Photo courtesy of ESL
The recently crowned champions of Dota Summit 8 minor, Virtus.pro, have received the first direct invitation to participate in ESL One Katowice Major.
The omnipresent CIS giants will be making their fourth appearance at a Valve Major for the 2017-2018 season. The team has already seized a Major championship title at ESL One Hamburg back in October, a Minor championship title last week at Dota Summit 8 and participated in at a total of five Pro Circuit events, earning the team a whopping 2,700 TI8 qualifying points. Their accrual of points puts them tied for second place in rankings with Team Liquid and with a comfortable lead over the next team below them - Evil Geniuses.
ESL One Katowice Major is set to take place February 20-25 at the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland featuring a $1,000,000 prize pool and 1,500 qualifier points. Sixteen teams total will compete, ten being directly invited and six qualifying from the various regions.
ESL had officially announced that all of their events will now include 16 teams and standardized format. In each competition, the teams will be divided into two groups for the first three days of double elimination group play, with the top winners there advancing to the tournament playoffs.
There is still time for teams to try their hand at the open qualifiers - beginning early next year from January 6-7th. Registration for North America, South America, Europe, CIS and SEA is open HERE. The closed qualifiers will follow, taking place between January 9-12th.
