Photo courtesy of ESL
Ninjas in Pyjamas have received the second of eight direct invitations to compete at ESL One Katowice 2019 in February.
NiP might not have had the most successful run at ESL One Hamburg 2018, taking 9-10th place, but they did take a commendable 4th place at the Kuala Lumpur Major and they were clearly at the top of someone's short list.
Eight teams will receive direct invitations to the group stage. Team Secret was the first team to receive an invite as the defending champions.
The remaining four spots will be up for grabs through regional open qualifiers in Europe, North America, China, and Southeast Asia. The open qualifiers kicked off this last weekend with a few teams such as compLexity Gaming, Team Spirit and Team Empire claiming slots in the closed qualifiers. The regional team invites have not yet been announced and are expected to take place next week.
February 19-24th, 12 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams will be competing for a $300,000 prize pool. The group stage is set to take place from February 19-21, followed by the main event in the Spodek Arena from February 22-24. Once again, the ESL tournament will not be part of the DPC events for the new season.
