Liquid win first Dota2 Minor

Team Liquid has struck first in the new competitive Dota 2 season, winning the first ever Dota 2 Minor, StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 3. Even two months after claiming their world championship title, Liquid remains a fearsome opponent, dropping only one game in their entire tournament run. South-East Asia representative Mineski was the team to take a game off of the TI7 champion in the finals, but was ultimately not strong enough to force a 5th game. In addition to $135,000, Liquid also take home 150 Qualifying Points per player, putting their team at 450 points, as only the top three players per team contribute to the team total. As the runner up, Mineski take home 90 QP per player (270 total score). compLexity Gaming and Team Secret take home 30QP (90 total) each.

An overview of the pro circuit standings can be found here.

Dueling Fates announced for November 1st

The Dueling Fates update will arrive on November 1st
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) October 19, 2017

The first major balance update of the season has been officially scheduled. Valve announced via a tweet that the Dueling Fates update is set to arrive on November 1st, just days after the ESL One Hamburg Major and days prior to the DotaPit Minor. Whether or not the Dueling Fates update will be on the main client during the Minor is unknown.

Fnatic replace HappyFeet at ESL Major

The first major of the season is off to a rough start as South-East Asia representative HappyFeet was unable to secure visas for their players on time. In a statement on the team's official Facebook page, HappyFeet cite "time constraints and several issues" as the reason for their inability to acquire the visas. Ascent Esports, despite not making it to the finals of the SEA qualifier for the event, will replace them in Hamburg. In a statement on reddit, ESL commented that Fnatic was "the one that was able to make it to Hamburg with the most complete lineup from the qualifier", suggesting that Fnatic may not be able to play with their full line-up either. Support player DJ, who like HappyFeet is Filipino, is a likely candidate for potential visa issues.

Tournament Overview:

The PGL Open Bucharest LAN finals are heading into elimination day. LGD Gaming and Mineski have already qualified for the semi-finals, securing 30 QP per player.
The ESL One Hamburg Major will kick off on Thursday. Eight teams, namely Team Liquid, Newbee, Team Secret, Shopify Rebellion, KEEN GAMING, SG e-sports team, Ascent Esports and Virtus.pro, will fight for 300 QP and $500,000.

Also Noteworthy

ESL announced that the MVP of the ESL One Hamburg Major is set to receive a Mercedes Benz.
We now have a Pro Circuit overview page that shows detailed information about player and team standings.
The Clip of the week goes to Evil Geniuses who staged quite the comeback against VGJ.Thunder.

Thanks for catching up with us. We hope you enjoy your weekend.