Epic Esports Events announced via twitter that they and WePlay! Esports are joining forces to bring us another major for the DOTA scene, the OMEGA LEAGUE.

It was then quickly followed by an announcement from Omega DOTA League’s own twitter account.

The two of the biggest tournament organizers of the scene have teamed up with a bunch of well-known European DOTA 2 teams to come together and launch the event to reality. Representative of Epic Esports Events, Mark Averbukh sets high expectations for the event, he said “We hope that this event will set the benchmark in the level of production and provide the fans many hours of premium content.”

The teams that pitched in to make the event possible Team Liquid, Alliance, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Secret, Team Nigma, Virtus Pro, and the 2018 & 2019 The International champions OG also said that “Omega League is our first large-scale initiative towards a more sustainable Dota 2 scene,” and “Together we hope to breathe new life into the highest tiers of Dota 2 competition, and we can’t wait to show the world what we’ve been building.”

With the avid fans of DOTA 2 around the world being used to seeing The International every summer for several years now where teams compete to be called the best DOTA team in the world, it is definitely something being missed by the community as we have all been deprived of the experience due to the global pandemic. Vitaliy “Nexius” Bozhko, the Lead Esports Manager at WePlay! Esports took this into consideration. He said in a statement “I really hope the audience will enjoy the results. The event takes place on the dates when we are used to seeing The International, and that impacts the level of responsibility we feel about OMEGA LEAGUE.”

The open qualifiers have already begun yesterday, July 20, with the main event to begin on August 1 and will run until September 6. WePlay! Esports will handle the English broadcast for the Omega League while RuHub studio broadcast group will handle and stream the broadcast of the event in Russian language.

The event will have two separate brackets each for both the Americas division and a combined Europe/CIS division with a total of 42 teams to compete in the main event. The highlight of the event would have to be the Immortal Division of the EU/CIS teams which will feature a heavy amount of the total prizepool, $500,000 to be exact where 12 teams will compete for the title. There will also be a lower Divine Division which will feature an additional 12 EU/CIS teams and a $50,000 prize pool.

Here are the lists of teams that would be competing and their respective divisions:

Omega League Immortal Division invites

  • Secret
  • Liquid
  • Nigma
  • Alliance
  • OG
  • NiP
  • Na’Vi
  • VP
  • FlytoMoon
  • Evil Geniuses

Closed Qualifier invites (EU)

  • HellRaisers
  • Vikin.gg
  • B8
  • Team Empire
  • Team Unique
  • CyberLegacy

It appears that EG are preparing to play in the EU region for the event instead of opting to play out of NA as they have been included in the invite list. There will be a Divine Division ($31,500) and Ancient Division ($8,500) that will host 10 and eight teams, respectively for the American brackets. No teams have been mentioned in the initial announcement.

It looks like we will not be missing the entertainment and intensity brought by The International that much despite the suspension of the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the combined efforts of everyone who made this event possible which aims to provide the benchmark of what an Online Esports can and should be while bringing the highest level of DOTA 2 competition by inviting the biggest names in the pro scene, at least of the EU/CIS and American region.