Qualifiers for EPICENTER Major 2019 will be held in a new format
Ihor MatusThe organizers of the fifth Major tournament have introduced to the audience a new system of holding of knockout matches.Now the elimination round will be split into two interim stages: the group one and the playoff. It's worth noting that eight contestants will not get divided into two groups, but they will play by Round Robin. It's also noticeable that the winner of the group stage will get invitations to EPICENTER Major 2019. The teams that will get the 2,3,4 and 5 positions will continue fighting at the double-elimination bracket. All the matches apart from the final will be held in the Bo3 format, when the last meeting will be held up to three wins.
The new format concerns only four regions: CIS, North America, South America and Asia. In Europe and China where not 2, but 3 invitations will be fought for, the team will be playing classically, by the GSL system where the matches will be held by Bo3. In China and Europe one team gets to the LAN final from the group stage whereas two trips to the playoff will be played for.
The closed regional qualifiers for EPICENTER Major 2019 will be taking place from 15 till 19 May. They start today at 14:00. In all six divisions 14 invites will be fought for while only two last will be received by two best teams of the fifth minor that will be held in Kiev, Ukraine.
Matches history: EPICENTER Major 2019
EPICENTER Major 2019 will be going on from 22 till 30 June in the capital of Russia. The holding place is the stadium VTB Ice Palace. The prize pool consists of $1,000,000 and 15,000 Dota Pro Circuit points.