Dota 2 Asian Champions League announces format and schedule

The Asian Champions League (ACL) is a multi-sport e-sports tournament created by Shanghai e-sports club Hero Esports. The competition system and schedule of the "Dota 2" Asian Champions League were recently announced.

ACL is divided into three stages. The first stage is the online qualifier, which will be held from March 7 to March 30. One qualifying team will be selected every week and enter the next stage.

The second stage is the season finals, where the four teams that advance from the online qualifiers will compete against four invited teams. Currently, the invited teams are Xtreme Gaming, Team YB and Tidebound, and one team has not yet been announced. This stage will be held from May 1st to May 3rd.

The third stage is the season finals. The top four teams in the second stage will advance to the finals and compete for the final championship on May 6. The champion team can qualify for the E-sports World Cup (EWC) and get a place in the 26th season of DreamLeague.

In addition to being eligible to participate in these important competitions, the champion team can also win a prize worth $100,000. It is said that the total prize money for this ACL event is as high as $250,000.

Hero Esports is one of the largest esports event operators in Asia. In recent years, Hero Esports has been deeply involved in the organization and operation of global esports events, including the Olympic Esports Week, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and the Esports World Cup.

In September 2024, ACL was officially operated by Hero Esports. The first ACL plan covers up to 10 e-sports events and sets up a total prize pool of approximately 1.67 million pounds.

However, Dota 2 is not the only tournament in the ACL that can lead to the Esports World Cup. Hero Esports also said earlier that the champions of the CS2 and King of Glory tournaments can also advance to the Esports World Cup and have the opportunity to compete in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this summer.