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Esports Pro Circuit Season 3 2026
Overview
The Esports Pro Circuit (EPC) is a Dota 2 tournament series organized by EPC, focusing on mid- and lower-tier European and CIS competition. Season 3 2026 is a Tier 3 online event with a $20,000 USD prize pool, featuring 15 teams primarily from Western Europe (WEU), Eastern Europe (EEU), South America, and MENA regions. It runs on Europe West servers and serves as a developmental circuit for regional squads seeking competitive experience and ranking points outside major Valve or ESL/PGL events. The series emphasizes accessible online play with open qualifiers alongside invites.
History
The Esports Pro Circuit launched in September 2026 as a new grassroots Dota 2 series under the EPC banner, filling a niche for consistent mid-tier European online events after the end of the Valve Dota Pro Circuit in 2023. Season 1 was a one-day single-elimination event on 2026-09-18 with a modest $1,500 USD prize pool and eight invited teams, won by Nether Force. The series quickly scaled: Season 2 (2026-09-26 to 2026-10-06) expanded to a $20,000 USD prize pool and roughly 9–10 teams in a multi-stage format, crowned by Team Synapse. Season 3 further grew the field to 15 teams (11 invites + 4 open qualifier spots) and introduced a multi-week group-plus-decider structure lasting into mid-November. The circuit has maintained a consistent online Europe focus, with prize pools stabilizing at $20,000 for main seasons and total series prize money reaching approximately $41,500 across three editions by late 2026. No major format overhauls beyond field size and stage additions have been recorded.
Format
Season 3 2026 is a fully online event held on Europe West servers (location: Europe). It features a 15-team field.
Group Stage (October 25 – November 5): Three single round-robin groups of five teams each. All series are best-of-three (Bo3). A 2–0 win awards the winner 3 points; a 2–1 win awards the winner 2 points and the loser 1 point. The top two teams from each group advance directly to the Playoffs. Third- and fourth-placed teams from each group advance to the Decider Stage; the bottom team in each group is eliminated.
Decider Stage (November 6 – November 11): One single round-robin group of six teams. All series are Bo3 with the same points system (2–0 = 3 points; 2–1 = 2 points for winner / 1 for loser). The top two teams advance to the Playoffs; the rest are eliminated.
Playoffs (November 12 – November 16): Double-elimination bracket. All series except the Grand Final are Bo3; the Grand Final is best-of-five (Bo5).
Prize distribution: 1st $12,000 USD, 2nd $5,000 USD, 3rd $3,000 USD (remaining places unlisted or $0). The event uses Dota 2 patch 7.41f.
Notable Editions
Season 2 (September 26 – October 6, 2026) stands out as the series’ first full multi-stage $20,000 event. Team Synapse defeated Zero Tenacity in the Grand Final to claim the title, with oveA taking third. It featured strong showings from regional sides such as Hokori, Mena Warriors, and LVL UP Academy and helped establish EPC’s Twitch presence. Season 1 (September 18, 2026) was notable as the launch event—a compact single-elimination one-dayer won by Nether Force over Leto—proving demand for low-barrier European online competition. Season 3 itself is the largest edition to date by field size and duration, incorporating open qualifiers and a dedicated Decider stage while the series remains active.
Past Champions
- Season 1 (2026-09-18): Winner Nether Force (lineup including shinobi, 2Aqun~, obscure, Puhlij, romoon); runner-up Leto. Prize pool $1,500 USD. Online (EEU focus), 8 teams, single-elimination (quarters Bo1, semis/final Bo3). Notable as the series debut.
- Season 2 (2026-09-26 to 2026-10-06): Winner Team Synapse (TA2000, Mikey, emptiness死, Jeezy, Bengan); runner-up Zero Tenacity; 3rd oveA. Prize pool $20,000 USD ($12,000 / $5,000 / $3,000). Online Europe, ~9–10 teams. Team Synapse’s victory marked a strong early run for the roster.
- Season 3 (2026-10-25 to 2026-11-16): Ongoing as of late October 2026; winner TBD. Prize pool $20,000 USD. Online Europe, 15 teams. Participating sides include Zero Tenacity, Team Synapse, Hokori, Mena Warriors, oveA, Level Up Academy (LVL UP Academy), Power Rangers, angry birds, Rottweilas, Xipto Esports, potn9ki, No Hoodwink, Pibbles Corp, and others via invites and open qualifiers.
Viewership & Impact
Broadcasts air primarily on the official Twitch channel epc_en (https://www.twitch.tv/epc_en), which launched around Season 1/2 in mid-September 2026. Channel metrics from a late September–October 2026 window showed roughly 1,551 followers, an average of approximately 308 concurrent viewers, a peak of 615, and over 27,000 hours watched across ~88 stream hours. No large-scale peak/average concurrent figures for individual seasons or third-party platforms (YouTube, etc.) have been widely reported, consistent with its Tier 3/regional status.
The series contributes to the post-DPC European ecosystem by providing regular match practice, ranking points, and prize money for academy, mixed, and emerging professional lineups (e.g., Zero Tenacity, Team Synapse, Hokori). It complements higher-tier circuits such as European Pro League, EPL Masters, and DreamLeague Division 2 without overlapping major LAN calendars. Cultural impact remains localized to the European Dota 2 community, supporting grassroots development and open pathways via qualifiers. Total series prize money across the first three seasons stands at about $41,500 USD.