Valve has made wise amendments to the DPC rules. Teams will face a unique challenge in their journey to The International 11.
Valve does things their way, and the company has yet again changed the Dota Pro Circuit rules with no announcements till now. However, tournament organizers like ESL have made posts about the new season.
Tour And Major Rules
Valve has made some interesting changes to the circuit, including three Tours instead of two like previous years. Each Tour will comprise one Regional League and one Major tournament offering DPC points to teams taking part in them.
Both the Regional League and Major tournaments will have veritable points, going in ascending order as the calendar year comes nearer to The International. This means the Tour and Major closest to TI will have maximum points and will offer a greater opportunity for teams to qualify. The three Tours have 690/920/1150 points and the Majors have 1900/2700/3500 points.
Valve has expunged Open Qualifiers for TI. Instead, teams can now compete in qualifiers for Division-2 spots which will take place separately before each Tour. This means there will be no shortcuts to The International 11. Teams will have to go through DPC and that will be the only way for invites. The last Regional Qualifiers will take place after the third DPC Tour and will be the last competition for entry into TI 11.
Roster Details And Transfers
Valve has set rules for substitutes playing in a team during a Tour. A team can play with a sub for four out of the seven matches. However, a team playing with sub in a Major will incur a 40% penalty on DPC Points earned from that tournament. Teams playing with a sub for over four matches will face disqualification.
Teams can remove players, but doing so after qualifying for a Major will hit them with a 20% penalty on DPC Points earned during that event, besides the normal player-removal penalty which is 15%.
Roster locks will take place on 11:59am PT on November 21. For second and third Tours, the roster locks will take place the Tuesday after each Major. They will unlock at the start of the Regional League portion of each Tour.
Organization Ownership Details
Valve has clarified that the person who created an organization and is registered as an admin of the team holds the ownership and can transfer it to anyone else. The ownership will remain undisputed. An organization can be owned by a player/manager/third party.
Acquiring a team is possible during the Tours, and the new admin will take ownership immediately.
Other general rules related to the Tours and Major remain the same. You can read the full details here.
Welcoming Changes
Including a third Tour in the calendar year and division of DPC points in ascending order is by far the most interesting change Valve has made. It will have a tremendous impact on how teams approach each Regional League and its Major. We might see teams putting their absolute best in the later part of the year to get into the top twelve.
From the looks of it, Valve wants to limit roster changes in the early parts of the calendar year which offers lower points. They also want more opportunities for Division-1 teams, but have given ample space to Division-2 teams who can take part in Open Qualifiers.
Feature Image: Valve
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