The WePlay Dota 2 tournament will start this weekend, and 32 of the best Western teams will compete for a share of at least a $17,200 prize pool in cash and gaming gears.
This will be a 3-month tournament, and the teams are to play on a Group Stage to start the season. 24 of the 32 the participating teams were directly invited into the tournament. The rest have advanced through various EU and NA Qualifiers.
The CIS giants in Na`Vi, VP and Empire are spread across the first three groups, while the big-name American teams in Team Liquid, dignitas and EG are distributed across the last three. Fnatic.EU and nth are the favorites on the in-between groups.
WePlay Dota 2 Groups | |
Group A | Group B |
Na`Vi | Empire |
Eoisin +4 | AL |
Imperium Gamers | iCCup |
Vivacity E-Sports | Z4 |
Group C | Group D |
Virtus.Pro | Fnatic.EU |
TCM-Gaming | KP |
NEXT.kz | TheRetry |
AL.Academy | el `Pride |
Group E | Group F |
nth | Liquid |
Fnatic.NA | 4FC |
Isurus Gaming | paiN-gaming |
rat | Skill Difference |
Group G | Group H |
dignitas | EG |
3DMAX | Artyk Gaming |
RoX.KiS | Dust Gaming |
PR | Aurochs |
The tournament will be following a GSL-style Group Stage, which means that each group will compete on a double-elimination format. Apparently, one group will be finished per play day.
Group E will be the first one to compete, where we will see nth and Fnatic.NA battle it out on the second game of this cluster. The games for 17 March is not yet disclosed.
Schedule
16 March - Group E
15:00 - Match 1: Isurus Gaming vs. rat
16:00 - Match 2: nth vs. Fnatic.NA
17:00 - Match 3: Loser of Match 1 vs. Loser of Match 2
18:00 - Match 4: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2
19:00 - Match 5: Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4
*winner of Match 4 and Match 5 will advance into the playoffs
16 March - Group E
15:00 - Match 1: Isurus Gaming vs. rat
16:00 - Match 2: nth vs. Fnatic.NA
17:00 - Match 3: Loser of Match 1 vs. Loser of Match 2
18:00 - Match 4: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2
19:00 - Match 5: Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4
*winner of Match 4 and Match 5 will advance into the playoffs
The matches will be cast by BeyondTheSummit TV in English and WePlay Dota 2 in Russian. For those wishing to watch via DotaTV, the tournament ticket is available via the Dota 2 store.
Season One prize pool
1st place - $5,000 + $1,500 gaming gear
2nd place - $2,500 + $1,500 gaming gear
3rd place - $1,200 + $1,000 gaming gear
4th place - $1,500 gaming gear
5-6th places - $1,000 gaming gear
7-8th places - $500 gaming gear
1st place - $5,000 + $1,500 gaming gear
2nd place - $2,500 + $1,500 gaming gear
3rd place - $1,200 + $1,000 gaming gear
4th place - $1,500 gaming gear
5-6th places - $1,000 gaming gear
7-8th places - $500 gaming gear
To kick-off the tournament, WePlay hosted a $1000 Bo5 showmatch between Na`Vi and EG last 3 March, 2013. The Ukrainian gaming organization proceeded to win that match-up, 3-0.
Source: dota2.ru