Dota 2 Asia Championship 2018 schedule, format and teams

A legendary tournament run by Perfect World, the Dota 2 publisher in China, makes its third run this year. Once again, teams will gather for Dota 2 Asia Championship, with sixteen squads fighting for envious prizes — this time $1 million USD, but also a slice of a whopping 1,500 Qualifying Points for the Dota Pro Major. Sixteen teams have arrived in Shanghai for the battle, and this late into the season, it’s anyone’s game.

DAC will ensure that the cream of the crop is here to battle. That’s to say, the top seven of the eight teams currently qualified for The International are here in China, waiting to face off. From Virtus Pro, which already has more points than it needs, all the way down to Americans Evil Geniuses in seventh — sitting pretty but not out-of-reach — these teams are here to defend their spot in the Pro Circuit.

Off the rankings, one team fighting for their TI life is Southeast Asia’s Mineski, who’s just ahead in the rankings of expat rivals Fnatic by a mere 16 points. They sit 290 Qualifying Points between the current eighth place contender, fan legends Natus Vincere — meaning that if they can cinch even fourth place, they’ll edge out Navi for the TI8 spot until Navi’s next opportunity to earn points.

It’s going to be an intense event, with nine days of games spread over ten days: four days of group stages, followed by five days of playoffs, similar to The International. But at the end, only four will earn Qualifying Points — and one will emerge victorious.

If you’re in for the long haul, or just want to know when you can tune in, we’ve got your low-down on DAC.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This has been edited April 2, 1PM ET, to match the results of the Group Stage and include the Playoffs schedule.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

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Event Format & Info

Official English Coverage:

• twitch.tv/pgl_dota

Prizes: The prize pool will be $1,000,000 USD with 1,500 Qualifying Points at stake. Point distribution for teams that earn points will be as follows (cash TBD):

• 1st Place — 750 Qualifying Points/player
• 2nd Place — 450 QP/Player
• 3rd Place — 225 QP/Player
• 4th Place — 75 QP/Player

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:

Teams begin in a round-robin group stage, in which all teams play each other, followed by a double-elimination playoff bracket.

1. All teams begin in the group stages and play each other in best-of-one matches.
2. At the end of the matches, the bottom two teams are eliminted.
3. For playoffs, remaining teams are seeded by group stage performance into the double-elimination bracket.
4. The top two teams from each group start automatically in the first round of the upper bracket, which are all best-of-threes.
5. The middle four teams (3rd-6th places) of each group begin in the Breakout bracket. Winning teams proceed to meet the top group teams in the upper brackets; lower teams meet for the first elimination matches in the lower bracket.
6. Losing in the upper bracket sends a team to the lower bracket. All lower bracket games are elimination matches. The first two rounds are best-of-one; the lower semis and finals are best-of-three.
7. Bracketed playoffs continue until the best-of-five finals.

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Teams/Groups:

(Group Stage results will be under the schedule.)

Group A:

• Keen Gaming (China, Qualifier)
• LGD Gaming (China, Qualifier)
• Newbee (CN, Direct Invite)
• OG Dota (EU, Qualifier)
• OpTic Gaming (NA, Qualifier)
• Team Liquid (EU, Direct Invite)
• TNC Pro Team (SEA, Qualifier)
• Vici Gaming (CN, Qualifier)

Group B:

• Effect (CIS, Qualifier)
• Evil Geniuses (NA, Qualifier)
• Invictus Gaming (China, Direct Invite)
• Mineski (SEA, Qualifier)
• paiN Gaming (SA, Qualifier)
• Team Secret (EU, Direct Invite)
• VGJ.Thunder (CN, Qualifier)
• Virtus.Pro (CIS, Direct Invite)

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Schedule:

[Due to the gap in time zones, dates will be listed next to the first match of that date in ET. The Group Stage matches and results have been moved below the Playoffs bracket and schedule.]

PLAYOFFS

PLAYOFF BRACKET

via Liquipedia

via Liquipedia

Tuesday, April 3 — Playoffs; Breakout Stage

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Monday, April 2) — Evil Geniuses vs Newbee
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Tuesday, April 3) — Team Liquid vs VGJ.Thunder
• 4:00 PM CST (4:00 AM ET) — Team Liquid vs VGJ.Thunder
• 7:00 PM CST (7:00 AM ET) — Team Secret vs Vici Gaming

Wednesday, April 4 — Playoffs; Upper Bracket Round 1

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Tuesday, April 3) — LGD-Gaming vs TBD
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Wednesday, April 4) — Virtus.Pro vs TBD
• 4:00 PM CST (4:00 AM ET) — Mineski vs TBD
• 7:00 PM CST (7:00 AM ET) — TNC Pro Team vs TBD

Thursday, April 5 — Playoffs

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Wednesday, April 4) — Lower bracket round 1 [Bo1]
• 11:30 AM CST (1:30 AM ET) — Lower bracket round 1 [Bo1]
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Thursday, April 5) — Upper bracket semis
• 4:00 PM CST (4:00 AM ET) — Upper bracket semis

