WePlay! Look To Host Omega League 'Dota 2' Tournament
Another huge esports event that fell victim to coronavirus was The International Dota 2 tournament. Valve opted to cancel The international altogether, rather than take the tournament online as other esports have done. But out of the midst of despair, WePlay have swooped in looking to save the day.
The tournament organising organisation WePlay! have decided to hold the OMEGA League, with a $550,000 prize pool. Replacing The International, the OMEGA League will play host to the worlds best Dota 2 players and teams, as the largest major of the year.
Whilst it will struggle to scale the heights of a LAN event such as The Invitational, it will still offer a platform for the world's best to showcase their talent in front of millions of viewers on Twitch.
Click to enlargeGeneral Producer at WePlay! Esports, Maksym Bilonogov, said "One of the reasons this event is hosted on a global scale with teams from every competitive region is the idea that we make a version of The International online.
“We can’t recreate the true LAN setting with its atmosphere, shouting crowds, the banter between the players. Yet, we do everything possible to engage the viewers at home through the teams who were supposed to play at TI, the casters who also were supposed to work there, and our out-of-the-box approach to broadcasts”.
The initial stages of the OMEGA League are set to get underway in Europe on August 14, with teams such as Team Secret, Alliance, and Evil Geniuses all announced so far. The format will feature twelve teams in total, including ten invited teams and two additional sides progressing through a closed qualifier.
The group stages will consist of two groups of six where each group will play a round-robin, in best of three matches. The top two teams from each group will advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs, whereas the third-placed team will be placed in the lower bracket. Fourth and fifth will advance to a separated play-in game, where the winner will join the third-placed teams in the lower bracket, and the loser will head to the 'Divine' playoffs alongside the bottom team in the group and the top sides from the qualifiers that didn't get through to the 'Immortal' stages alongside Team Secret etc.
The playoffs offer a double-elimination bracket play as the best teams will lock horns in an attempt to become victorious and take home their share of the huge prize pool.
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Image via Valve