2020 Qualifier #4: March 29-April 3, 2020 Qualifier #5: May 17-22, 2020

Combined qualifiers format

Other than the 8 direct invites through DPC rankings, there are also 2 Open Qualifier slots each region, for a total of 10 slots. In case of not enough teams having DPC points to fill all the direct invite slots, Valve will decide on how to distribute the remaining slots.

The qualifiers is divided into three phases:

Phase 1 - Group Stage

The 10 teams will be divided into 2 groups of 5, and play in a round-robin format where the top 2 teams from each group directly advance to Phase 2 and the 3rd place from each group advance to Phase 3. The rest gets eliminated and receives 10 DPC points.

In case if a region receives either an additional Major or Minor slot, the 4th place from each group battle in a Bo3 to determine who proceeds to the next Phase accordingly. If a region receives both an additional Major AND Minor slot, both 4th place teams advance to the next Phase.

Phase 2 - Major Qualifier Playoffs

The Major Qualifier Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket, where all 4 teams start from the Upper Bracket and the Top 2 teams qualifies for the Major. If the region have an additional Major slot, then the Top 3 teams qualifies to the Major. The rest advances to Phase 3.

Phase 3 - Minor Qualifier Playoffs

The Minor Qualifier Playoffs is a Double Elimination bracket, where all 4 teams start from the Upper Bracket and the winner qualifies for the Minor. If the region have an additional Minor slot, then the Top 2 teams qualifies to the Minor. The rest are eliminated and gets 20 DPC points.

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