The WePlay! Bukovel Minor’s qualifiers from six different regions are officially over. This completes the lineup of eight teams that have earned their spot at the second Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Minor of the 2019-2020 season:
- Royal Never Give Up (China)
- GeekFam (Southeast Asia)
- Gambit Esports (CIS)
- Team Spirit (CIS)
- Nigma Esports (Europe)
- Ninjas in Pyjamas (North America)
- Fighting PandaS (North America)
- Furia Esports (South America)
After failing to qualify for the DreamLeagueSeason13 Leipzig Major, all four remaining teams from each region of the Major’s closed qualifiers shifted their focus to the WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 qualifiers.
Here’s how it all unfolded for all the different regions:
China
Royal Never Give Up (RNG) outplayed CDEC Gaming, EHOME, and Look For Smile to qualify for the Minor. They actually started off slow, getting knocked down to the lower bracket by EHOME right at the start of the playoffs.
After their loss though, they rallied back and went undefeated for the rest of the qualifier. They defeated Look For Smile and EHOME with convincing 2-0 sweeps. Then, they won the grand finals by dominating CDEC, 3-0, to secure their spot at the Bukovel Minor.
Southeast Asia
GeekFam went undefeated throughout the SEA qualifiers for the Minor. They defeated BOOM Esports and Cignal Ultra, 2-0, in the upper bracket to get to the grand finals.
Cignal Ultra earned a rematch with GeekFam by defeating Neon Esports during the losers’ final, but they were totally outclassed by their opponents in the grand final. GeekFam advances to the Minor by beating Cignal Ultra, 3-0, in the grand finals.
CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)
Over in the CIS regional qualifier, both Gambit Esports and Team Spirit booked their tickets to the Minor by edging out HellRaisers and Gentlemen in the playoffs.
Gambit took control of the upper bracket by defeating HellRaisers and Team Spirit during the semifinal and winners’ final by going 2-0 in both series.
After losing to Gambit in the winners’ final, Team Spirit was able to survive a close and hard-fought losers’ final against HellRaisers with a 3-2 final score.
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Europe
After missing their opportunity to qualify for the Leipzig Major, Nigma was able to return to their winning ways, earning a seat at the Bukovel Minor in the process.
Nigma defeated Team Singularity, 2-0, in the semifinals. Then they outplayed Vikin.gg in the next two matches, where they earned the 3-0 sweep in the grand finals.
North America
Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) and Fighting PandaS earned the two qualifier spots at the NA regional qualifier. NiP won the first by defeating Team Xolotl, 2-0. Then, they won a close winners’ final series against J.Storm with a 2-1 score.
After being dropped to the lower bracket by J.Storm, Fighting PandaS outperformed the rest of the NA teams by going undefeated. They swept both Team Xolotl and J.Storm, 2-0 and 3-0, respectively.
South America
FURIA Esports is a lesser-known team in the SA Region, but they managed to secure the lone qualifier spot for the Bukovel Minor by sweeping all three opponents in the SA qualifier. They defeated both Vicious Gaming and EgoBoys with 2-0 sweeps during the playoffs. Then, they dominated Gorillaz-Pride, 3-0, in the grand finals.
The regional qualifiers for the WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 has been another indication of how much the Outlanders update has changed the landscape of competitive Dota 2.
With all the pro teams still trying to break down the 7.23b patch, upsets are bound to take place, which makes the next few DPC events much more exciting.
The WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 is set to take place on January 9-12, 2020. The tournament will include a US$300,000 prize pool and a 660 DPC point pool.
Fans can watch the action on WePlayEsports’ official Twitch channel.
READ MORE: Dota 2 is now an entirely different game with the Outlanders Update
