ESL One Genting schedule, format and teams

A wave of Southeast Asian competition is about to begin with ESL One Genting. While some of the top teams in the world showed up for Galaxy Battles II, the ex-Major event in the Philippines, the heat is rising for the region’s first-ever Pro Circuit event.

Not only is this the first normal-format DPC event of the year, but it’s also technically the biggest Minor of the season, with $400,000 at stake instead of the typical $300,000. While $100,000 may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of recent Dota 2 events, it’s still ¹⁄₃ more than the prior Minor prize pools—not to mention the Qualifying Points have been scaled to this prize pool hike, from 300 to 400 in the QP pool.

The biggest teams in the circuit have taken notice for it. The top seven point-earners have all found their way to Genting for this competition. Five others are on the board, and four more are hoping to put themselves there by winning their way to top four.

Who will find success at the resort in paradise, and who will fall down the mountain along the way? If you’re excited to tune in, we’ve got your quick guide to the event below.

Format

Official Stream:

• ESL Facebook Page

(Yes, this is the only stream now, thanks to an exclusivity deal announced between ESL and Facebook last week.)

Prizes: The prize pool will be $400,00 USD with 300 Qualifying Points at stake. Point distribution for teams that earn points will be as follows:

• 1st Place — 200 Qualifying Points/player
• 2nd Place — 120 QP/Player
• 3rd/4th Place — 40 QP/Player

(Cash distribution is currently not confirmed by the event.)

If you’re still a bit confused about how the Pro Circuit will work, check out our primer about the Valve-sanctioned tournament series.

Competition Format: This event works in two stages: a double-elimination group stage, and a single-elimination playoff stage.

1. In the group stage, all teams will start by being seeded into two groups, A and B.
2. Each team plays an initial best-of-one match, the only stage with best-of-ones. The winner proceeds through the upper bracket with best-of-three matches, while the loser falls to the lower bracket. All lower bracket matches are best-of-three elimination matches.
3. Both upper bracket finalists for each group move on to the playoffs, albeit in different stages. Only the lower bracket winner continues.
4. In the playoffs, one winner of the group stage lower bracket finals plays one loser of the upper bracket finals. Note, most matches from here on are best-of-three elimination.
5. In the next round, semifinals, the winner of the upper bracket returns to face the winner of the first playoff match. The winner of this match becomes a grand finalist.
6. Grand finals are best-of-five.

The group stages take place, locally, Tuesday, January 23rd through Thursday the 25th (Malaysia Time Zone). The playoffs happen the following weekend, the 26th through the 28th. Grand finals will take place Sunday the 28th and are the only games that day.

Teams/Groups:

EDITOR’S NOTE — New team listing format:

“Team Name — Region, Method of Entry, Qualifying Points at time of writing via Valve website”

Group A:

• CompLexity Gaming — North America, Qualifier, 135 QP
• Fnatic — Southeast Asia, Qualifier, 201 QP
• Planet Dog — Europe, Qualifier, 0 QP
• SG e-sports — South America, Qualifier, 0 QP
• Team Secret — EU, Direct Invite, 4140 QP
• Vici Gaming — China, Qualifier, 810 QP
• VGJ.Thunder — CN, Qualifier, 0 QP
• Virtus Pro — Commonwealth of Independent States, Direct Invite, 2697 QP

Group B

• Evil Geniuses — North America, Direct Invite, 765 QP
• LGD.Forever Young — China, Qualifier, 135 QP
• Mineski — SEA, Direct Invite, 810 QP
• Newbee — CN, Direct Invite, 1035 QP
• Natus Vincere — CIS, Qualifier 315 QP
• Penta Sports — EU, Qualifier, 0 QP
• Team Liquid — Europe, Qualifier, 2700 QP
• TNC Pro Team — SEA, Qualifier, 270 QP

Schedule:

(Note: Times in ET. Due to the gap in time zones, if event times overlap two days, dates will be listed next to the first match of that date. All times are approximate and will shift depending on match length.)

Group Stages Day 1

Due to the simultaneous nature of the matches during group stages, we will group each match by approximate start time.

• 10:30 PM (Monday, January 22)
  Pre-Show
• 11:00 PM
  Group A Match 1 — Team Secret vs Planet Dog
  Group A Match 2 — CompLexity Gaming vs Fnatic
• 12:10 AM (Tuesday, January 23)
  Group A Match 3 — Vici Gaming vs VGJ.Thunder
  Group A Match 4 — SG e-sports vs Virtus Pro
• 1:20 AM
  Group B Match 1 — Natus Vincere vs Evil Geniuses
  Group B Match 2 — Team Liquid vs Penta Sports
• 2:30 AM
  Group B Match 3 — LGD Gaming vs Newbee
  Group B Match 4 — Mineski vs TNC Pro Team
• 3:40 AM
  Group A Upper Bracket Semifinals Match 1
  Group A Lower Bracket Round 1 Match 1
• 7:10 AM
  Group A Upper Bracket Semifinals Match 2
  Group A Lower Bracket Round 1 Match 2

Group Stages Day 2

• 10:30 PM (Tuesday, January 23)
  Pre-Show
• 11:00 PM
  Group B Lower Bracket Round 1 Match 1
  Group B Lower Bracket Round 1 Match 2
• 2:10 (Wednesday, January 24)
  Group A Lower Bracket Round 2 Match 1
• 2:30 AM
  Group B Upper Bracket Semifinals Match 1
• 6:00 AM
  Group B Upper Bracket Semifinals Match 2
  Group A Lower Bracket Semifinals Match 2

Group Stages Day 3

• 10:30 PM (Wednesday, January 24)
  Pre-Show
• 11:00 PM
  Group B Lower Bracket Semifinals Match 1
  Group B Lower Bracket Semifinals Match 2
• 2:30 AM (Thursday, January 25)
  Group A Upper Bracket Final
  Group A Lower Bracket Final
• 6:00 AM
  Group B Upper Bracket Final
  Group B Lower Bracket Final

Playoffs Day 1 — Quarterfinals (Friday, January 26th)

• 1:25 AM — Pre-show
• 2:00 AM — Quarterfinal #1
• 4:20 AM — Quarterfinal #2

Playoffs Day 2 — Semifinals (Saturday, January 27th)

• 1:25 AM — Pre-show
• 2:00 AM — Semifinal #1
• 4:20 AM — Semifinal #2

Playoffs Day 3 — Grand Finals (Sunday, January 28th)

• 1:25 AM — Pre-show
• 2:00 AM — Grand Finals

You can also find the ESL One Genting schedule on their official site with time zones automatically converted.