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Dota Pro Circuit
Dota Pro Circuit
Genre	Dota 2 tournament circuit and league
Frequency	Annual
Years active	2017–2023
Organized by	Valve
Website	www.dota2.com/esports

The Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) was the professional league used in Dota 2, a competitive five-on-five video game. Active between 2017 and 2023, the DPC was organized by the game's developer, Valve and consisted of seasonal "Major" tournaments and Regional Leagues from North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. Points were earned by the top six teams playing in the upper division of a Regional League as well as those finishing in the top eight of a Major. The top 12 teams with the most points at the season's conclusion earned invites to The International, the premier tournament for Dota 2. The DPC was introduced in 2017 as a replacement for the Dota Major Championship series (2015–2016), which was criticized due to Valve's non-transparent process for sending out International invites. The DPC ended following the 2023 season.

History

From late 2015 until early 2017, Valve sponsored a series of smaller-scale, seasonally held tournaments known as the Dota Major Championships.^[1]^[2] Their format was based on the tournament series of the same name that Valve also sponsored for their first-person shooter game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Including The International 2016 and 2017, which were considered to be the cumulative Major of their respective seasons,^[1]^[3] the series had five other events, which were the Frankfurt Major,^[4] Shanghai Major,^[5] Manila Major,^[6] Boston Major,^[7] and Kiev Major.^[8] Following the International 2017, the Majors were replaced with the DPC due to criticism by teams and fans for Valve's non-transparent and unpredictable nature for handing out International invitations.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

For the first season (2017–2018), teams' scores were determined by the total score of the top three point-earning players on them, with points being carried over if a player changes teams during the season.^[13]^[11] The ranking of a team was calculated only by the accumulation of the top three players with the highest qualifying points. A team was allowed to change its roster twice in a specified time period, but would automatically lose its eligibility to obtain a direct invitation if they changed its roster after the second mid-season roster period had passed.^[14]

Starting with the second season (2018–2019), there were a number of adjustments to the rules, with the primary one being that both Major and Minor events are held in pairs, with qualifiers for each set to run in exclusively scheduled windows, as direct invites to them are now forbidden. In contrast with the previous season, the overall number of them decreased from 22 to 10, with the season beginning in September 2018 and concluding in June 2019. The number of direct International 2019 invites was increased from eight to twelve, with each of the six regions being given a single qualifying slot.^[15]^[16] The qualifiers for Majors ran first, and teams who failed to qualify for it were eligible to compete in the Minor qualifiers a few days later. The winner of a Minor tournament is granted a reserved slot in the associated Major. Valve also removed roster locks that previously prevented teams that made changes mid-season from qualifying for points for the season. Instead, all points are directly assigned to teams rather than individual players. Removing a player from the roster reduces the team's total points by 20 percent, with adding a replacement player having no penalty.^[17] In addition, Valve also implemented a rule that only allows for a single team owned in an multi-team organization to compete in The International and the qualifiers leading up to them. The rule also includes cases in which individual players have financial ties to other teams.^[18]

The 2021 DPC season consisted of two legs instead of three, with points from the suspended 2019–2020 season not being used. The Minors were also replaced by Regional Leagues that are six weeks long, in which teams competed for qualifying positions to attend Majors. Instead, the top four teams from each region were selected to qualify for the upper-division, with qualifiers being used to determine the remaining twelve teams in both the upper and lower divisions.^[19] In September 2023, Valve announced the 2023 season would be the last, as they believed the DPC had grown too large in the professional scene and wanted to support smaller, grassroots tournaments.^[20]

Format

The Dota Pro Circuit originally consisted of three tours that consist of "Major" tournaments and Regional Leagues from North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. Each Major tournament consists of winners from each Regional League.^[21] Points are earned by the top six teams playing in the upper division of a Regional League, as well as the top eight teams of a Major tournament. Earlier tournaments in the season grant teams fewer total points, while the events closer to the International weigh more heavily. The top 12 teams with the most points at the season's conclusion earn invites to that year's International.^[21] To avoid conflicting dates, Valve directly manages the scheduling.^[11]

A team's roster is locked for the season, with a 15% DPC point penalty occurring for every player change. Teams who make roster changes after qualifying for a Major will also have an additional 20% penalty added for a total of a 35%. Teams can play four of their seven Regional League matches with a substitute, but any team that does so at a Major without special exception will incur a 40% point penalty. A team that plays five or more Regional League matches with a substitute will become disqualified from the season.^[21]

References

^ ^a ^b Sykes, Tom (April 25, 2015). "Dota 2 Major Championships announced". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
^ Dyer, Mitch (April 24, 2015). "Valve Announces The Dota 2 Major Championships". IGN. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
^ Sutterlin, Alan (January 28, 2016). "The postive [sic] impact of Valve's Majors format on the Dota 2 esports scene". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
^ Porter, Matt (September 24, 2015). "Dota 2 Major Announced for Frankfurt". IGN. Archived from the original on September 6, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
^ Thursten, Chris (November 21, 2015). "Valve have announced the Dota 2 Shanghai Major". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
^ Campbell, Evan (January 12, 2016). "Dota 2: Manila Major Announced for June 2016". IGN.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
^ Good, Owen (October 4, 2016). "Dota 2's second championship season begins with The Boston Major". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
^ Van Allen, Eric (November 2, 2016). "Valve announces dates for 2017 Dota 2 season". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
^ Savov, Vlad (July 4, 2017). "Valve is rebooting its Dota 2 tournaments for a more democratic and 'organic' approach". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
^ Chalk, Andy (July 3, 2017). "Valve is eliminating the Dota 2 Majors for the 2017-18 season". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Gach, Ethan (July 3, 2017). "Valve Announces Big Changes To Dota 2's Tournament Structure Going Forward". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
^ "Here are all the finalized rosters for the rest of the 2017-18 Dota Pro Circuit season". The Flying Courier. January 17, 2018. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
^ "The Dota Pro Circuit". blog.dota2.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
^ freaks4u.com, Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH. "Dota Pro Circuit 2017/2018". joinDOTA.com. Retrieved April 22, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Wells, Jessica (August 16, 2018). "Valve tells Dota 2 teams to stop accepting gambling sponsors". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
^ Rigon, Daniela (September 14, 2018). "Fewer tourneys, more points for Dota 2 Pro Circuit in 2019". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
^ Wolf, Jacob (June 4, 2018). "Valve makes big changes to the 2018/2019 Dota 2 pro circuit". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
^ Rose, Victoria (June 4, 2018). "Valve announces massive new changes to Dota Pro Circuit". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on June 5, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
^ Hitt, Kevin (January 2021). "Valve Outlines 2021 Dota Pro Circuit Structure". The Esports Observer. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
^ Hassall, Michael. "No more DPC as Valve shutters official Dota 2 leagues". Retrieved September 28, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Michael, Cale (November 11, 2021). "Valve updates Dota Pro Circuit rulings, includes weighted Regional League and Major point distribution". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 5, 2022.