As revealed in Dota 2’s official announcement of the 2018-19 DPC season , ESL One Hamburg 2018 will take place outside of the Pro Circuit. Even though there won’t be any DPC points up for grabs at the event, it will stay at its announced date and time slot of October 23-28.

In order to give more teams a chance to shine on the big stage, we’re introducing a new format for ESL One Hamburg 2018 which will also allow the fans to watch more teams live in the arena.

12 Teams

6 days of competition

New group stage format 2 groups (6 teams each) Best-of-2 matches (10 group games per team)

Double elimination playoff bracket 4 teams in upper bracket (1st/2nd places from groups) 4 teams in lower bracket (3rd/4th places from groups) Bo3 matches, Bo5 finals



This new format gives each participating team ten games at minimum before the first eliminations take place. The double-elimination main event will also allow for eight teams to play in front of the roaring fans in the Barclaycard Arena, up from six teams in previous events. This means that during the stadium days, three Bo3s will take place on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday being reserved for the LB final and Bo5 grand final. While this format change forced us to reduce the number of participating teams from 16 to 12, we feel that the improved tournament experience will more than make up for it.

ESL One Hamburg 2018 will be the next tournament in a line of exhilarating live Dota 2 experiences in Germany ever since our first-ever stadium event in Frankfurt in 2014. Since the tournament will take place two weeks before the first Major of the new DPC season, it will give teams the chance to test out their post-TI rosters on what will most likely be a post-TI patch. We’re excited to continue the tradition of unique crowd experiences that you can only witness when you watch some of the best Dota 2 teams in the world battle it out in front of thousands of roaring fans.

If those are not enough reasons for you to secure your ESL One Hamburg tickets, then the following will surely help convince you:

Europe’s biggest Dota 2 Cosplay competition More Screens Better Viewing angle Improved Signage