ONE Esports Singapore Major will be 2021's first Dota 2 major

The first major of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit season has seemingly been revealed.

A complete Liquipedia page has been published for the 2021 ONE Esports Singapore Major, including the event format, date, and prize pool distribution. ONE Esports hasn’t officially announced the event but this suggests that an official reveal is set to come.

Despite being a mixed martial arts promoter, ONE Esports became a major player in Dota 2 overnight in 2019 with the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore which boasted a $500,000 prize pool.

Another similar event was scheduled for 2020 in the ONE Esports Dota 2 Invitational Jakarta and was to be followed by the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2020, the organizer's first Dota Pro Circuit event. All the events were organized alongside PGL, the company that traditionally produces The International.

The ONE Esports Dota 2 Invitational Jakarta and 2020 Singapore Major were both canceled. ONE most recently ran the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League, an online league with a $100,000 prize pool.

Valve’s plans for the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit season seem to revolve around realizing the events that were meant to happen in 2020. In addition to reviving the cancelled Singapore Major, the 2021 season is meant to close with The International 10 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Who is playing at the 2021 Singapore Dota 2 Major?

No teams are officially attached to 2021 Singapore Major as of yet. The event will include 18 teams, which will be determined through the upper-division Dota Pro Circuit leagues. China and Europe will send four teams apiece, Southeast Asia and CIS will send three each, and the remaining four spots are split evenly between North and South America.

What is the 2021 Singapore Dota 2 Major format?

2021 Dota Pro Circuit majors will feature a new format that includes 18 teams. The event is broken up into three stages.

The first is a wildcard eliminator involving six teams, where the teams will play in a round-robin. The top two teams will advance to the group stage. The group stage brings together the two wild card teams and the second-place teams from each Dota Pro Circuit upper-division league. The eight teams will play in another round robin with the top two teams starting in the upper bracket, the bottom two being eliminated, and the other four starting in the lower bracket.

The six teams from the group stage then join the top teams from each upper-division DPC league. The 12 then face off in a double-elimination bracket.

When is the next Dota 2 major?

The ONE Esports Singapore Major will begin on March 25 and run to April 4.