2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit: Everything you need to know

Kurt Lozano
·Contributing Editor
·6-min read

The 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) kicks off on Monday (29 November).

The best Dota 2 teams from all around the world will be competing across an entire season to be the best in their region and qualify for The International (TI), the game's annual world championship tournament.

The DPC has seen some significant changes with the advent of the new season, so read on for everything you need to know about the 2021-2022 DPC:

The 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit season has been split into three Tours for the Fall, Winter, and Spring and will be hosting the regional leagues from 29 November 2021 to 17 July 2022. (Photo: Valve Software)
The 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit season has been split into three Tours for the Fall, Winter, and Spring and will be hosting the regional leagues from 29 November 2021 to 17 July 2022. (Photo: Valve Software)

A new format

The 2021-2022 DPC has been split into three Tours for the Fall, Winter, and Spring — in contrast to only two Tours in the past season — and will be hosting the regional leagues from 29 November 2021 to 17 July 2022.

Each of the 2021-2022 DPC's tours will be split between regional league competitions and a Major tournament. The Fall Tour regional leagues will take place from 29 November 2021 to 23 January 2022, the Winter Tour regional leagues will follow from 14 March to 24 April, while the Spring Tour regional leagues have been scheduled from 6 June to 17 July.

From the schedules for the regional leagues, it can then be inferred that the Fall Tour Major will most likely happen in February next year, the Winter Tour Major is most likely to be hosted in May, while the Spring Tour Major has most likely been scheduled for August.

This also most likely means that The International 11 (TI11) will no longer be held in August, as with its first nine iterations, but will instead be hosted in October like TI10.

The DPC's six regional leagues will feature 16 teams from each region split into Division I and Division II and competing in a round-robin format online tournament.

Teams in Division I will be fighting for a spot in the Tour's Major, with each region getting a set number of representatives. Meanwhile, teams that finish in 7th-8th place at their regional leagues will be demoted from Division I while the Top 2 teams from Division II will be promoted into Division I for the next Tour.

Here's the slot allocation for each region in the 2021-2022 DPC's Majors:

  • Western Europe: 4 slots

  • China: 4 slots

  • Eastern Europe: 3 slots

  • Southeast Asia: 3 slots

  • North America: 2 slots

  • South America: 2 slots

The 18 best teams in the regional leagues will qualify for that Tour's Major, which will be split into the Wildcards, Group Stage, and Playoffs.

The Major Wildcard stage features six teams comprised of the third and fourth-placed teams from the Western European and Chinese regional leagues as well as the third-placed teams from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. The Wildcard teams will compete in a best-of-two elimination round to determine the two teams that will advance to the Group Stage.

The Major Group Stage features eight teams, comprised of the second-placed teams from all six regional leagues as well as the two teams that survived the Wildcard stage, and follows a best-of-two, round-robin format.

The Group Stage teams will be fighting for a spot in the Playoffs; the best-performing teams will earn spots in the upper bracket, the bottom teams will be eliminated, while everyone else will start the Playoffs from the lower bracket.

Finally, the Major Playoffs will follow a double-elimination format. The top teams of each regional league will be seeded directly into the upper bracket of the Playoffs alongside the best-performing teams in the Group Stage. All matches in the Playoffs will be a best-of-three except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.

Prize pools and DPC points

In each Tour, teams in the DPC will be fighting for their share of prize money and all-important DPC points, which will determine the teams that will receive direct invites to TI11.

Each regional league has a total prize pool of US$280,000 for every Tour, with US$205,000 being allocated to Division I while US$75,000 will be up for grabs in Division II.

Meanwhile, the amount of DPC points that can be earned by teams in the regional leagues has been changed to increase with every Tour. The Fall Tour will feature 690 DPC points, the Winter Tour will give away 920 DPC points, while 1,150 points will be up for grabs in the Spring Tour. Only the Top 5 teams in Division I will be eligible to receive DPC points.

Here's a breakdown of how much prize money and DPC points teams can earn in the regional leagues:

(Photo: Valve Software)
(Photo: Valve Software)
(Photo: Valve Software)
(Photo: Valve Software)

The best teams from the regional leagues will have more chances to earn prize money and DPC points in the Majors, which will feature US$500,000 prize pools and an increasing number of DPC point rewards with every tour. The Fall Major will feature 1,900 DPC points, the Winter Major will give away 2,700 DPC points, while the 3,500 DPC points will be up for grabs in the Spring Major.

Here's a breakdown of how much prize money and DPC points teams can earn in the Majors:

(Photo: Valve Software)
(Photo: Valve Software)

At the end of the Spring Major, the 12 teams with the most DPC points will earn direct invites to TI11 while the remaining six slots will be filled through the regional qualifiers.

Teams (Fall Tour)

Western Europe

Division I:

  • Team Secret

  • Team Liquid

  • Tundra Esports

  • Nigma Galaxy

  • OG

  • Alliance

  • Team Tickles

  • COOLGUYS

Division II:

  • Brame

  • Into the Breach

  • Ghost Frogs

  • Team Bald Reborn

  • Entity

  • No Bounty Hunter

  • Chicken Fighters

  • CHILLAX

Eastern Europe

Division I:

  • Team Spirit

  • Virtus.pro

  • Natus Vincere

  • AS Monaco Gambit

  • Team Unique

  • PuckChamp

  • Team Empire

  • HellRaisers

Division II:

  • Winstrike Team

  • Fantastic Five

  • Nemiga Gaming

  • Gambit Esports

  • B8

  • CIS Rejects

  • V-Gaming

  • HYDRA

China

Division I:

  • PSG.LGD

  • Invictus Gaming

  • Vici Gaming

  • Team Aster

  • Royal Never Give Up

  • EHOME

  • Phoenix Gaming

  • LBZS

Division II:

  • Sparking Arrow Gaming

  • CDEC

  • Aster.Aries

  • Xtreme Gaming

  • Team Magma

  • Neptune Gaming

  • Ybb Gaming

  • ShenZhen

Southeast Asia

Division I:

  • T1

  • Fnatic

  • BOOM Esports

  • OB.Neon

  • TNC Predator

  • Execration

  • Motivate.Trust Gaming

  • Team SMG

Division II:

  • Talon Esports

  • Nigma Galaxy SEA

  • Polaris Esports

  • Army Geniuses

  • 496 Gaming

  • Lilgun

  • Ragdoll

  • InterActive Philippines

North America

Division I:

  • Evil Geniuses

  • Quincy Crew

  • Team Undying

  • 4 Zoomers

  • simply TOOBASED

  • Black N Yellow

  • D2 Hustlers

  • Arkosh Gaming

Division II:

  • The Cut

  • Team DogChamp

  • felt

  • Electronic Boys

  • 5ManMidas

  • KBU.US

  • Team Magnus

  • 5RATFORCESTAFF

South America

Division I:

  • Beastcoast

  • Thunder Predator

  • SG Esports

  • NoPing Esports

  • Lava

  • Infamous

  • Hokori

  • King of Kings

Division II:

  • Team Unknown

  • Infinity

  • Interitus

  • Inverse

  • Omega Gaming

  • Gorillaz-Pride

  • Our Way

  • Balrogs

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.

Latest stories