EPICENTER XL preview: schedule, teams and format

EPICENTER’s time to shine has arrived, as their Dota Pro Circuit Major event is here. With 1500 Qualifying Points and $1 million on the line, twelve teams have come out to the fan-favorite event in Moscow for a chance at money and a boost in the DPC rankings.

With only three Majors left, this one included, teams are going to whatever it takes to accelerate themselves in the race for Direct Invites to The International 8. For this Major, six of the eight teams currently qualified for TI8 have made it, including the top five teams in the DPC rankings (four of which, were directly invited for this event).

Mineski are looking to bring their all in Russia, after becoming first Southeast Asian squad to win a Valve-sponsored event at the Dota 2 Asia Championships. They’ve placed in the top four in multiple DPC events and won at the PGL Open Bucharest in October, but with this month’s Major victory, they’ve already kicked off some serious momentum.

Meanwhile, with their recent second-place victory at DAC and a new owner signed on, PSG.LGD are also proving to be a team to look out for. After taking out Team Liquid in DAC’s upper bracket and their narrow loss in the Grand Finals, they’re looking to be a little more secure in the coming months.

Some teams don’t have much to lose, but that won’t make them any less entertaining to watch. Virtus.Pro particularly return for this event, already infallible on their road to TI8, and European rivals Team Liquid and Team Secret don’t seem to have too much to worry about, as they stand with 4,734 and 4,710 points respectively. Still, with 1,500 Qualifying Points on the line, anything can happen — and every team here is hoping to become that “anything.”

If you need to know when to pop in for the action, we’ve got you covered with event details below.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This has been edited May 4, approximately 10 AM 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:

• Main Stream: twitch.tv/epicenter_en1
• Player Booth 1: twitch.tv/epicenter_cam1
• Player Booth 2: twitch.tv/epicenter_cam2
• Side Stream [group stages]: twitch.tv/epicenter_en2

They also have an official multi-stream page in English and Russian: epiclive.gg/en/

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 :

• 1st Place — 750 Qualifying Points/player; $500,000 USD
• 2nd Place — 450 QP/Player; $200,000 USD
• 3rd Place — 225 QP/Player; $110,000 USD
• 4th Place — 75 QP/Player; $70,000 USD

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-three matches.
2. At the conclusion of all matches, the bottom two teams are eliminated.
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 two teams (3rd-4th places) of each group begin in the lower 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 best-of-one elimination matches, except lower finals which are best-of-three.
7. Bracketed playoffs continue until the best-of-five finals.

Epicenter

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Teams/Groups:

Group A:

• compLexity Gaming (NA, Qualifier)
• FlyToMoon (CIS, “Madness Qualifier”)
• Mineski (SEA, Qualifier)
• PSG.LGD [formerly LGD-Gaming] (China, Qualifier)
• Team Liquid (EU, Direct Invite)
• Team Empire (CIS, Qualifier)

Group B:

• Natus Vincere (CIS, Qualifier)
• Newbee (CN, Direct Invite)
• OG Dota (EU, Qualifier)
• paiN Gaming (SA, Qualifier)
• Team Secret (EU, Direct Invite)
• Virtus.Pro (CIS, Direct Invite)

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Schedule:

[Group stage matches and results have been moved below the Playoffs information.]

PLAYOFFS: May 4 — May 6

[Games per match varies per bracket. Start time may vary depending on game length and other factors.]

Liquipedia

Friday, May 4

• 12:30 PM MSK (5:30 AM ET) — Lower Bracket R1 Match 1 [Bo1]
• 2:00 PM MSK (7:00 AM ET) — Lower Bracket R1 Match 2 [Bo1]
• 3:30 PM MSK (8:30 AM ET) — Upper Bracket Semis Match 1 [Bo3]
• 7:00 PM MSK (12:00 PM ET) — Upper Bracket Semis Match 2 [Bo3]

Saturday, May 5

• 12:30 PM MSK (5:30 AM ET) — Lower Bracket R2 Match 1 [Bo1]
• 2:00 PM MSK (7:00 AM ET) — Lower Bracket R2 Match 2 [Bo1]
• 3:30 PM MSK (8:30 AM ET) — Lower Bracket Semis [Bo1]
• 7:00 PM MSK (12:00 PM ET) — Upper Bracket Finals [Bo3]

Sunday, May 6

• 1:00 PM MSK (6:00 AM ET) — Lower Bracket Finals [Bo3]
• 4:30 PM MSK (9:30 AM ET) — Grand Finals [Bo5]

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GROUP STAGE: April 27 — May 2

GROUP A RESULTS:

Liquipedia

GROUP B RESULTS:

Liquipedia

[All Group Stage matches are best-of-three. Some matches start simultaneously.]

Friday, April 27

• 9:00 PM MSK (2:00 PM ET)
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs paiN

Saturday, April 28

• 10:00 AM MSK (3:00 AM ET)
  Group B: Secret vs Newbee
• 1:00 PM MSK (6:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Mineski vs PSG.LGD
• 4:00 PM MSK (9:00 AM ET)
  Group B: OG vs Na’vi
• 7:00 PM MSK (12:00 PM ET)
  Group A: Liquid vs Empire
  Group A: compLexity vs FlyToMoon

Sunday, April 29

• 10:00 AM MSK (3:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Mineski vs FlyToMoon
• 1:00 PM MSK (6:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Liquid vs PSG.LGD
  Group B: OG vs paiN
• 4:00 PM MSK (9:00 AM ET)
  Group A: compLexity vs Empire
  Group B: Secret vs Na’Vi
• 7:00 PM MSK (12:00 PM ET)
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs Newbee

Monday, April 30

• 10:00 AM MSK (3:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Mineski vs compLexity
  Group B: Secret vs OG
• 1:00 PM MSK (6:00 AM ET)
  Group A: PSG.LGD vs Empire
  Group B: Newbee vs paiN
• 4:00 PM MSK (9:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Liquid vs FlyToMoon
• 7:00 PM MSK (12:00 PM ET)
  Group B: VP vs Na’Vi

Tuesday, May 1

• 10:00 AM MSK (3:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Mineski vs Empire
• 1:00 PM MSK (6:00 AM ET)
  Group A: PSG.LGD vs FlyToMoon
  Group B: Secret vs paiN
• 4:00 PM MSK (9:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Liquid vs compLexity
  Group B: Newbee vs Na’vi
• 7:00 PM MSK (12:00 PM ET)
  Group B: Virtus.Pro vs OG

Wednesday, May 2

• 10:00 AM MSK (3:00 AM ET)
  Group A: FlyToMoon vs Empire
• 1:00 PM MSK (6:00 AM ET)
  Group A: Newbee vs OG
  Group B: Liquid vs Mineski
• 4:00 PM MSK (9:00 AM ET)
  Group A: PSG.LGD vs compLexity
  Group B: Na’vi vs paiN
• 7:00 PM MSK (12:00 PM ET)
  Group B: VP vs Secret