The New Dota Pro Circuit Rules (2021 – 2022)

The rules for the upcoming Dota Pro Circuit have been announced and once again, Valve has decided to change the competitive format. This time, however, the changes look encouraging for teams, talent, and fans alike. There will be more action to watch and a more fair qualification system for The International.

Dota Pro Circuit 2021 – 2022: Structure and Rules

The upcoming DPC is scheduled to take place in 3 parts, which have been called tours. The competition still involves the same 6 regions, but instead of 2 tours per year we now have 3.

Each Dota 2 tour is followed by a Major, which features the best 2 – 4 teams from every region. However, some regions get more slots than others because they are considered to be stronger. The total number of participants is 18, but there are 3 stages: Wild Card, Groups, and Playoffs. The winner of each region is guaranteed a ticket for the Playoffs

• Western Europe: 4 slots
• Eastern Europe: 3 slots
• China: 4 slots
• North America: 2 slots
• South America: 2 slots
• Southeast Asia: 3 slots

It’s a bit strange to see Southeast Asia receive 3 slots while North America only has 2. After all, in North America there are at least 3 teams that have a lot of potential while in SEA there are only 2. Of course, things may have changed a bit since last season, but for 2020 – 2021, NA had Evil Geniuses, Quincy Crew, and Undying while SEA had T1 and Fnatic.

Qualification Points

One of the greatest changes for the next Dota Pro Circuit is the qualification points distribution. These points are no longer awarded in massive amounts regionally, which means that teams will need to prove themselves internationally to get a direct invite to TI11.

The distribution of points is gradual, prioritizing events based on their temporal order. The closer we get to The International 11, the higher the number of awarded points.

Regional League Division 1:

• 1^st place: 300 / 400 / 500
• 2^nd place: 180 / 240 / 300
• 3^rd place: 120 / 160 / 200
• 4^th place: 60 / 80 / 100
• 5^th place: 30 / 40 / 50

Major Tournament:

• 1^st place: 400 / 500 / 600
• 2^nd place: 350 / 450 / 550
• 3^rd place: 300 / 400 / 500
• 4^th place: 250 / 350 / 450
• 5^th – 6^th place: 200 / 300 / 400
• 7^th – 8^th place: 100 / 200 / 300

DPC Divisions

Each region of Dota Pro Circuit has 2 divisions, called the Upper Division and the Lower Division. At the end of a tour, the bottom 2 teams from the Upper Division get relegated to the Lower Division, the top 2 teams from the Lower Division get promoted to the Upper Division, and the bottom 2 teams from the Lower Division get eliminated. However, they can come back by winning the Open Qualifiers.

DPC qualification points are reserved only for the teams from the Upper Division. The top 5 of them will be awarded such points, and also the top 8 Major participants. This system ensures that a team will not be able to secure a direct invitation to The International without achieving a decent level of success.

 

Photo credit: Valve