Dota 2's the Boston Major: Teams, Tournament Details and Prize Pool Information
Valve, PGL and the Dota 2 team are sending 2016 off with a bang in the form of the Boston Major. Just a few months removed from The International 2016, one of the biggest titles in esports is set to put on another megaevent in scenic (and, at this time of year, oppressively cold) Boston.
This Saturday, the event begins with the group stages, with the main event beginning Wednesday. There are many new faces and a lot on the line, though. Because of that, it's worth taking a close look at the tournament.
So who is competing? What is at stake and how does the prize pool break down?
Read on to find out.
What Is the Boston Major? What Is at Stake?
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In Dota 2, there is no event more spectacular than The International. Since its foundation in 2011, publisher Valve software has made the annual tournament more grandiose than anything else in esports. In 2015, it began expanding its tournament profile outside one megaevent per year, offering up "Majors" that featured similar presentation and theatrics to The International, but taking place outside of the company's Seattle hometown.
Thus far, there have been three Major events: the Frankfurt Major, the Shanghai Major and the Manila Major. These shows have consistently been the most prestigious on the Dota 2 tournament calendar due to their size and $3 million prize pool.
The Boston Major, which takes place at Wang Theatre, will be no less of a spectacle. Holding to the Majors' standards of exceptional presentation and a multimillion-dollar prize pool, it will feature elite teams competing on a grand stage with a commentary crew on par with anything in traditional sports broadcasts.
The tournament can be seen live, for free, streaming on YouTube, Twitch and in the Dota 2 client.
For more information on the tournament, check out the official Dota 2 blog. For more information on what Dota 2 is and how games progress, follow this link.
Who Is Competing in the Tournament?
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The Boston Major will feature 16 of the world's best Dota 2 teams, converging in Boston for seven days of action.
Teams earned entry through one of two ways. First, eight teams were selected based on exceptional play during a season starting with August's The International 2016 and culminating in November with the announcement of the selections. They are as follows:
- Wings Gaming
- Digital Chaos
- Evil Geniuses
- Newbee
- EHOME
- Execration
- OG
- MVP Phoenix
There was a great deal of debate over whether Valve made the right choices in a highly competitive field, but every other team wound up having a shot at entering the Boston Major through the four open and regional qualifiers. Dozens of teams vied for one of the eight spots available, with the lineup of winners being:
- Americas—Team NP
- Americas—compLexity Gaming
- Southeast Asia—Team Faceless
- Southeast Asia—WarriorsGaming.Unity
- China—LGD.Forever Young
- China—iG Vitality
- Europe—Ad Finem
- Europe—Virtus.pro
Unfortunately, not all qualified teams were able to make their way to Massachusetts. Visa issues forced Execration out of the tournament, and they have since been replaced with China's always-scary LGD Gaming.
Despite Execration's absence, and a few popular teams missing out on the action, the Boston Major is still bound to feature some incredibly entertaining action between elite-level competitors.
What Is the Tournament Format? What Is the Prize Pool?
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The Boston Major tournament is broken up into two parts: group stages and a 16-team single-elimination bracket.
Past Majors have seen the group stages play out in the same way. The 16 teams in the tournament are divided into four groups of four. They play best-of-three series against two of their group-mates, which is structured to result in one team going 2-0, two teams going 1-1 and one team going 0-2. The two 1-1 teams play another best-of-three, resulting in a definitive ranking for each team that decides the seeding for the "main event."
The main event, however, is very different from past Majors. While previous events have taken a double-elimination approach, the Boston Major will be a more traditional sports experience.
After the group stages, the 16 teams will face off in a single-elimination tournament, contested in best-of-three series. The group of 16 will eventually be whittled down to two, who will face off in the grand finals in a best-of-five.
