Sad to say, cheers and boos will not be heard during the first Dota 2 Major tournament in 14 months as the ONE Esports Singapore Major presented by PGL will be held behind closed-doors.
But this will be done in line with the health and safety protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the much-awaited event will push through as scheduled.
The SG Major is set on March 27 to April 4 at the Fairmont Hotel, featuring the top 18 teams in the world which will battle it out for the lion's share of the $500,000 (P24.2 million) prize pool on top of precious Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points needed to secure a direct invite to the million-dollar The International.
A total of 14 teams have already qualified for this year's first Major, including Filipino team Neon Esports and Filipino pros-laden Fnatic and T1 from Southeast Asia.
Team Secret, tagged as the best team in the world right now, lead the casts from the powerhouse region of Europe which has TI3 winning organization Alliance, TI7 champion Nigma (formerly Team Liquid) and the current Team Liquid.
Hailing from the CIS region are Virtus.Pro, T1 winning org Natus Vincere and AS Monaco Gambit.
Representing North America are TI5 champion org Evil Geniuses which has Filipino star midlaner Abed "Abed" Yusop and Quincy Crew while bannering South America are Beastcoast and Thunder Predator.
Completing the field are the four teams from China which will be determined by mid-March. Currently, TI2 winning org Invictus Gaming, TI4 runner-up Vici Gaming, Team Aster and Elephant pace the DPC-China Upper Division.
ONE and PGL also announced the Major’s talent pool composed of Owen "ODPixel" Davies, Ioannis "Fogged" Loucas, Jorien "Sheever" van der Heijden, Kasumi “sumichu” Kelly Yogi, Benjamin "Bkop" Kopilow, Dominik "Lacoste" Stipić, Admir "lizZard" Salkanovich, Dominik "Black^" Reitmeier, David "GoDz" Parker, Neal "tsunami" Khandheria, Johan "Weppas" Westberg and Rikard “skrff” Holm Melin.
“We congratulate and welcome the world’s best Dota 2 teams to the upcoming Singapore Major. ONE Esports, with our partners PGL and STB, is excited to deliver one of the most prestigious esports experiences in the world. Fans from around the globe can look forward to action-packed competition from the world’s best Dota 2 teams and exciting commentary from the best Dota 2 hosts, casters, and analysts,” said ONE Esports CEO Carlos Alimurung.
"Having an on-site event during this period is a major accomplishment, and we're delighted to run this fantastic event which will set the stage for the best teams in the world. The Dota 2 community deserves a top-notch tournament, and we want to assure everyone that we'll do our best to provide an amazing experience for the viewers. We will take all the measures needed to have a safe tournament in a healthy environment," said PGL CEO Silviu Stroie.
Fans can watch the action in the glorious 4K resolution at 60 fps in ONE Esports and PGL's various live streaming channels in Twitch, Facebook, Youtube and official websites.