ESL ONE – Dota 2 Pro Circuit 2021’s CIS Region

ESL will host the CIS chapter of Valve’s Dota Pro Circuit, “ESL One” part of the CIS regional league and a prize money of $280,000 is at stake

ESL will be hosting the CIS chapter of Valve’s Dota Pro Circuit 2021 as a part of the CIS regional league, which is scheduled to run from 18th January till 16th February this year. As per the details announced by the organizer, a total of 16 teams will be participating in the CIS regional league, with eight teams in the upper division and the remaining eight in the lower division.

The news was confirmed on the official Twitter handle of ESL. The open qualifiers begin on 5th January and will run until 10th of this month ahead of the regional leagues starting on 18th January.

Bounty on offer

Prize money of $280,000 is on offer and will be divided between both leagues in season one, along with the corresponding DPC points. A B03 round-robin format will be adopted for the league, with four invites Virtus Pro, Natus Vincere, Team Spirit and Live to Win being present.

The Upper-division will share the allotted prize money of $205,000 while those in the Lower division will receive their share of $75,000. Dota Pro Circuit points will be rewarded according to their final positions.

ESL One – CIS Schedule

The top team from the region will find itself a slot in the Major playoffs, while the team coming second will be included in the group stage. The third and final team that makes the cut will be playing in a wild card game to ascertain their position in the Major.

To zero down on the final four teams competing in the upper division, ESL intends to host closed qualifiers split into two stages, starting with a best-of-three bracket that will end with the top four finishers moving on to the upper-division. The bottom four teams will be joined by an additional eight teams that will qualify through a separate open qualifier, with the top eight teams out of that second stage finally constituting the lower bracket.

At the end of the season, the bottom two teams from the upper division will be placed in the lower division, while the top lower division teams will eventually replace them. Similarly, the two bottom finishers in the lower division will be eliminated from the DPC and a decisive open qualifier will end with two new teams joining the lineup.