The qualifiers for the ESL One Los Angeles Major have concluded and we now know the 15 teams that have been directly invited to the third Major of the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season.
North America
Evil Geniuses (EG) and Chaos Esports Club will be the two home teams representing North America.
As the perennial top team of the region, EG predictably breezed through the qualifiers, dropping only one game to Chaos throughout their run.
Chaos locked up the other direct invite for North America by defeating Business Associates (BA), a stack comprised of the former players of the now-defunct J.Storm organization.
South America
Peruvian teams Thunder Predator (TP) and Beastcoast will be representing South America in Los Angeles.
Thunder Predator surprised many in the qualifiers, as they dropped only one game in the group stage en route to securing the first spot for South America over Beastcoast, who have been the top dogs of the region so far, in dominant fashion.
Beastcoast bounced back from their loss to TP and bagged the other spot for South America by sweeping FURIA Esports, including a 66-minute thriller in game one of the series.
Europe
In what is arguably the most competitive region of the entire scene, top teams Team Secret and OG were joined by surprise qualifier, Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP), to represent Europe.
Secret went on a perfect run in the qualifiers to secure the first invite for Europe to Los Angeles, where the champions of the Leipzig Major will be looking to bag a second-straight Major championship.
The new roster for the two-time The International (TI) champions OG put on a show in their season debut, dropping only one game throughout their run in the qualifier to become the second European representative in the Los Angeles Major.
After failing to qualify for the first two Majors of the season, NiP will finally be making their Major debut in Los Angeles as the third representative for Europe.
NiP’s path to their first Major this season saw them outshine more favored teams in Alliance, Team Liquid, and Nigma Esports in the qualifier’s group stage, then outclassing Aggressive Mode in the playoffs to punch their ticket to Los Angeles.
- Los Angeles Major North American Closed Qualifiers: Final Results
- Los Angeles Major South American Closed Qualifiers: Final Results
CIS
Regional powerhouses, Virtus.pro (VP) and Natus Vincere (Na’Vi), will be representing the CIS region.
Na’Vi topped Group B of the qualifier, then streaked through Cyber Legacy (CL) and HellRaisers (HR) in the playoffs to secure the first CIS spot in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, VP topped Group A but lost their opening match of the playoffs against HR and dropped to the Lower Bracket. VP defeated CL then got their revenge on HR to lock up the other spot for CIS in the Major.
SEA
Southeast Asia (SEA) will be represented by Fnatic, Adroit, and Geek Fam.
Fnatic didn’t have the strongest of showings in the group stage, but they were the first to secure a spot for SEA in Los Angeles after they defeated Adroit in the playoffs, who forfeited the first game of the series due to internet issues.
Geek Fam topped Group B over Fnatic, who dealt them their only loss of the qualifier, then swept IO Dota 2 to punch their ticket to Los Angeles.
Despite topping Group A, internet issues deprived Adroit of a fair shot at the first SEA direct invite against Fnatic. But they bounced back to become the third SEA representative in Los Angeles by defeating IO Dota 2.
China
The Chinese qualifiers were the last to be played after they were postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the country and its surrounding areas.
Despite the difficult circumstances, Invictus Gaming (IG), Royal Never Give Up (RNG), and EHOME will be the Chinese representatives in the Los Angeles Major.
IG lost only one game throughout their qualifier run, topping Group A and outclassing Team Aster in the playoffs to secure the first spot for China in Los Angeles.
RNG also dropped only one game en route to qualifying for the Major, topping Group B then sweeping EHOME in the playoffs.
EHOME bounced back from being swept by RNG by sweeping Aster to lock up the last direct invite to the Los Angeles Major.
The last spot in the Los Angeles Major is reserved for the winner of the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor in Kiev, Ukraine.
The 16 teams in the Major will be vying for the lion’s share of a US$1,000,000 prize pool and 15,000 Dota Pro Circuit points in March.
READ MORE: Los Angeles Major European Closed Qualifiers: Final Results
