ESL Announces ESL Pro Tour Season 2

Valve made a significant announcement before the start of The International 2023, stating that they would be discontinuing the Dota Pro Circuit in 2024. This decision left a noticeable void in the professional Dota 2 scene. In their blog post, Valve expressed their desire to make the professional scene more open for third-party tournament organizers. However, the uncertainty that followed this announcement led to ESL stepping up to fill in with ESL Pro Tour Season 2.

The new ESL Pro Tour claims the majority of the calendar for the upcoming Dota 2 professional season with five tournaments.  Currently, Team Spirit is in the lead in this new season. They have 2400 points as they recently won DreamLeague Season 21. Shopify Rebellion is in second place with 2000 points.

Formation of A New Region

Dota 2 fans are hyped for the upcoming ESL One Kuala Lumpur, which will start in a few days. The tournament will officially kick off the 2024 Dota 2 professional season.

The tournament organizers revealed they already have four more tournaments lined up for the season. The calendar also confirms the formation of a new Dota 2 region, MENA. The region will have one guaranteed spot in the tournaments ESL hosts.

Teams are starting to form in this region, and some players have already migrated there. However, there is uncertainty about whether other third-party tournament organizers will offer a seat for the region, given its proximity to Europe. It's worth noting that players from this region have a similar skill ceiling to those from Europe.

The Tournaments

ESL One Kuala Lumpur Logo.
Credits: ESL One

After ESL One Kuala Lumpur, ESL will host another tournament, DreamLeague Season 22, near the end of February to the first week of March. The qualifiers for DreamLeague Season 22 will start in the first week of January.

ESL One DreamLeague

In April, the organizers plan to host a LAN event in Europe. It is followed by the DreamLeague Season 23. ESL One EU will have open qualifiers in January, and DreamLeague Season 22 will have open qualifiers in March.

The calendar for ESL Pro Tour Season 2.
Credits: ESL One

The climax for ESL Pro Tour Season 2 is in July, as all the roads lead to one mysterious tournament. The qualifiers for the mysterious tournament are in May.

All the tournaments hosted by ESL One are expected to feature a prize pool of around a million dollars with EPT points, except for the mysterious tournament in July.

Why Is it a Mystery? 

The Riyadh Masters 2023 banner.
Credits: Gamers8

The mysterious tournament is expected to have ties with Gamers8, The Riyadh Masters tournament organizers. Gamers8 has been challenging Valve in terms of prize pool. They even came out on top in 2023 when The International 2023 featured an all-time low prize pool despite its spectacular theme.

Team Spirit is The Riyadh Masters 2023 Champions, taking home the lion's share of the massive prize pool.
Credits: Twitter/@Gamers8

The same year, The Riyadh Masters 2023, hosted by Gamers8, features a whopping 15,000,000 USD prize pool. However, this year, the name of Riyadh Masters might retire because Saudi Arabia has massive plans as they have invested more than a billion USD in the Esports World Cup.

The Leaks

Despite keeping the information about the mysterious tournament under close wraps, rumors are circulating that the prize pool for an upcoming mysterious tournament could be as big as the prize pool for The International 2021.

Although these rumors are yet to be confirmed, Dzmitry "Fishman" Palishchuk, a player from Entity, mentioned in a recent message on Telegram that the tournament could potentially have a prize pool of $45,000,000. However, this statement is yet to be verified.

Despite the unverified statement, it spread like wildfire in the Dota 2 community. Even players like Artour “Arteezy” Babaev said that if he won Riyadh, he wouldn't care about TI. However, on the other hand, some players called the statement complete bullocks.

The ESL Pro Tour will have a significant impact in shaping the new Dota 2 professional scene. The organizers are renowned for their dedication and hard work in hosting tournaments. Additionally, their production last year outperformed Valve, leading fans to anticipate what surprises they have for this year's tournaments.

Featured Image Source: ESL One

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