Right on the heels of Team Liquid's dramatic China Supermajor championship victory, Valve announced the regional qualifier teams and allocation of spots for The International 8.
The qualifiers for The International 2018 are getting ready to kick off in just merely days. With the DPC system implemented this last season, the path for a TI8 direct invite was clear and transparent. As teams competed for the highly coveted points, the rules were also clear and enforced that any teams failing to meet the requirements would be ineligible for a direct or regional invite regardless of points earned.
With the last team registration and rosters locking back in February, many of the higher profile teams and players made changes and have been relegated to the open qualifiers.
The results of such are that most regions have had only a handful of teams directly invited to the regional qualifiers, giving more teams a shot at getting into the fray for a place at TI8.
The regional qualifier format has yet to be announced, but Valve has already let the participating and hopeful teams know exactly what is at stake.
Seeming to do away with the Wildcard slots, ten teams will advance from the regional qualifiers to compete at The International 2018 in August. This year the slots have been designated as follows:
North America: 3 teams will advance to TI8
South America: 1 team will advance
Europe: 1 team will advance
CIS: 1 team will advance
SEA: 2 teams will advance
China: 2 teams will advance
There is still time to register for the open qualifiers:
Europe
1st Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 14th: Register Here
Check-in: 15:00 CEST
Start time: 16:00 CEST
1st Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 15th
Start time: 16:00 CEST
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 16th: Register Here
Check-in: 15:00 CEST
Start time: 16:00 CEST
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 17th
Start time: 16:00 CEST
CIS
1st Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 14th: Register Here
Check-in: 16:00 MSK/14:00 CEST
Start time: 17:00 MSK/15:00 CEST
1st Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 15th
Start time: 16:00 MSK
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 16th: Register Here
Check-in: 16:00 MSK/14:00 CEST
Start time: 17:00 MSK/15:00 CEST
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 17th
Start time: 16:00 MSK
South-East Asia
1st Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 14th: Register Here
Check-in: 16:00 SGT/09:00 CEST
Start time: 17:00 SGT/10:00 CEST
1st Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 15th
Start time: 17:00 SGT
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 16th: Register Here
Check-in: 16:00 SGT/09:00 CEST
Start time: 17:00 SGT/10:00 CEST
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 17th
Start time: 17:00 SGT
North America
1st Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 14th: Register Here
Check-in: 15:00 CDT/22:00 CEST
Start time: 16:00 CDT/23:00 CEST
1st Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 15th
Start time: 16:00 CDT
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 16th: Register Here
Check-in: 15:00 CDT/22:00 CEST
Start time: 16:00 CDT/23:00 CEST
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 17th
Start time: 16:00 CDT
South America
1st Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 14th: Register Here
Check-in: 15:00 PET/21:00 CEST
Start time: 16:00 PET/22:00 CEST
1st Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 15th
Start time: 16:00 PET
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 1 - June 16th: Register Here
Check-in: 15:00 PET/21:00 CEST
Start time: 16:00 PET/22:00 CEST
2nd Open Qualifier – Day 2 - June 17th
Start time: 16:00 PET
