The first big Dota 2 event for 2021 won't be the Singapore Major! Epic Esports Events revealed that the Dota 2 Epic League will be making a return with its third season. Here's everything we know about it so far!
Valve announced the Dota Pro Circuit in 2020 and left us thinking about when we'll see a third-party event. After all the schedule for the DPC 2021 is quite tight and the only timeslot when an event can possibly fit will be between the end of the leagues and the first major. The latter was already revealed to be the Singapore Major, coming March 27.
Just a few days back Epic Esports Events announced the return of the Dota 2 Epic League.
We are happy to announce that the 3rd season of EPIC League will take place in March this year, where 16 European and CIS teams will compete for $100,000 prize pool.Soon, we will announce the teams that have received an invitation to the tournament. Stay tuned! #EPICGG pic.twitter.com/aDEMQ8H4QL
— EPICENTER (@epicentergg) February 8, 2021
The last time we saw the event was back in December where Virtus.pro took the champion's title. Now a third season is in sight and it's scheduled for March, once again online.
Dota 2 Epic League Season 3
The Teams
A total of 16 teams will take part in the big event and all of them will be getting a direct invitation. That's a lot of invites and the organizers might choose to reveal one every day (at some point). While none of the teams have been announced yet we're sure Virtus.pro, Team Secret, OG, and many other well-known names will be on the list.
Note that the tournament will feature only teams from CIS and Europe (as usual).
Format
Much like the previous edition, the Epic League will have two divisions (1 & 2). The event will kick off with a swiss-format group stage on March 2. At the end of it, eight teams will earn a spot in the upper division, and eight will go to the lower division. The two divisions will jump straight into playoffs with double elimination brackets and Bo3 series (Bo5 grand final).
Prize Pool
The prize money for the next season of Epic League pales when compared to the previous one. We last saw $500,000 in Season 2, but Season 3 will offer "only" $100,000 split between the two divisions - $85,000 for Division 1 and $15,000 for Division 2.
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