Dota Pro Circuit Rankings 2021

From this season on, Valve has put some changes into the Dota Pro Circuit system (taking into account possible outbreaks of the coronavirus infection)

Firstly, Valve refused from traditional minor tournaments replacing them with six regional leagues – Europe, CIS, China, South-East Asia, North America, South America.

Secondly, a Dota 2 competitive year is divided into two seasons. Each of them ends with a major tournament. Consequently, now the number of majors have reduced: there are only two events of this kind. 

Thirdly, no transfers are allowed from the beginning of each season till the end of the corresponding major. The transfer window will start after the major before the start of the following season, however, each replacement in the lineup will impose a fine of 15% of the current amount of rating points.

Any team is allowed to use a stand-in at four matches of the league on condition that the gamer that substitutes the member of the roster represents a lower division or does not play in the league at all.

The International 10 (2020, 2021)

Slots to proceed to the main tournament of the year The International 10 are distributed in the following way:

• 12 slots in the tournament are taken by the teams to earn the biggest number of points on the outcome of DPC 2021 Season 1 и DPC 2021 Season 2
• 6 slots in the tournament are received by the teams to achieve victory in the qualifiers in their regions - Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, SEA, North America, South America

After the relocation of TI10 from Stockholm to Budapest in October 2021, there are rumors that Valve can expand the number of participants at TI10 on 6 slots, having added the new stage - Wild Card. It can be made to fill the period from July to October with popular events. Respectively, interesting matches can be expected in 6 regions.

Majors

The major format has been reconsidered as well. Now there will be eighteen participants with the following division of slots:

• Four teams from Europe and China
• Three teams from South-East Asia and CIS
• Two teams from North America and South America

The team that holds first place in the region goes straight to the playoff stage of the major, and the team that wins second place gets to the group stage. The other six teams (two from Europe and China, and one from South-East Asia and CIS) take part in the Wild Card stage.

As well as last year, the top twelve teams with the biggest number of DPC points get a direct invitation to The International 2021. The rest of teams use their last chance at the regional qualifiers.

For the first time since The International 2014, there are no open qualifiers.

Format of Regional Leagues

Each of six regions will have its own regional leagues split into an upper and a lower divisions with eight teams in each. The duration of the league in one season is 6 weeks. After the end of each league, two teams with the worst positions in the upper division drop to the lower division, and two best teams of the lower division move to the upper league.

Two teams with the worst results in the lower division leave the league and get replaced by the winners of the open qualifiers. All the other teams keep their positions for the next season.

Valve will not use the points collected in the previous DPC season to seed teams into the leagues but will choose four best teams from each region that get direct invitations to the upper division, and the other slots will be taken by teams from closed and open qualifiers.

Only teams with at least three gamers that are residents of the region are allowed to play in the division.

Six regional leagues will be held by the following tournaments operators:

Both upper and lower divisions of the leagues will get prize money: summarily, $280,000; $205,000 is for the upper division and $75,000 is for the lower division.

Top five teams of the upper division will earn DPC points (in total, 1150). The prize pool and DPC points will be shared in the following way:

¹ Only Europe, China, South-East Asia and CIS

² Only Europe and China

³ Replace by a team from the open qualifiers

Format of the Major

Teams

• Each major tournament holds battles for eighteen teams from all six regions 

Wild Card

• This stage has six participating teams
• All matches are played by Round Robin in the Bo2 format
• Two best teams pass to the group stage
• Four teams that take the last positions get eliminated

Group Stage 

• Eight teams 
• Round Robin with Bo2 matches
• Two best teams pass to the upper bracket of the playoff 
• Teams that take 3-6 place move to the lower bracket of the playoff
• Two last teams leave the event

Playoff 

• Twelve team, Double Elimination bracket
• Four teams start in the lower bracket
• Eight teams start with the upper bracket

Majors will set the prize pool of $500,000 USD and 2,700 DPC Points for eight best teams with the following shares: