We have just met the eight teams that will be at the next ESL One in Birmingham, United Kingdom, from May 28 to June 2. Throughout this week, the organization has been revealing a direct invitation per day. Let’s see which teams have been the lucky ones.
The ESL One Birmingham is outside the professional circuit of Dota 2 and will be one of the last tournaments of the season. Most of the tier one teams have accepted the direct invitation to this event, which will serve as a practice for the next The International 9.
Invited teams
Vici Gaming (China)
Vici is one of the teams that shined at the end of the side. They are amongst the few teams that secured their spot to the TI9 and deserve their invitation to ESL.
Welcome @VICI! ? pic.twitter.com/naeBQX4TrG
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) March 27, 2019
Virtus Pro (CIS)
The undisputed Kings of the DPC 2019-2019. Even on their worst days, the side finishes into the podium places in one of the most prestigious competitions of the year, DreamLeague Season 11. They will surely be looking to end this competition on a high note as well.
Welcome @virtuspro! Beware the bear as it defends its crown.
? https://t.co/9nAKBN5yxr pic.twitter.com/0K7yYZp5CD
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) March 28, 2019
Ninjas in Pajamas (Europe)
In the DPC standings, Ninjas in Pajamas sit at 7th place with 1570 points. In our opinion, they don’t deserve the invite since they are one of the most inconsistent teams of competitive Dota 2.
We’re excited to welcome @NiPGaming to #ESLOne Birmingham! pic.twitter.com/IYAIDwOn8S
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) March 30, 2019
PSG.LGD (China)
PSG.LGD was a force to reckoned with in the last stages of 2017-2018 DPC. Now the side is not lethal as it was before just still are performing well. They sit at 6th place 2789 points.
We’re super excited to welcome @LGDgaming to #ESLOne Birmingham!
?? https://t.co/FAgpXkS0vq pic.twitter.com/bHHJOwZ2Mz
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 1, 2019
OG (Europe), Team Liquid (Europe), Evil Geniuses (North America), Team Secret (Europe):
These are the last teams to get the invite from ESL all of them deserve it. Since former two of them are TI champions while the latter two have secured an invite to the TI9 taking place in a few months.
No Room For Fnatic
It is striking that there is no direct invitation to the Southeast Asian region, especially if we consider that Fnatic sitting at fifth position in the DPC ranking. So according to the stats, they are amongst the strongest teams in the world. In addition, they will not participate in the regional qualifiers either, since we have TNC Predator and Mineski competing. Meanwhile, Tigers and Team Amplfy have obtained the place through the open qualifier.
CLASSIC @iceiceicedota ???#ESLOne pic.twitter.com/2J6qAqtGKb
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 23, 2019
No Love For South America
Just like Fnatic, there will no representative of the South American region. Chaos Esports is one the strongest team of SA as it occupies 13th place in the DPC ranking. Unfortunately, they have not received a direct invitation and there is no slot for the South American region either. There are only four places left and they are for Europe-CIS, North America, China, and Southeast Asia.
The qualifiers from these regions will begin on April 8 and end on April 13. We will see the 12 teams compete for the $ 300,000 in prizes from May 28 to June 2 at the Birmingham Arena.
