The biggest tournament of the year, for the Chinese audience, will be hosted in Shanghai this time, with 16 of the world’s best teams competing for a total prize pool of $1,000,000 and 1500 DPC points and perhaps more importantly, a chance to lift the Radiance in front of the rabid Chinese fans.
Will the Western juggernauts continue to gain momentum and head into The International at full speed? Or will we see the traditional rise of the East once again, heading into an ‘even’ edition of The International?
The Format
Group Stage:
The Dota 2 Asia Championships will begin with a Round Robin group-stage featuring two groups.
| Group A | Group B |
| Team Liquid | Virtus.Pro |
| Newbee | Team Secret |
| LGD Gaming | VGJ.Thunder |
| Vici Gaming | Mineski |
| TNC Pro Team | Evil Geniuses |
| OG | Invictus Gaming |
| Optic Gaming | paiN Gaming |
| Keen Gaming | Effect |
Both groups will have all of their teams play 8 BO1 matches in a Round-Robin format, from which the Top 2 teams from each group will directly advance to the Playoffs. The bottom 2 teams from each group will be eliminated. The remaining 8 teams will move on to the ‘Breakout’.
Breakout:
The 8 teams who finished in 3rd – 6th Place in each of the groups will play in a make-all, end-all bracket called ‘Breakout’. They will each play 1 BO3 series, the winner of which will move on to the playoffs while the loser will be eliminated.
Playoffs:
- The 8 remaining teams will then be seeded in a Double elimination bracket.
- All of the series except the Grand Finals and the first two rounds of the Lower Bracket will be BO3 matchups
- The first two rounds of the Lower Bracket will BO1 matchups
- The Grand Finals will be a BO5 series.
Other cool stuff
The Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018, as always, will feature a 1v1 tournament and an All-Star match to add to the excitement and the ‘Prestigious’ of the tournament.
The All-Star Match:
The All-Star Match will be played on the penultimate day of the event, (Friday – April 6) and will feature some of the best players from all across the world.
Miracle and Sylar will captain two teams and will draft their teams at the event. The pool of players they can choose from is Sccc, Maybe, kaka, No[o]ne, Suma1L, Yang, GH, and Paparazi.
The 1v1 Tournament:
The 1v1 tournament has become unique to the Dota 2 Asia Championships after The International discontinued the tradition after TI5. Hence, there is a lot of prestige and bragging rights attached to the tournament.
Last year, we saw Paparazzi winning the event after beating Sccc in the Finals. Both players will be making their return to this edition alongside Sylar, Miracle, No[o]ne, Suma1L, Maybe, and Midone.
The first round of matches has already been drawn up.
The Teams
You can find the previews and predictions for each team on the below links:
Virtus.Pro, Evil Geniuses, Newbee, Vici Gaming, Fnatic, TNC Pro Team, Team Liquid and Team Secret: HERE
VGJ.Thunder, OG, Optic Gaming, paiN Gaming, Keen Gaming, LGD Gaming, Invictus Gaming and Effect: HERE
Schedule and Broadcast Info
Day 1: March 29th (Thursday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| OG vs Keen Gaming | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| VGJ.Thunder vs Effect | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| TNC vs Optic Gaming | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Mineski vs paiN Gaming | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Vici Gaming vs OG | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| Evil Geniuses vs VGJ.Thunder | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| Team Liquid vs Keen Gaming | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| Team Secret vs Effect | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| Newbee vs Vici Gaming | 11:00 | 17:00 | 14:30 | Bo1 |
| Virtus.Pro vs Evil Geniuses | 11:00 | 17:00 | 14:30 | Bo1 |
| LGD vs TNC Pro Team | 12:15 | 18:15 | 15:45 | Bo1 |
| Invictus Gaming vs Mineski | 12:15 | 18:15 | 15:45 | Bo1 |
| Newbee vs Optic Gaming | 13:30 | 19:30 | 17:00 | Bo1 |
| Virtus.Pro vs paiN Gaming | 13:30 | 19:30 | 17:00 | Bo1 |
| Team Liquid vs LGD Gaming | 14:45 | 20:45 | 18:15 | Bo1 |
| Team Secret vs Invictus Gaming | 14:45 | 20:45 | 18:15 | Bo1 |
