ESL has announced that this year’s ESL One Birmingham 2020 event has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in its place, ESL will run four online regional leagues instead.
“Everyone here at ESL could not have been more excited to bring Dota 2 back to Birmingham for the third year in a row, but the safety and well-being of fans, players and crew members are our utmost priority. We will be back in 2021 and all tickets remain valid,” said the ESL One Team.
The four regional leagues will run from May to June with a total prize pool of US$335,000 split across all regions.
The leagues will be in Europe/CIS, China, North America, and Southeast Asia. Each respective league will have different division formats.
For Europe/CIS, the division will have 16 teams and a prize pool of US$200,000. There will be two groups of eight teams competing in round-robin best of three matches. The top four teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. ESL One has already announced 13 out of the 14 invited teams. The last two spots will go to the two best teams from the EU/CIS Closed Qualifier.
Europe/CIS invited teams:
- Team Secret
- OG
- Team Liquid
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Alliance
- Natus Vincere
- VP.Prodigy
- (Invited)
- Gambit Esports
- Team Spirit
- HellRaisers
- Vikin.gg
- Cyber Legacy
- FlyToMoon
- (Closed Qualifier Winner)
- (Closed Qualifier Winner)
For China, the division will have eight teams and a prize pool of US$55,000. There will be two groups of four teams competing in round-robin best of three matches. The top two teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. ESL One has announced all six invited teams. The last two spots will go to the two best teams from the China Closed Qualifier.
China invited teams:
- Invictus Gaming
- Team Aster
- Sparking Arrow Gaming
- (Closed Qualifier Winner)
- Royal Never Give Up
- EHOME
- PSG.LGD
- (Closed Qualifier Winner)
- OG and Team Secret headline Gamers Without Borders US$1.5M charity tournament
- Top 5 plays from OGA Dota Pit Online: China featuring JT-, Chalice, and more
For North America, the division will have six teams and a prize pool of US$40,000. All teams will participate in a round-robin group stage with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs. ESL One has announced all five invited teams. The last spot will go to the winner of the NA Closed Qualifier.
North America invited teams:
- Evil Geniuses
- Business Associates
- CR4ZY
- Quincy Crew
- Beastcoast
- (Closed Qualifier Winner)
For Southeast Asia, the division will have six teams and a prize pool of US$40,000. All teams will participate in a round-robin group stage with all four teams advancing to the playoffs. ESL One has announced all five invited teams. The last spot will go to the winner of the Southeast Asia Closed Qualifier.
Southeast Asia invited teams:
- Fnatic
- TNC Predator
- Geek Fam
- BOOM Esports
- Team Adroit
- (Closed Qualifier Winner)
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