ESL returns to England with ESL One Birmingham 2020

By Neslyn Apduhan

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Jan 23, 2020

Reading time: 2 min

Birmingham will host an ESL One Dota 2 event for a third consecutive year.

ESL has announced its plans to return to England for another exciting tournament in 2020. The tournament organizer has been bringing Dota 2 action to Birmingham each year since 2018 and will do so again this May.

Top teams will square off against each other to hoist ESL’s iconic trophy and bring home the lion’s share of the event’s $300,000 prize pool.

ESL One Birmingham 2020 will feature the standard 12-team format for ESL One Dota 2 events. Eight teams will be invited while the other four spots are up for grabs in regional qualifiers for China, Europe, North America, and southeast Asia. No participants have been revealed as of yet.

The event is not currently associated with the Dota Pro Circuit, and will have no attachment to The International 2020.

ESL will offer local fans a number of options for attending the event with day passes alongside packages with bonuses that range from goodie bags to premium signing sessions with competitors. Group packages are also available. ESL has not yet disclosed the contents of the goodie bag.

ESL still strong in Dota 2 with Birmingham, Los Angeles Major

With this reveal, ESL continues to maintain a very strong presence in Dota 2. ESL has organized Dota 2 events since 2013 and has hosted ESL One tournaments in the game since 2014.

The contraction of the Dota Pro Circuit in the 2018-2019 season stung ESL a bit. Despite hosting four DPC events in the 2017-2018 season, events such as ESL One Hamburg 2018 and ESL One Katowice 2019 became standalone affairs.

2020 is set to be a big year for ESL in Dota 2 however, as the organizer returns to the DPC with the upcoming ESL One Los Angeles Major. That event alongside ESL One Birmingham 2020 suggests that ESL remains committed to Dota 2.

ESL One Birmingham will run from May 29 to 31.

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