Group A

• Evil Geniuses
• Fnatic
• Virtus.Pro
• Newbee

There are no easy games to be had at this level, but it’s incredibly hard to predict which teams from group A will end up in the upper and lower bracket. As The International 5 winners, Evil Geniuses will most likely be touted as favorites to finish on top of the group. Since the addition of Arteezy and the role changes post TI5, they have had time to gel with the new (old) squad and get some fresh tournament experience under their boots. But they will undoubtedly face some tough opposition as any of their opponents have the quality to take a game or even a series off them.

New-look Fnatic for instance have some big name players in their ranks and any team lead by Mushi can never be underestimated. They may not have finished first in the SEA qualifiers, but don’t let that fool you, as the quality amongst their ranks is enormous. Especially Filipino offlaner DJ has been attracting a lot of attention lately thanks to his stellar play and we can’t wait to see him perform on the big stage.

Big stages are also something Virtus.Pro have grown very accustomed to. The CIS powerhouse has been one of the most consistent teams in the scene, taking part in almost every big name tournament. And who can forget their impressive run at TI5, netting them a 5th-6th place finish. With such a long time unchanged roster, you can expect more of the same from Virtus.Pro who are not known big drops in performance. Can they follow in the footsteps of their TI5 performance?

Newbee will certainly have something to say about that. The former TI4 winners are back in the saddle again! After a lackluster year leading up to the last International they welcomed to return of Hao to the team after his stint with Vici Gaming and their performances have been very encouraging. It’s hard to say whether or not they can reach their TI4 level again without having former captain xiao8 with the team, but any team than string performances like that together in China definitely has the potential to mix things up at the Major.

Group B

• Vici Gaming
• Unknown.xiu
• Vega Squadron
• OG

Group B looks to be another highly competitive group with one glaring underdog, Unknown.xiu. The Peruvian team lived quite the Cinderella story on their way to qualifying for the Frankfurt Major, becoming the first ever South American team to play at a Valve event. That in itself is already a huge feat to perform, but looking at the group they have ended up in, you have to be realistic and assume that their three group stage opponents have enough quality to see them off into the lower bracket.

Their game one opponents Vici Gaming have switched up their carry play yet again, as has become VG tradition as of late. But with the legendary Burning taking the reigns of the position one carry you have to think that it can’t actually get any better than this. Nonetheless, their recent performances have actually not been up to par for such a strong squad. The Frankfurt Major will offer them the chance to get into the swing of things and should they get on a roll then the rest of the Major teams better look out!

Vega Squadron are pretty much the opposite of Vici Gaming, sticking with their roster after barely missing out on TI5 and they going on a tear afterwards and winning ESL One at New York Super Week. The meteoric rise of Vega Squadron has been an eye opener for many fans out there that want their tier 2 teams to succeed and take the next step. Vega have done so and have thereby established themselves as one of the reigning CIS teams, while the likes of Na’Vi and Empire struggle. It’s their time to shine and we can expect big things from them in the days to come.

But their final group B opponents OG are also a force to be reckoned with. The rebranded Monkey Business squad has been putting up impressive performances left and right, allowing the likes of Miracle- and Cr1t- to make a name for themselves in the pro scene. The 8k MMR + 4 team will be one of the fan favorites coming in and they certainly have all the pieces in place to make a run deep into the bracket. But in a group such as this one, someone will have to drop down to the lower bracket and it’ll be exciting which teams will rise and which one will draw the short stick.

You can find the complete schedule for the group stages on the Frankfurt Major website, as well as the brackets, ticket sales for the final day and general news pieces regarding the event. Which teams do you think will make it to the upper bracket out of groups A and B? We’d love to read your predictions on Twitter and Facebook.

Meet the players

Sixteen teams from around the world will partake in the major – and attendees will get the chance to meet all of them. Each day from November the 16th until November the 21st we will have at least four signing sessions, set to happen at 12:00 CEST, 14:00 CEST, 16:00 CEST and 18:00 CEST. Don’t miss this great opportunity to meet the best Dota 2 players in the world in person – get autographs and photos with them while you can!

Details on which exact teams will be giving a signing session and at what times will be available after the group stage, so stay tuned!

Meet the cosplayers

The signing session on Saturday the 21st of November at 14:00 CEST will be a special one. At this session, attendees will be able to meet and greet the talented cosplayers of the Frankfurt Major, talk about their craft and take photos with them.

If you’re planning to cosplay at the event, be sure to send an email to cosplay@eslone.com!

Claim your compendium levels

The event is free of charge for everyone with the exception of Saturday the 21st of November, when the grand finals will take place. Attendance on that day requires a ticket, which also comes with a redeemable code for 100 compendium levels that will be handed out at the venue (while supplies last) – an opportunity not to miss!

Get your grand finals ticket here!

To stay informed about all important updates about the Frankfurt Major presented by ESL, be sure to follow @ESLDota2 on Twitter and like ESL Dota 2 on Facebook.

Schedule

All matches are best of three unless stated otherwise, and all times are in the central European time (CET).

