The new Dota 2 2017-2018 competitive season update and what it mean for the teams and TI 2018

Things just got a little more interesting!

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We’re a couple of months away from The International 2017 and all the teams going into the biggest annual Dota 2 tournament have been determined. Through the direct invites and the qualifiers, the roster for TI 2017 is literally the best of the best Dota 2 teams in the world and, considering how the past tournaments have turned out in the past few months, it would be safe to say that the 20 million dollar prize pool is free for the taking by any of the teams who dare to dream big. The 2017 format has remained largely unchanged but word broke out earlier today about plans from Valve to change the competitive landscape come 2018. Some players and casters have expressed concern about the current state of the game and this seems like a good first step towards addressing that concern. Check out the TLDR of it in the graphic below as we look at how this will impact the teams going into 2018.

Image courtesy of Wykrhm Reddy)

 

Let’s talk about it point per point:

  • There will no longer be any “Majors” moving forward. No more Frankfurt / Shanghai / Manila / Boston / Kiev and the like. What this means is that any 3rd party tournament for Dota 2 has the right to be tiered as either a Major or a Minor depending on the prize pool. In the long run, this helps Valve conserve those dollars to spend for other Dota 2 endeavors but it also allows the 3rd party tournaments to step up their game a bit more because of the prestige (and the direct effect to the competitive ranking) that comes along with it. 3rd party tournaments will now “feel” more connected to the overall Dota 2 scene culminating up to The International.
  • All team from the NA, SA, SEA, CN, EU, and CIS regions have a shot a making it to a Major / Minor tournament since the stipulation states that there should be at least one qualifier for the primary regions. This is great news for all aspiring and upcoming teams to prove their worth and a call to the established teams to step up their game a bit more.
  • Since Valve will be coordinating schedules for all of these events, no 2 events should coincide too close to each other, giving the players and the talents enough time to gather themselves and focus on the next tournament with enough preparation.
  • There will be a new system for determining TI invites and that is through qualifying points:
    • Depending on the gravity of the tournament and whether it is a Major or a Minor, corresponding qualifying points will be given out to the teams.
    • Similar to other sports, ranking higher on a tournament will give you more QP’s
    • Roster locks are still in effect.

 

That’s a lot of information to take in but so far, it’s looking to be a good change for the scene. Not only will 3rd party tournaments be more important than ever, it’ll assure teams that their progress as a team is well documented and given the fact that QP’s are the sole basis of TI8 invites, it would be clear as day as to who will get invited or not unlike before where the criteria for getting invited to The International wasn’t very clear. For an up and coming team, this is great news as their team may finally look to break into the scene and for the current pro players, who sometimes rely on past successes to get invited, they have to be on their toes the whole time and keep on improving if they want a shot at TI 2018.

How do you feel about these updates to the competitive landscape? Do you feel that this was a good change? Let us know in the comments below!