Friday, April 6 — Playoffs; Upper Finals

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Thursday, April 5) — Lower bracket round 2 [Bo1]
• 11:30 PM CST (11:30 AM ET) — Lower bracket round 2 [Bo1]
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Friday, April 6) — Upper bracket finals
• 4:00 PM CST (4:00 AM ET) — Lower bracket semis

Saturday, April 7 — Lower Finals & Grand Finals

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Friday, April 6) — Lower bracket finals
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Saturday, April 7) — Grand Finals [Bo5]

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GROUP STAGES

GROUP A

GROUP STAGE MAIN GAMES:

via Liquipedia

TIEBREAKERS:

via Liquipedia

Group B:

via Liquipedia

Thursday, March 29 — Group Stages

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

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Wednesday, March 28)
  Group A: OG Dota vs Keen Gaming
  Group B: VGJ.Thunder vs Effect
• 11:30 AM CST (11:30 PM ET)
  Group A: TNC vs OpTic Gaming
  Group B: Mineski vs paiN Gaming
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Thursday, March 29)
  Group A: Vici Gaming vs OG Dota
  Group B: Evil Geniuses vs VGJ. Thunder
• 2:30 PM CST (2:30 AM ET)
  Group A: Team Liquid vs Keen Gaming
  Group B: Team Secret vs Effect
• 4:00 PM CST (4:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Newbee vs Vici Gaming
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs Evil Geniuses
• 5:30 PM CST (5:30 AM ET)
  Group A: LGD-Gaming vs TNC Pro Team
  Group B: Invictus Gaming vs Mineski
• 7:00 PM CST (7:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Newbee vs OpTic Gaming
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs paiN Gaming
• 8:30 PM CST (8:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Team Liquid vs LGD-Gaming
  Group B: Team Secret vs Invictus Gaming

Friday, March 30 — Group Stages

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

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Thursday, March 29)
  Group A: OG Dota vs OpTic Dota
  Group B: VGJ.Thunder vs paiN Gaming
• 11:30 AM CST (11:30 PM ET)
  Group A: TND Pro Team vs Keen Gaming
  Group B: Mineski vs Effect
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Friday, March 30)
  Group A: Newbee vs LGD-Gaming
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs Invictus Gaming
• 2:30 PM CST (2:30 AM ET)
  Group A: Team Liquid vs OG Dota
  Group B: Team Secret vs VGJ.Thunder
• 4:00 PM CST (4:00 AM ET)
  Group A: LGD-Gaming vs Keen Gaming
  Group B: Invictus Gaming vs Effect
• 5:30 PM CST (5:30 AM ET)
  Group A: Vici Gaming vs OpTic Gaming
  Group B: Evil Geniuses vs paiN Gaming
• 7:00 PM CST (7:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Newbee vs TNC Pro Team
  Group B: Virtus.Prob vs Mineski
• 8:30 PM CST (8:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Team Liquid vs Vici Gaming
  Group B: Team Secret vs Evil Geniuses

Saturday, March 31 — Group Stages

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

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Friday, March 30)
  Group A: Vici Gaming vs Keen Gaming
  Group B: Evil Geniuses vs Effect
• 11:30 AM CST (11:30 PM ET)
  Group A: LGD-Gaming vs OpTic Gaming
  Group B: Invictus Gaming vs paiN Gaming
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Saturday, March 31)
  Group A: Newbee vs OG Dota
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs VGJ.Thunder
• 2:30 PM CST (2:30 AM ET)
  Group A: Team Liquid vs TNC Pro Team
  Group B: Team Secret vs Mineski
• 4:00 PM CST (4:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Newbee vs Keen Gaming
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs Effect
• 5:30 PM CST (5:30 AM ET)
  Group A: Team Liquid vs OpTic Gaming
  Group B: Team Secret vs paiN Gaming
• 7:00 PM CST (7:00 AM ET)
  Group A: TNC Pro Team vs OG Dota
  Group B: Mineski vs VGJ.Thunder
• 8:30 PM CST (8:00 AM ET)
  Group A: LGD-Gaming vs Vici Gaming
  Group B: Invictus Gaming vs Evil Geniuses

Sunday, April 1 — Group Stages

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

• 10:00 AM CST (10:00 PM ET — Saturday, March 31)
  Group A: Vici Gaming vs TNC Pro Team
  Group B: Evil Geniuses vs Mineski
• 11:30 AM CST (11:30 PM ET)
  Group A: LGD-Gaming vs OG Dota
  Group B: Invictus Gaming vs VGJ.Thunder
• 1:00 PM CST (1:00 AM ET — Sunday, April 1)
  Group A: OpTic Gaming vs Keen Gaming
  Group B: paiN Gaming vs Effect
• 2:30 PM CST (2:30 AM ET)
  Group A: Team Liquid vs Newbee
  Group B: Team Secret vs Virtus.Pro

GROUP STAGE FINAL RESULTS

Group A:

Due to how close this group’s results were, tiebreakers needed to occur to determine bracket placement — and elimination.