ESL One Birmingham 2018
Table of Contents
Aren’t you tired of all the majors this season? Professional players certainly are, as they are often declining invitations to focus on training for The International. Only two majors before TI 2018 remain, and the stakes are high, as every team wants to gain extra DPC points and guarantee their invitation to the most anticipated event on the Dota 2 Pro scene.
Anyway, back to the majors. The next in line is ESL One Birmingham 2018, which will be held from May 23 to May 27. This means that a team taking part in both ESL One Birmingham 2018 and Changsha Major will have only three days to rest! That’s one hell of a tight schedule! Twelve teams will fight it out in Birmingham for $1,000,000, and 1,500 DPC points to increase their chances of getting an invitation to The International.
ESL One Birmingham 2018 Details
This championship will be the first ever Dota 2 Major held in the United Kingdom. The tournament will be hosted by ESL, the biggest gaming league in the world.
The main event will take place from May 25 to May 27 in the Arena Birmingham.
Event Format
Twelve teams will fight for their share of the prize money and Dota 2 pro circuit points. These teams received direct invites from the tournament organizers:
- Virtus.Pro
- Newbee
- Evil Geniuses
- Team Liquid
- Vici Gaming
- Mineski
Six remaining teams fought for their right to take part in this major during regional qualifiers.
- Europe – OG
- CIS – Natus Vincere (Currently participant is unknown)
- China – LGD.Forever Young
- Southeast Asia – Fnatic
- North America – OpTic Gaming
- South America – paiN Gaming
Recently it became known that Na’Vi decided not to go, as they have recently made changes to their active roster and need time to readjust and optimize teamwork. Participation in this major was questionable due to visa problems in the first place, so it was decided to stay in Kyiv and dedicate time to training before the China Dota2 Supermajor. Currently the organizers are looking for a new participant to replace the Ukrainian team.
The Group Stage will be played from May 23 and 24th. The teams will form three groups of four teams and play by GSL tournament system. The two bottom teams will be eliminated, second-place teams advance to the quarterfinals, and the top teams of the group play one additional best-of-one match against each other to determine the two teams that advance directly to the semi-finals, and the third team which will head to the quarterfinals. The playoffs start on May 25 and last through May 27. All matches will be played by a best-of-three system in a single-elimination bracket. Grand finals are, as usual, best-of-five. The deciding match for third place will be held on the last day of the championship before the final game.
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