WePlay AniMajor in Kyiv Announced as the Second Dota 2 Major of the 2021 DPC

WePlay Esports has announced that it will be hosting the second Dota 2 Major of the 2021 DPC season in the capital of Ukraine - Kyiv. Titled “WePlay AniMajor”, the coveted tournament will feature 18 of the best Dota 2 teams from around the world competing from June 2-13, 2021 for a total prize pool of $500,000 and the consequential 2,700 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points. WePlay AniMajor marks the return of the Dota 2 Major championships in Ukraine after a long hiatus as the last Major in the country was the Kiev Major in 2017. In-person viewership will not be permitted at the AniMajor due to the pandemic situation. 

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Kyiv, Ukraine to hold the second Dota 2 Major of the 2021 DPC Season

WePlay has finally announced the second Dota 2 Major after dropping hints about hosting it on its Twitter handle via Dota 2 memes and content. 

At the time of this writing, only five out of the 18 teams that are to compete in the WePlay AniMajor have been confirmed mathematically.

1. Alliance (EU)
2. Team Aster (China)
3. Virtus.pro (CIS)
4. Team Spirit (CIS)
5. NoPing e-sports (SA)

Three more teams from EU, three from China, one from CIS, two from NA, three from SEA and one from SA are yet to be determined through their respective regional leagues.

Invictus Gaming (China) had emerged as the champions of the previous Major of the 2021 DPC season that was hosted by ONE Esports and PGL in Singapore. Now, The AniMajor is the last stretch before TI10 and teams will be under immense pressure to perform and earn those essential DPC points. Only the top eight teams in the event will be getting their share of DPC points and the prize pool. The remaining ten teams will have to go back home empty-handed. 

It will also be intriguing to witness the level of the setup and the production that WePlay can come up with at the AniMajor. One of its recent events, the Omega League in September 2020, garnered impressive viewership numbers and featured entertaining talent along with engaging content. 

Valve recently announced a Dota 2 animated series on Netflix called DOTA: Dragon’s Blood. It was well-received by the community and soon after, Valve confirmed that a second season was in the works. The Anime theme for this major coupled with WePlay's cryptic Tweets indicates that we could see some additional DOTA: Dragon's Blood related reveals at and around this tournament.