Day 2: March 30th (Friday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| OG vs Optic Gaming | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| VGJ.Thunder vs Pain Gaming | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| TNC vs Keen Gaming | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Mineski vs Effect | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Newbee vs LGD Gaming | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| Virtus.Pro vs Invictus Gaming | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| Team Liquid vs OG | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| Team Secret vs VGJ.Thunder | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| LGD Gaming vs Keen Gaming | 11:00 | 17:00 | 14:30 | Bo1 |
| Invictus Gaming vs Effect | 11:00 | 17:00 | 14:30 | Bo1 |
| Vici Gaming vs Optic Gaming | 12:15 | 18:15 | 15:45 | Bo1 |
| Evil Geniuses vs paiN Gaming | 12:15 | 18:15 | 15:45 | Bo1 |
| Newbee vs TNC Pro Team | 13:30 | 19:30 | 17:00 | Bo1 |
| Virtus.Pro vs Mineski | 13:30 | 19:30 | 17:00 | Bo1 |
| Team Liquid vs Vici Gaming | 14:45 | 20:45 | 18:15 | Bo1 |
| Team Secret vs Evil Geniuses | 14:45 | 20:45 | 18:15 | Bo1 |
Day 3: March 31st (Saturday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| Vici Gaming vs Keen Gaming | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| Evil Geniuses vs Effect | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| LGD Gaming vs Optic Gaming | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Invictus Gaming vs paiN Gaming | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Newbee vs OG | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| Virtus.Pro vs VGJ.Thunder | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| Team Liquid vs TNC Pro Team | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| Team Secret vs Mineski | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| Newbee vs Keen Gaming | 11:00 | 17:00 | 14:30 | Bo1 |
| Virtus.Pro vs Effect | 11:00 | 17:00 | 14:30 | Bo1 |
| Team Liquid vs Optic Gaming | 12:15 | 18:15 | 15:45 | Bo1 |
| Team Secret vs paiN Gaming | 12:15 | 18:15 | 15:45 | Bo1 |
| TNC Pro Team vs OG | 13:30 | 19:30 | 17:00 | Bo1 |
| Mineski vs VGJ.Thunder | 13:30 | 19:30 | 17:00 | Bo1 |
| LGD Gaming vs Vici Gaming | 14:45 | 20:45 | 18:15 | Bo1 |
| Invictus Gaming vs Evil Geniuses | 14:45 | 20:45 | 18:15 | Bo1 |
Day 4: April 1st (Sunday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| Vici Gaming vs TNC Pro Team | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| Evil Geniuses vs Mineski | 6:00 | 12:00 | 09:30 | Bo1 |
| LGD Gaming vs OG | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Invictus Gaming vs VGJ.Thunder | 7:15 | 13:15 | 10:45 | Bo1 |
| Optic Gaming vs Keen Gaming | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| paiN Gaming vs Effect | 8:30 | 14:30 | 12:00 | Bo1 |
| Team Liquid vs Newbee | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| Team Secret vs Virtus Pro | 9:45 | 15:45 | 13:15 | Bo1 |
| Tier breakers start | 11:00 | 17:00 | 14:30 | Bo1 |
Day 5: April 3rd (Tuesday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| Breakout Match #1 | 4:00 | 10:00 | 07:30 | Bo3 |
| Breakout Match #2 | 7:00 | 13:00 | 10:30 | Bo3 |
| Breakout Match #3 | 10:00 | 16:00 | 13:30 | Bo3 |
| Breakout Match #4 | 13:00 | 19:00 | 16:30 | Bo3 |
Day 6: April 4th (Wednesday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| Winner Bracket #1 | 4:00 | 10:00 | 07:30 | Bo3 |
| Winner Bracket #2 | 7:00 | 13:00 | 10:30 | Bo3 |
| Winner Bracket #3 | 10:00 | 16:00 | 13:30 | Bo3 |
| Winner Bracket #4 | 13:00 | 19:00 | 16:30 | Bo3 |
Day 7: April 5th (Thursday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| Elimination Match #1 | 4:00 | 10:00 | 07:30 | Bo3 |
| Elimination Match #2 | 7:00 | 13:00 | 10:30 | Bo3 |
| Winner Bracket Round 2 - #1 | 10:00 | 16:00 | 13:30 | Bo3 |
| Winner Bracket Round 2 - #2 | 13:00 | 19:00 | 16:30 | Bo3 |
Day 8: April 6th (Friday)
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| Elimination Match #3 | 4:00 | 10:00 | 07:30 | Bo3 |
| Elimination Match #4 | 7:00 | 13:00 | 10:30 | Bo3 |
| Winner Bracket Finals | 10:00 | 16:00 | 13:30 | Bo3 |
| Elimination Match - #5 | 13:00 | 19:00 | 16:30 | Bo3 |
| All Star Match | 16:00 | 23:00 | 19:30 | Bo1 |
Day 9:
| Match | CEST | SGT | IST | Format |
| Lower Bracket Finals | 4:00 | 10:00 | 07:30 | Bo3 |
| Grand Finals | 7:00 | 13:00 | 10:30 | Bo5 |
All games will be broadcasted on PGL’s official Twitch stream which you can find HERE and HERE.