Today, the Electronic Sports League announced the dates for the upcoming North American Dota Pro Circuit, starting with the open qualifiers on Nov. 19 and 20. The two teams who traverse through the open and closed qualifiers will earn a spot in the ESL DPC lower division. The first DPC Tour will begin on Nov. 29.
Hello North America!
We'll be bringing you all three DPC NA Division I/II Tours for 2021/2022 👋
The first DPC Tour starts November 29th; stay tuned for Qualifier details! #ESLOne https://t.co/KH4MjPFaCo pic.twitter.com/J6IOUJSP5U
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) November 11, 2021
The two qualifying tournaments will feature 64 teams vying for the top four spots. This will send them into the closed qualifier stage, which runs its competition from Nov. 22-24.
The format for the open section is a single-elimination bracket starting with a best-of-one series in the round of 64, 32 and 16. The final round of eight will be a best-of-three series for the remaining teams with the four winners from both qualifiers moving on. The closed qualifier will feature a double-elimination bracket with the remaining eight teams. The series format has yet to be released, but is assumed to be a best-of-three.
The two qualifying teams will join the lower ESL DPC division as a part of the 16 teams within both the upper and lower divisions. The circuit will run over the course of six weeks and the teams will compete for $280,000 in prize money. The teams will also compete for circuit points which will help the North American squads qualify for the three majors on the DOTA 2 competitive calendar in 2021-2022.
The two qualified teams will join teams like DogChamp, Felt and Electronic Boys, who qualified through placements from the previous season, as well as Bumble Bees and The Cut, who were relegated from the upper division. Teams will have a chance at qualifying for the upper division and entering the top tier of North American DOTA 2 with teams like Evil Geniuses, Quincy Crew and Team Undying.
The three seasons will run from Nov. 29 through Jan. 23 for the winter season, from March 14 through April 24 for the spring, and from June 6 through July 17 for the summer.
ESL will also host the league from their live studios starting on Nov. 29.
