ESL Los Angeles Dota 2 major postponed amid coronavirus fears

The third major of the Dota 2 Pro Circuit for 2019/2020 is fast approaching. 16 of the world’s best teams descending on Los Angeles to compete for big money and DPC points with The International 2020 looming in the distance.

March 11 update: ESL have postponed the ESL One Los Angeles Dota 2 major “in light of recent travel restrictions and the evolving COVID-19 situation,” the tournament organizer said.

“We are working closely with Valve to determine a new time and locations for the Major.”

The original article, first published as “When is the ESL Los Angeles Dota 2 major? Schedule, teams, more,” continues below.

Inside the Shrine Auditorium in LA, the race towards TI10 heats up, as the pressure is now on some of the top Dota 2 teams in the world to start earning vital DPC points to qualify for the annual world championship.

Many top teams skipped the very first major of this circuit season to rest after a long, grueling TI9, including PSG.LGD, Team Secret, Nigma (ex-Liquid), and the reigning back-to-back International champions OG.

Valve

OG lifting The International aegis for the second straight time in 2019.

With a smaller field, Southeast Asian squad TNC Predator won MDL Chengdu over home-crowd favorites Vici Gaming. Months later, Team Secret emerged victorious at the DreamLeague major in Leipzig, Germany over Evil Geniuses.

• Read more: Valve reveal changes to Dota 2 major system, regional leagues after TI10

OG may be behind in qualifying versus some of the other teams, but this is not the first time they’ve gotten off to a slow start. Last year, they missed the first major, failed to qualify for the next two, and finished 5th-8th at the final two, and even that was enough to qualify for TI9 with the #10 DPC ranking.

When is the ESL LA major?

ESL LA takes place across the entire week of March 15-22. The first two days will feature GSL-style group stage play, consisting of four groups of four teams each. The groups have not yet been announced.

Adela Sznajder / DreamHack

Secret won the first major of 2020, at DreamHack Leipzig

All teams will qualify for playoffs, with the top two teams from each group starting in the upper bracket. The double-elimination playoffs will take place from March 17 until the Grand Finals on Sunday, March 22.

Streams

With the amount of teams participating, ESL will likely make use of all three of their Dota 2 streams, which we’ve included below for your convenience.

Main Stream

B Stream

C Stream

Schedule

Sunday, March 15

Monday, March 16

Tuesday, March 17

Wednesday, March 18

Thursday, March 19

Friday, March 20

Saturday, March 21

Sunday, March 22

Teams

• Team Secret – European Qualifier
• OG – European Qualifier
• Ninjas in Pyjamas – European Qualifier
• Invictus Gaming – China Qualifier
• Royal Never Give Up – China Qualifier
• EHOME – China Qualifier
• Fnatic – SE Asia Qualifier
• Geek Fam- SE Asia Qualifier
• Team Adroit – SE Asia Qualifier
• Natus Vincere – CIS Qualifier
• Virtus Pro – CIS Qualifier
• Evil Geniuses – North American Qualifier
• Chaos Esports Club – North American Qualifier
• Thunder Predator – South American Qualifier
• beastcoast – South American Qualifier
• TBD – StarLadder ImbaTV Minor Winner