Following the world championships The International in August, the new "Defense of the Ancients 2" (DOTA) season is underway, as eight qualifying teams secure their participation at the first major competition of the season. The ESL One Hamburg tournament is scheduled this month.
The competition will be happening on Oct. 26 at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Participating teams include two direct invitations and six winners of the qualifying tournaments in their respective regions.
The International 2017 (TI7) champions Team Liquid and runner up, Newbee, were given direct invitations to the tournament.
In Europe, Team Secret was crowned as victors, earning a spot in the upcoming major league. Virtus.Pro secured its slot by winning the Eastern Europe qualifiers, while Eviel Geniuses took the North American qualifiers.
The newly revamped roster of Brazilian team SG e-sports will represent South America, while Filipino team HappyFeet won the Southeast Asian qualifiers. These two teams will make an appearance at a Major Valve tournament for the first time.
Also appearing for the first time is Chinese team Keen Gaming, who took everyone by surprise when they won the Chinese qualifiers. The team competed all the way from the open qualifiers to the China qualifiers and fought against top-caliber teams, including Major tournament regulars like Invictus Gaming, LGD Gaming, EHOME, and TI7 fan favorite LFY.
The team who will be crowned as champions in the upcoming tournament will walk away with $500,000. The Top Four in the league will also earn qualifying points for The International 8 invitations.
The International 7, which was held last August, received worldwide attention due to the sheer size of the grand prize, which amounted to $10 million dollars. Team Liquid, after losing one of its earlier matches, competed facing elimination the rest of the tournament, but was able to take home the prize after sweeping Chinese Team Newbee, 3-0, in the final.
