Two of the most well-known regions in Dota 2 square off for US$250,000 [AU$386,572] in the first season of the WePlay! Pushka League.
WePlay! eSports brought together the top Dota 2 teams across Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to battle it out for a $250,000 prize pool as well as some hard-earned bragging rights.
A total of 14 teams are participating in the competition, twelve of whom are direct invites (six per region) while the remaining two were selected as the EU and CIS qualifiers. WePlay! Pushka League season 1 kicked off on April 23 and is expected to last until May 12.
‼️ Official Dota2 league‼️
WePlay! Pushka League will start on April, 23rd! Online format, two regional groups, fourteen teams, $250,000 at stake
Read more: https://t.co/Ippou3qTB1@dota2 #dota2 #WePlayDota2 #Dota2Pushka pic.twitter.com/nIRUcgkkmb
— WePlay! Esports | #Dota2Pushka (@WePlayEsport) March 26, 2020
Tournament format
The league follows a standard round-robin format where the participating teams are divided into two equal groups according to region.
The group stage will last until May 6 and all matches, aside from the grand final, will be a best-of-three game— with two points being awarded to the winner and no points are given to the losing team.
The teams placed in the top four will proceed to the playoffs while the bottom three will be eliminated.
Playoffs will take place from May 7-11 and will feature a double-elimination bracket. As with the group stage, all matches will be best-of-three with the winners of the upper and lower bracket finals facing off in the WePlay! Pushka League season 1 best-of-five grand finals.
Participating teams
Europe:
- Team Nigma
- Team Secret
- OG
- OG Seed (EU Qualifier)
- Alliance
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Team Liquid
‼️The Participants List of Pushka League‼️
The final CQs game was yesterday and now we know all the participants of the both WePlay! Pushka League Divisions. The main event is starting today, don't miss it!
Wish them good luck https://t.co/egvVSdNrHP#Dota2Pushka #WePlayPushka pic.twitter.com/WkPPASOMx8
— WePlay! Esports | #Dota2Pushka (@WePlayEsport) April 23, 2020
CIS:
- Natus Vincere (Na`Vi)
- FlyToMoon
- VP.Prodigy (CIS Qualifier)
- B8
- Virtus.pro
- Hellraisers
- Team Spirit
Standings so far
For the CIS division, Hellraisers and Natus Vincere hold the top two spots with four points apiece; while Virtus.pro, VP.Prodigy, and Team Spirit are ranked three through five with each team racking up two points so far.
Finally, there’s B8 and FlyToMoon occupying the bottom two spots as they have yet to win a game in this competition.
‼️ WePlay! Pushka League Talents ‼️
It's time to say hello to our talents! We missed you guys!
Read more about them here: https://t.co/d1BQTmVQuI#WePlayDota2 #WePlayPushka #dota2pushka #dota2 pic.twitter.com/dZgwgSRDhY
— WePlay! Esports | #Dota2Pushka (@WePlayEsport) April 20, 2020
As for the European group, Team Secret and Ninjas in Pyjamas are tied for first and second place, each with a score of four points. Trailing right behind them are Team Nigma, Alliance, and Team Liquid all of whom have two points.
OG’s younger squad OG Seed is sitting in the last place with three losses and no points as of the moment. Back-to-back The International winner OG also hasn’t put up any points so far but that’s only because they are still waiting to play their first game of the tournament.
While it’s still way too early to tell who’s going to come out on top, the first season of the WePlay! Pushka League is shaping up to be an event Dota 2 fans won’t want to miss.
The League’s updated standings can be found here.
Image courtesy of WePlay! eSports/twitter