We are just a day away from the third important tournament of the 2018/2019 competitive season — the Dota 2 Bucharest Minor, held at PGL Studios in Bucharest, Romania. Eight teams from various regions will be duking it out for a grand prize of $125,000 and 120 DPC (Dota Pro Circuit) points.

But what’s on the line other than other than a solid prize pool? The winning will receive a seed for the Chongqing Major, scheduled just days after the Bucharest Minor concludes. The Chinese Major will not only feature a larger prize pool ($1,000,000 to be more exact) but will also disperse a much larger number of DPC points — 15,000, spread across sixteen teams.

Unlike the Kuala Lumpur Major organized last November, the Bucharest Minor will have “only” eight teams. Just because that number seems small, doesn’t mean we’re not in for some high-level play. Far from it.

Let’s take a closer look at the entire tournament, its format, and a quick rundown on all teams competing.

Dota 2 Bucharest Minor Preview | Interesting Facts

Perhaps the most exciting fact is that the Dota 2 Bucharest Minor will give us another look at OG’s updated roster. Seeing their games with Igor “iLTW” Filatov will provide us with a better idea on just how strong they currently are.

Just the fact that recent TI8 winners will be participating makes this Minor a must watch.

Tournament Format

There are eight teams in total, seeded into two groups. All matches are best-of-three in a double-elimination bracket. The top two teams from each group advance will onto the upper bracket of the playoffs stage.

The bottom two teams from each group will move into the lower bracket of the playoff stage. If you’re having trouble deciphering all of this, you can follow the entire schedule at the official Dota 2 Bucharest Minor website.

The grand final will be a best-of-five match. The top two teams will clash on January 13th at 4 PM, Eastern European time (9 AM EST/6 AM PST).

Prize Pool Distribution

The total prize pool for the Dota 2 Bucharest Minor is a rather impressive $300,000. That sum will be split across eight competing teams in the following manner:

• 1st Place – $125,000 & 120 DPC
• 2nd Place – $70,000 & 100 DPC
• 3rd Place – $35,000 & 90 DPC
• 4th Place – $25,000 & 70 DPC
• 5th Place – $15,000 & 40 DPC
• 6th Place – $15,000 & 40 DPC
• 7th Place – $7,500 & 20 DPC
• 8th Place – $7,500 & 20 DPC

Ranking as high as possible is obviously everyone’s intention, but teams aren’t just fighting for the prize pool. Placing higher earns more DPC points, which could inch teams closer to The International 2019, and that’s most important in the grand scheme of things.

Dota 2 Bucharest Minor Preview | Teams Overview

The eight teams participating at the Bucharest Minor are:

• OG (Europe)
• Ninjas in Pyjamas (Europe)
• Team Team (North America)
• Playmakers Esports (South America)
• Gambit Esports (CIS, Russia)
• BOOM ID (Southeast Asia)
• Keen Gaming (China)
• EHOME (China)

Europe

Representing the European region we have OG and Ninjas in Pyjamas. Both teams are coming in straight from the Bucharest Minor European qualifier. OG, in particular, had a pretty dominant showing with two sweeps in the playoffs. Ninjas in Pyjamas were unable to crack OG but were still able to end up second after a stellar showing against Vega Squadron.

Overall, even with a change in the roster, OG is viewed as a favorite to win the whole Minor. You could perhaps make a case for Ninjas in Pyjamas seeing how they finished fourth at the recent Kuala Lumpur Major in November, but that would be an optimistic stretch.

OG was already able to best NiP in the recent qualifier (2:0) just a couple of weeks ago with iLTW on board, so there’s no reason why they wouldn’t be able to have a repeat performance.

North America

No one gave Team Team a chance coming into the NA qualifier. CompLexity Gaming and Test123 were the favorites coming in, but it was Team Team that was able to take down Test123 twice in a row (2:0 and 2:1 respectively) to secure a spot at the Bucharest Minor.

Overall, Team Team isn’t coming in with a ton of hype, but they could channel their underdog status and perhaps upset the status quo coming into the tournament. They have nothing to lose which could make them a dangerous adversary.

South America

Team Team isn’t the only squad that was able to upset in their qualifiers — Playmakers Esports managed to best Infamous with a clean 2:0 and lock their first international showing. Overall, they’re a pretty okay team that’s still incredibly young (founded in November of last year), and much like Team Team, qualifying for the Bucharest Minor is their biggest success to date.

CIS Region

Gambit Esports were able to lock their Bucharest Minor spot after their solid performance in the CIS qualifiers. They’re a fairly strong team, but after their abysmal performance at the Kuala Lumpur Major (ranked 13-16th), they’re not exactly entering this Minor with a lot of hype.

That said, they were recently able to beat both OG as well as Ninjas in Pyjamas at the WePlay! Dota 2 Winter Madness tournament, in 3:0 and 2:0 fashion respectively. While there wasn’t much at stake (other than money), it still goes to show that they have the tools to compete and could very well surprise a lot of people.

China

EHOME and Keen Gaming are entering the Bucharest Minor after a long and arduous qualifier. Keen Gaming was able to beat both EHOME (2:0) as well as Team Root (2:1) to secure a spot. EHOME, on the other hand, had to fight their way through the lower side of the bracket in order to secure a ticket to Romania.

Southeast Asia

Rounding out our eight teams, we have BOOM ID. Overall, they’ve been pretty successful on home soil. However, the Bucharest Minor is a completely different beast. The organization formed in early 2017, and this is their first time playing in a big event outside of the Southeast Asian region.

Dota 2 Bucharest Minor Schedule (UTC+02:00)

The tournament schedule is pretty straight-forward. Group A will play on the first day (January 9th), Group B on the second (January 10th), and the playoff stage will be played across the three remaining days.

The match-ups are still unknown at the time of this writing, but you can check out the complete schedule at the following link.

We’re in for some great Dota 2 action that’ll span across five whole days. If you’re a fan of top-tier competitive play, the fun doesn’t stop here. The Chongqing Major is just around the corner.