The Chongqing Major, hosted by StarLadder and ImbaTV, is the first Dota 2 Major tournament of 2019. The Chongqing Major the second Major Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) event of the 2018/2019 season and will offer a total prize pool of $1,000,000 USD. Of course, along with the cash prize, teams are competing for valuable DPC Points that help qualify them for the biggest tournament of the year, The International. In our Chongqing Major Preview we’ll brief you on everything you need to know about the tournament!

Chongqing Major Preview | Interesting Facts

Aside from StarLadder hosting for the very first time, The 2019 Chongqing Major won’t look any different from your ordinary major tournament and will follow the standard format for DPC majors.

However, if you haven’t been following Dota esports, significant changes were introduced for the 2018/2019 season that change how DPC Points are distributed to teams participating in tournaments.

• Points now go directly to teams rather than players.
• Valve now controls the distribution of points for all Pro Circuit tournaments.
• Teams are granted one substitution in a tournament, but it will result in a 40% point penalty.
• Teams can now replace a player at any point, which will result in a 20% point penalty for points gathered up until the replacement.

Tournament Format

As mentioned earlier, The Chongqing Major will follow the traditional format for majors beginning with a group stage, followed by a playoff, and ultimately culminating with the grand finals series.

The tournament begins with the Group Stage. The 16 teams will be split into four groups of four. Teams will compete in a best-of-three double elimination bracket, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event and the bottom two teams advancing to the Lower Bracket.

Running from January 22-27, the playoffs features an Upper and Lower Bracket. While both brackets are double-elimination, the first round of the Lower Bracket is best-of-one. All other rounds are best-of-three.

The Grand Finals pairs the winner of each bracket and is the only match in the tournament that’s best-of-five.

Prize Pool Distribution

• 1st Place ­— $350,000 and 4,950 DPC Points
• 2nd Place — $170,000 and 3,000 DPC Points
• 3rd Place — $100,000 and 2,100 DPC Points
• 4th Place — $80,000 and 1,350 DPC Points
• 5th-6th Place — $60,000 and 900 DPC Points
• 7th-8th Place — $40,000 and 450 DPC Points
• 9th-12th Place — $15,000 and 150 DPC Points
• 13th-16th Place — $10,000 and 75 DPC Points

The stakes are always high in any Major tournament. In addition to enormous prize pools, majors are the biggest opportunity to earn DPC Points that earn you a place in The International 2019 Championship at the end of the season.

With only five Majors per season, a good performance at The Chongqing Major could catapult a team into championship contention early in 2019.