The prize pool, as stated, is $3 million. As with the format, however, it breaks from past Majors and is distributed in a different way. According to a news release obtained by Bleacher Report, the payouts are as follows:
- 1st Place—$1 million
- 2nd Place—$500,000
- 3rd-4th Places—$250,000
- 5th-8th Places—$125,000
- 9th-16th Places—$62,500
Odds are that the Boston Major prize pool will be either the same—or quite similar.
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Who Are the Favorites to Win?
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Wings Gaming
Wings posted one of the most dominant performances in Dota history to this point at TI6 and they haven't slowed down too much since. With first-place finishes in the Nanyang Cruise Cup and the Northern Arena BEAT Invitational, they've shown that they weren't just one-hit wonders. An off performance at the Summit 6 doesn't knock them off their spot as the tournament's favorites.
Evil Geniuses
The longtime North American fan favorites hit a rough patch after TI6, but came out smelling like roses. The team retained most of its roster but made strong additions in Andreas Franck "Cr1t-" Nielsen and Artour "Arteezy" Babaev. The new lineup has gelled well to this point, placing top-four in three LAN tournaments since, and looks poised to become the second team to win two Valve events.
Virtus.pro
After TI6, it seemed like CIS Dota was done. Its one representative, Natus Vincere, finished last place and there didn't seem to be any especially promising teams coming down the pipe. Then Virtus.pro happened.
After a solid performance in the Boston Major qualifiers, the Russian squad ran roughshod over the competition at the Summit 6, taking the series over direct invitees Wings Gaming, EHOME and OG (twice). While they don't have the body of work the other favorites on this slide do, VP has a white-hot hand right now.
Newbee
If iron sharpens iron, then Newbee is honed to an atom's width at this point. After a disappointing run at TI6, the Chinese powerhouse was forced to rebuild from scratch but managed to pull together a formidable new lineup. That new lineup has been incredibly busy, too, taking top-two finishes in seven different tournaments since coming together.
That level of activity and consistency throughout makes them one of the most interesting teams in the Boston Major. While they aren't getting much attention, they're definitely worth keeping an eye on.
What Are the Biggest Storylines Entering the Tournament?
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A New Challenger Approaches
The high of The International is almost always followed by the low of roster shuffles. While there was plenty of drama and disappointment this year, it was met with equal amounts of intrigue due to the founding of two new teams with high ceilings: Team NP and Team Faceless.
Founded by Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao and Daryl Koh "iceiceice" Pei Xiang, respectively, NP and Faceless have performed remarkably well in regional play and have carved out niches as some of the best teams from their regions. The Boston Major, however, will be the biggest tournament that either team has been involved in by a mile and will likely determine if they are strong B-level teams or legitimate world-class contenders.
European Dota Undergoing Huge Transitions
Europe seemed to be the strongest Dota 2 region in the world for much of 2016. OG and Team Liquid were widely regarded as the best teams in the game, and squads like Team Secret and Natus Vincere weren't too far behind. That all changed at TI6, where Na'Vi and Team Secret shared a last-place finish with Germany's Escape Gaming and OG and Liquid fell well short of the finals.
In the months since, the European scene has taken on a very different look, with a heavily changed OG being the sole direct invite and a slew of upsets resulting in Greece's Ad Finem and the new Virtus.pro qualifying for the Boston Major. What these shake-ups mean, however, is tough to guess at this point. This tournament should help clarify a murky talent pool.
Is Wings Gaming a Dynasty-Caliber Team?
There haven't been too many "dynasties" in Dota 2 history to this point. Success is slow to come and quick to leave, and it's nigh impossible to cultivate a team that can both stick together for years on end and flow through an ever-shifting metagame.
TI6 winners Wings Gaming, however, seem poised to do just that. The Chinese squad weathered the roster change period untouched and have looked formidable in numerous tournaments since. That said, the Boston Major is a significantly more competitive field than the Nanyang Cruise Cup or the Northern Arena BEAT Invitational.
If they become the first team to take gold in back-to-back Valve-sponsored events, however, it's worth looking at them as a group that can withstand the test of time.
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