Click to enlarge
 

Please note that all match times are estimates and may change due to match length. The main matches will begin as soon as possible after the previous ones end.

Join us in Frankfurt for some epic Dota action!

Eight days of world-class Dota 2 action await us in Frankfurt. The event will be open to public starting Monday, November 16th and will be free of charge until Friday, November 20th. The last day, Saturday November 21st, during which the first Major champions will be crowned, requires a ticket.

Don’t miss your chance to watch top teams and players deliver unforgettable plays – be sure to secure your ticket for the day of the grand final here!

To stay up to date with all the important information about the Frankfurt Major presented by ESL, make sure to follow ESL Dota 2 on Twitter and Facebook.

See you there!

The group stages will take place from November the 13th to the 14th from 11:00 CET to 00:00 CET on both days, and will be played out in classic GSL style to determine the upper and lower bracket placement of the teams for the double-elimination main event.

For those unfamiliar with the GSL format, the 16 participating teams will be split up into four groups. In each group, the teams will play a total of five best-of-three matches as shown below, after which they will be seeded into the main event double-elimination bracket based on their group stage results.

Group stage example

• Match one: Team A vs. Team B
• Match two: Team C vs. Team D
• Winners’ match (WM): Winner of match one vs. winner of match two – winner advances to upper bracket
• Elimination match (EM): Loser of match one vs. loser of match two – loser drops to lower bracket
• Decider match: Loser of WM vs. winner of EM – winner advances to upper bracket and loser drops to lower bracket

This will ultimately leave us with eight upper bracket and eight lower bracket teams for the main event, which kicks off on November the 16th. If you want to watch the action live and in person, make sure to grab yourself a ticket for the final day!

For more news and updates regarding the Frankfurt Major, be sure to follow @ESLDota2 on Twitter and like ESL Dota 2 on Facebook.

SEA

The general consensus about the SEA main qualifiers was that Fnatic and Mineski would most likely occupy the two qualifier slots by the end of it – and that’s exactly how it went down. The only somewhat surprising aspect was that Mineski actually managed to secure the top spot over Fnatic, who are widely regarded as the best team in the region. In the end, it’s not a big deal that Fnatic qualified as second place as the only thing that mattered was reaching the top two, but it’s a great sign for the region that the top spot is getting some serious challengers.

• First place: Mineski
• Second place: Fnatic

Europe

The European main qualifiers were arguably the hardest to predict ahead of the group stages, with many established and newly formed team vying for control. In the stacked and hotly contested EU bracket, Fly and BigDaddy’s new squad (Monkey) Business were able to secure the top spot for themselves without dropping a series in the process. In the end, TI3 champions Alliance came out ahead against Ninjas in Pijamas in the all-Swedish lower bracket finals for the second EU Frankfurt Major slot. In a bracket filled with fan favorites, this left the likes of Na’Vi, Team Empire, Team Liquid and NiP empty-handed.

• First place: (Monkey) Business
• Second place: Alliance

Americas

History was made in the American qualifiers for the Frankfurt Major on multiple accounts. Cloud9 may have taken the number one spot, but the headlines were made by Team Unknown, an open qualifier team from Peru who managed to beat out Elite Wolves and Digital Chaos to punch their ticket to Frankfurt in second place. They are the first ever team from South America to take part in a Valve event and are the first and only open qualifier team to make it to a major – truly a historic feat. We are excited to see them in action in Frankfurt!

• First place: Cloud9
• Second place: Team Unknown

China

Similar to SEA, the favorites managed to prevail in the Chinese main qualifiers. Invictus Gaming and Newbee were by far the biggest fish in the pond, and they didn’t have too much trouble securing their trip to Frankfurt. Newbee, not unlike Alliance, seem to be back at their old strength and showed glimpses of their TI4-winning form, as underlined by their 2-0 victory over iG in the upper bracket finals for first place. With this, China will now field six out of the 16 teams at the Frankfurt Major, and it’ll be interesting to see which team will be the spearhead of Chinese Dota 2 in the months to come.

• First place: Newbee
• Second place: Invictus Gaming

If you can’t wait to see the teams in action live, grab your ticket for the Frankfurt Major today and follow ESL Dota 2 on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date.

The most obvious candidate for an open qualifier slot was Team Empire, who would likely have received a direct invite to the main qualifier had they not undergone a last minute roster change, with yoky- and NoFear replacing ubah and The_apathy. And, as expected from the CIS stars, Team Empire made it through the first European open qualifiers without much trouble to secure their slot in the main ones. In addition to Team Empire, you’ll find each region’s first open qualifier winner below.

Frankfurt Major regional open qualifier one winners

• Europe: Team Empire
• North America: HCWP (first place) and Boreal eSports (second place)
• China: DK Scuderia
• SEA: 4Hate

All five teams can look forward to being part of the main qualifiers, which are starting this weekend. You can always find the latest qualifier brackets, live streams and starting times on the JoinDota Frankfurt Major hub, so don’t forget to check it out and follow ESL Dota 2 on Facebook and Twitter for additional qualifier information.