Valve reveals big changes to Dota Pro Circuit

The Dota 2 Pro Circuit will soon be wrapping up, with The International still to come in August of course, but the Dota 2 website has announced some changes coming for the 2018-19 season, beginning on September 15, with the goal being "to introduce a bit more structure to the year, increase team roster flexibility, and improve the spacing and importance of each event."

Next season, for example, won't regulate player movement with hard roster locks, and changing teams during the season won't disqualify you any more. In the new system instead, qualifying points will be associated with teams instead of players, although each player removed from the team will deduct the point total by 20%, with new players also not adding any points.

What's more is that if a team plays in a Pro Circuit event without their official five-man roster they've designated, their points are reduced by 40%. A team's admin can remove players from a registered roster and any player can depart a team, but when playing in a Minor or Major qualifier teams must always use at least four of the five registered players. Once the International invites and qualifiers start though, teams can no longer change their roster until the main event finishes, although substitutes can be declared after qualifiers for emergencies, subject to Valve's approval.

If you want to compete next season you'll have to register after the International this year, and if you want to be eligible for an invitation to the first Major and Minor qualifiers starting September 17, you need to register a team by September 15.

What's more is that if an organisation owns multiple teams, only one of those can compete in the International 2019, regardless of points, but all teams can participate in Majors and Minors. This also affects players who have financial ties to other teams as well.

Speaking of Majors and Minors, these will be held in pairs, with qualifiers for each running in scheduled windows. There are no direct invites to either, and the Major qualifier will run first, with teams not qualifying through that process then being able to compete in Minor qualifiers after. The winner of the Minor's main event will then have a reserved slot in the respective Major.

All Minors will feature a minimum of eight teams, with a minimum of one qualifier per region, and Majors must have at least 16, with two qualifiers per region. All teams that play in these will earn Pro Circuit points, and teams participating in Minors will be required to work on the visa applications before the tournament, in the case that they win and get a spot in the Major.

Valve also provided the full schedule for next season, with applications currently being accepted for all dates below apart from the first Major, which is already registered:

Sep 17-Sep 21: Major Qualifier
Sep 23-Sep 26: Minor Qualifiers
Oct 29-Nov 4: Minor Main Event
Nov 8-Nov 19: Major Main Event

Nov 26-Nov 30: Major Qualifiers
Dec 1-Dec 4: Minor Qualifiers
Jan 7-Jan 13: Minor Main Event
Jan 17-Jan 27: Major Main Event

Feb 1-Feb 5: Major Qualifier
Feb 7-Feb 10: Minor Qualifier
Mar 4-Mar 10: Minor Main Event
Mar 14-Mar 24: Major Main Event

Mar 28-Apr 1: Major Qualifier
Apr 3-Apr 6: Minor Qualifiers
Apr 22-Apr 28: Minor Main Event
May 2-May 12: Major Main Event

May 15-May 19: Major Qualifier
May 21-May 24: Minor Qualifiers
June 10-June 16: Minor Main Event
June 20-June 30: Major Main Event

Do you like the changes made to the Pro Circuit?