Valve Introduces the new Dota Pro Circuit Regional League System

Valve has officially announced the new overhaul coming to the Dota Pro Circuit after The International 2020. The new system is designed to improve the development of Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams while also adding more structure and consistency across the entire circuit. Every year will be split into three seasons, with each composed of 6 regional leagues that culminate in a Major. At the end of the circuit, the best teams will converge at The International.  

Regional Leagues

Each league will consist of an Upper and Lower Division of 8 teams for a total of 16 per league and 96 across the world. At the end of each season, the top two teams of the Lower Division will swap places with the bottom two of the Upper Division. The bottom two of the Lower Division will also be replaced by the top two teams from the Open Qualifiers, while the relegated team must work their way back into the league from the next qualifier event. 

The league will run for six weeks with matches following a Bo3 Round Robin format that will be played in specific timeslots on particular days of the week. The Upper Division matches will be played in a live studio broadcast while all Lower Division matches will air on DotaTV. Each region will have three matches played per day and will follow a strict schedule. Prize allocation is as follows: 

Upper Division

• 1st place: $ 30,000 - 500 DPC points, Playoff seed in the Major
• 2nd place: $ 28,000 - 300 DPC points, Group Stage seed in the Major
• 3rd place: $ 27,000 - 200 DPC points, Major Card Wild Card Stage 1 (China, Europe, Southeast Asia, and North America)
• 4th place: $ 26,000 - 100 DPC points, Major Wild Card Stage 2 (China and Europe)
• 5th place: $ 25,000 - 50 DPC points
• 6th place: $ 24,000 -
• 7th place: $ 23,000 - relegated to Lower Division
• 8th place: $ 22,000 - relegated to Lower Division

Lower Division

• 1st place: $ 17,000 - promoted to Upper Division
• 2nd place: $ 16,000 - promoted to Upper Division
• 3rd place: $ 15,000
• 4th place: $ 11,000
• 5th place: $ 9,000
• 6th place: $ 7,000
• 7th place: Relegation from the league
• 8th place: Relegation from the league  

Each team must announce their region beforehand to compete, and they're required to have at least three players that reside in the region they choose to play in. Teams are allowed to change their region but will have to compete in the new region's qualifiers to secure a spot in the league. 

Majors

Each season will end with an 18 team Major for all regions with $500,000, and DPC points up for grabs. These teams will consist of the best teams from each region in the following varying numbers. 

• 4 slots each to Europe and China
• 3 slots each to North America and Southeast Asia
• 2 slots each to CIS and South America 

The Wildcard event will put the third and fourth place teams from the Upper Division in Europe and China, and the third-place teams from North America and Southeast Asia against one another in Bo2 Round Robin matches. The top two teams will then advance to the Group Stage. 

The Group Stage will consist of the second-place teams from each region, including the winners of the Wildcard event. Competing in Bo2 Round Robin matches, the top two teams here will move on to join the first-place league teams in the Playoffs Upper Bracket. Meanwhile, third to sixth place advance to the Playoffs Lower Bracket.  

Prize allocation for the Major will be distributed as follows:

• 1st Place: $200,000 - 500 DPC points
• 2nd Place: $100,000  - 450 DPC points
• 3rd Place: $75,000 - 400 DPC points
• 4th Place: $50,000 - 350 DPC points
• 5th Place: $25,000 - 300 DPC points
• 6th Place: $25,000 - 300 DPC points
• 7th Place: $12,500 - 200 DPC points
• 8th Place: $12,500 - 200 DPC points 

After the third season, the 12 teams with the most DPC points will qualify for The International. The remaining spots will be filled by the winners of six regional Final Chance Qualifiers. Those eligible to compete in the LCQ are the eight best teams from each region that haven't already secured a TI spot. The LCQ will be the last opportunity to qualify for  as there won't be an Open QualifThe Internationalier event. 

Here are the current dates for each season:

• Season 1 Fall League: October 5 - November 15
• Season 1 Major: December 7- 9
• Season 2 Winter League: January 4 - February 14
• Season 2 Major: March 8 - 20
• Season 3 Spring League: April 12 - May 23
• Season 3 Major: June 21 - July 

These changes are enormous, and while they add a lot more structure to the Dota Pro Circuit, they also give less known teams the chance to prove they have what it takes to play in the big leagues by seizing victory for themselves.  

You can find the official announcement here.