PGL, the tournament organizer running the regional Dota Pro Circuit league in Southeast Asia has confirmed the four teams that have been directly invited to the Upper Division, and all of the details for the upcoming qualifiers.
TNC Predator and Fnatic were no brainers as direct invites, with both being top teams in the region, though TNC still needs to find a fifth player to complete its roster before Jan. 18. Likewise, BOOM Esports earned their spot in the Upper Division by being a standout team during online competitions throughout 2020.
The one surprise was T1 getting an invite after only placing highly in a few events and having recently released two players. It is unclear if this move was made because of the T1 brand or because another top team, Motivate.trust, will reportedly lose three of its players in an upcoming shuffle.
In total, eight teams will compete in the Upper Division of the league, with the following eight teams battling for the final four spots, while the rest will be relegated to the Lower Division.
- 496 Gaming
- ex-IO Dota2
- Execration
- Smart Omega
- Vice Esports
- Galaxy Racer
- Cignal Ultra
- Neon Esports
Those closed qualifiers will be split into two stages, starting with a best-of-three bracket that will conclude with the top-four finishers moving on to the Upper Division. The bottom four teams will be joined by eight teams who qualify through a separate open qualifier, with the top eight teams out of that second stage making up the Lower Bracket.
As previously explained in Valve’s breakdown for the entire 2021 DPC, the top three teams from the SEA Upper Division league will earn a spot at the first Major on March 25.
The open qualifiers begin on Jan. 4, with the first stage of the closed qualifiers also beginning on the same day, leading up to the regional league’s actually kicking off on Jan. 18.
