Regional Dota 2 DPC Tours: Who to Watch in 2023
January is bringing a brand new Dota 2 season to fans around the world. As fans well know, every year all of the teams hoping to qualify for The International have to play through 3 of the regional Dota 2 DPC tours.
As with all esports, Dota is split into several regions. While TI usually has a huge showing from Europe, a couple of top-tier teams have recently moved their roster to the emerging region of South America. It remains to be seen what impact that’ll have but for now, things will be starting up very soon.
Division 1 vs. Division 2 in Dota 2 DPC Tours
Each of the Dota 2 DPC tours is separated into division 1 and division 2. Each division has 8 teams that take part and battle to earn enough DPC points to make it to Majors and, obviously, The International.
To qualify for Division 2, teams need to win both open and closed qualifiers. Safe to say that this is a lot easier said than done! In the upcoming DPC tour 1, there will be some familiar faces in the shape of NoTail, Ceb and Topson. The TI veterans have come out of retirement for another run but they can’t go straight to division 1!
The top 2 teams in Division 2 will swap with the bottom 2 teams from Division 1 going into the Dota 2 DPC tour 2.
Europe
In Europe, there are two leagues for the eastern and western regions. As the number 1 region in the world, Europe has won TI the last 5 times in a row. The most recent winners, Tundra, have been competing in Division 1 of the WEU leagues for a number of years now.
Even the surprise underdog winners of TI10, Team Spirit, stormed through the eastern EU leagues.
WEU team Tundra lift the Aegis at TI11Americas
There’s been something of an exodus in North America since TI 11. Since EG moved their roster to South America, a huge gap has been left in the league. That certainly means some more space for new talent in the region.
South America, on the other hand, proved to have the biggest surprises in store in the last Dota 2 DPC tours. Both beastcoast and Thunder Awaken made their presence known at Majors and TI. It’ll be interesting to see how the new dynamic works with EG and ex-EU team Alliance too!
China and SEA
The Asian regions have always been extremely strong in Dota 2. In fact, Chinese teams have managed to make it to a number of TI finals in recent years. However, there have been some changes to the regional leaders PSG.LGD as of late. Not only have Ame and faith_bian retired, albeit temporarily, but their position 5 XinQ has also left the team.
With the abrupt departure of the T1 lineup, fans can expect to see an entirely different Dota 2 landscape in SEA as well. There are plenty of opportunities for Dota fans to stay involved this coming DPC season!