After a thrilling first season of the Dota Pro Circuit, Dota 2’s fiercest competitors headed to the ONE Esports Singapore Major where the giants clashed in a LAN setup. The CIS region went through a rather significant shakeup before the first season of the regional leagues kicked off, making fans wonder if the new rosters would be able to adapt to the competition in time.
Virtus Pro, Na’Vi, and AS Monaco Gambit earned their tickets to the Major, but Na’Vi had to withdraw from the tournament due to three players testing positive for COVID-19.
Though VP and AS Monaco Gambit tried to put up a fight, both came up short of expectations. AS Monaco Gambit were a single game away from making it out of the wild card stage, while VP were stopped by an on-fire Thunder Predator squad.
A top-eight finish for the region doesn’t sound bad by any means, but considering how competitive the CIS region can get, there’s no doubt that players will strive to prove themselves and represent the region in a stronger way after the second season of the DPC CIS regional league.
What’s at stake?
Like last season, all teams in the upper and lower divisions will be going head-to-head in a best-of-three, round-robin format.
The upper-division teams will be battling for three spots in the Major alongside a $205,000 prize pool. The teams in the lower division, on the other hand, will aim to secure a top-two finish to advance to the upper division and a $75,000 prize pool.
Teams that fall short of qualifying for The International 10 will enter a last-chance qualifier and the winner of it will qualify for TI10.
Teams to watch out for
Last season, all eyes were naturally on the latest iteration of VP. The CIS region was quickly conquered by the squad boasting young talent and it looks like VP will once again be one of the top challengers of the region.
Na’Vi will also be looking forward to securing a spot in the next Major after the squad bolstered its ranks with RAMZES666. In addition to all the powerhouses that have become stable names within the CIS scene, two new challengers will be looking forward to showing what they’re made of. PuckChamp and Winstrike Team will have a lot to prove throughout this season since staying in the upper division is a success on its own.
The CIS region also has one of the more stacked lower divisions featuring veterans. After leaving VP, Solo assembled NoTechies, only to find himself in the lower division after his first season. Dendi will also have another try with new additions to the B8 squad, while Resolut1on and Lil will attempt to find a second wind to carry them to the upper division.
Upper division
Rank | Team name | Series | Games | DPC Points | Seed | Prize |
1 | Virtus.Pro | 7-0 | 14-2 | 500 | Major Playoffs | $30,000 |
2 | Team Spirit | 6-1 | 13-3 | 300 | Major Group Stage | $28,000 |
3 | AS Monaco Gambit | 4-3 | 9-7 | 200 | Major Wild Card | $27,000 |
4 | Team Unique | 3-4 | 7-11 | 100 | Major Wild Card | $26,000 |
5 | PuckChamp | 3-4 | 7-10 | 50 | $25,000 | |
6 | Na’Vi | 3-4 | 8-8 | – | $24,000 | |
7 | Winstrike Team | 2-5 | 6-12 | – | Demotion to lower division | $23,000 |
8 | EXTREMUM | 0-7 | 3-14 | – | Demotion to lower division | $22,000 |
Lower division
Rank | Team name | Series | Games | Qualified | Prize |
1 | HellRaisers | 6-1 | 12-3 | Upper division | $17,000 |
2 | Fantastic Five | 5-2 | 10-5 | Upper division | $16,000 |
3 | Team Empire | 5-2 | 11-5 | $15,000 | |
4 | Nemiga Gaming | 4-3 | 10-7 | $11,000 | |
5 | Prosti Esli | 3-4 | 8-10 | $9,000 | |
6 | B8 | 3-4 | 7-9 | $7,000 | |
7 | NoTechies | 2-5 | 4-12 | Elimination | – |
8 | Trident Clan | 0-7 | 3-14 | Elimination | – |
All games will be broadcast on ESL’s Dota 2 Twitch channel and you can check out the past matches from the videos section. You can check out ESL’s Dota 2 YouTube channel for more content related to the qualifiers, like interviews and highlights.