The Chongqing Major Team Overview

• NoPangolier/ The Pango (Group C) – The Russian team consisting of Naïve-, Ceyler, Ghostik, KINGR (possibly), and CemaTheSlayer dominated with a 1st place finish at the qualifiers. Due to VISA issues, Zayac could not travel with the team, and KINGR is set as his replacement.
• Virtus.pro (Group A) – Coming off a massively successful year that produced four major victories, the Russian team consisting of RAMZES666, No[o]ne, 9pasha, RodjER, and Solo are one of the hottest teams in all of esports. In fact, Virtus.Pro is in first place in the DPC thanks to their win at The Kuala Lumpur Major.
• Team Aster (Group D) – The China-based team consisting of Sylar, loveyouloveme, Xxs, BoBoKa, and Fenrir underwent a fair share of roster changes in 2018. The team is coming off of a Minor win at the H-Cup Season 11 tournament.
• Vici Gaming (Group C) – The Vici Gaming team, consisting of Paparazi灬, Ori, Yang, Fade, Dy, is one of the oldest and most popular esports teams in China. After a long layoff in 2018, Vici Gaming finished strong with a second place finish at the Chongqinq qualifier.
• PSG.LGD (Group B) – PSG.LGD with a team consisting of Ame, Somnus丶M, Chalice, fy, and xNova is another powerhouse team from China. Despite just getting through the qualifiers, all it takes is the reminder of PSG.LGD’s 2nd place finish at The International last year to show that PSG is a true contender.
• Alliance (Group D) – Alliance, consisting of qojqva, miCKE, Boxi, iNSaNiA, and Taiga, is a European team based in Sweden. Loda, the last member of the 2013 International championship, retired earlier this year, but this storied team should definitely not be overlooked.
• Team Secret (Group B) – Team Secret is another European team experiencing a lot of turnover in 2018. Earlier this year, Nisha and zai replaced Ace and Fata and will join MidOne, YapzOr, and Puppey as members of this year’s starting squad.
• Team Liquid (Group C)– This team consists of MATUMBAMAN, MinD_ContRoL, GH, Kuroky, and shadow. Team Liquid finished Top 5 at The International for two straight years, including a 1st place finish in 2017. It was announced that normal starter, Miracle, would not be competing at the Chongqing Major due to personal reasons and that “shadow” would be his stand-in replacement.
• Fnatic (Group D) – If you are an esports fan you know of Fnatic and its massive following. In spite of some rosters changes, this SEA team almost always finds itself in contention. This year’s crew consists of MP, Abed, iceiceice, DJ, and Jabz
• TNC Predator (Group A) – The SEA team TNC Predator— consisting of Gabbi, Armel, ryOyr, Tims, and ninjaboogie — has been in the news for the wrong reasons. The controversy surrounding TNC team member Kuku forced the team to replace him with ryOyr and resulted in a 20% DPC Point reduction enforced by Valve.
• J.Storm (Group C) – J Stor3.5 m, formerly known as Team VGJ, finished 1st in the North American qualifier and experienced great success in 2018. This year’s crew consists of Moo, Bryle, FoREv, Fear, and March.
• Forward Gaming (Group B) – Formed in September of 2018, Forward Gaming’s team consists of YawaR, Resolut1on, UNiVeRsE, MSS, and SVG. This team finished second in the North American qualifiers.
• Evil Geniuses (Group D)– One of the most longstanding and successful North American teams, Evil Geniuses is always a favorite to win it all. This year’s squad consists of Arteezy, SumaiL, s4, Cr1t-, and Fly.
• Chaos EC (Group A)– Chaos EC is a Brazilian team consisting of former paiN gaming players: hFn, w33, tavo, Kingrd, and MISERY. The team was absent for most of 2018, so no one really knows what to expect from the Chaos crew.
• Thunder Predator (Group B) – Thunder Predator, consisting of Atun, LeoStyle-, Frank, Matthew, and Prada, is entering the tournament under unique circumstances. The team gained entry after Team Test123 was disqualified in the qualifier for “bending the rules,” giving Thunder Predator a place in The Chongqing Major. It isn’t all good news however as the team recently lost Jeremy “Jermari” Agunaga, who decided to part ways with the team.
• EHOME (Group A) – EHOME, from China, was the last team to qualify for The Chongqing Major, but momentum is on their side. EHOME is coming off a dominant performance at The Budapest Minor, going 11-1 in the tournament. This team is made up of eGo, ASD, Faith_bian, 天命, and y`.

The Chongqing Major Schedule CET (UTC +1)

January 19th

• 03:00 – Virtus.pro vs. EHOME
• 03:00 – Chaos vs. TNC Predator
• 03:00 – Team Secret vs. Thunder Predator
• 03:00 – PSG.LGD vs. Forward Gaming
• 06:30 – Upper bracket finals of Group A
• 06:30 – Upper bracket finals of Group B
• 06:30 – First round of LB of Group А
• 06:30 – First round of LB of Group В
• 10:00 – Lower bracket finals of Group A
• 10:00 – Lower bracket finals of Group B

January 20th

• 03:00 – Team Liquid vs. The Pango
• 03:00 – Vici Gaming vs. J.Storm
• 03:00 – Evil Geniuses vs. Aster
• 03:00 – Fnatic vs. Alliance
• 06:30 – Upper bracket finals of Group C
• 06:30 – Upper bracket finals of Group D
• 06:30 – First round of LB of Group C
• 06:30 – First round of LB of Group D
• 10:00 – Lower bracket finals of Group C
• 10:00 – Lower bracket finals of Group D

January 21st

• 03:00 – Play-off UB Match #1
• 06:30 – Play-off UB Match #2
• 10:00 – Play-off UB Match #3
• 13:30 – Play-off UB Match #4

January 22nd

• 03:00 – Play-off LB Match#1
• 04:30 – Play-off LB Match#2
• 06:00 – Play-off LB Match#3
• 07:30 – Play-off LB Match#4
• 09:00 – Play-off UB Semifinals
• 12:30 – Play-off UB Semifinals

January 23d

• 03:00 – Play-off LB Round 2
• 06:30 – Play-off LB Round 2
• 10:00 – Play-off LB Round 2
• 13:30 – Play-off LB Round 2

January 25th

• 05:00 – Play-off LB Round 3
• 08:30 – Play-off LB Round 3
• 12:00 – Play-off Winners’ final

January 26th

• 05:00 – Play-off LB Round 4
• 08:30 – Play-off LB Round 4
• 12:00 – Play-off LB Round 5

January 27th

• 05:00 – Play-off Losers’ final
• 08:30 – Play-off Showmatch
• 09:30 – Grand Final

You can stream The Chongqing major online at Starladder.com, ImbaTV, or SteamTV.