ACL Dota 2 Tournament Offers Direct Qualification to EWC
The Asian Champions League (ACL), organized by Hero Esports, has announced that the winners of the Dota 2 tournament will earn a spot at the prestigious Esports World Cup (EWC).
With a generous prize pool of $250,000 (~£193,983), the champions of the tournament will walk away with $100,000 (~£77,593) in winnings.
Asian Champions League Structure and Schedule Revealed
The ACL tournament will consist of three stages to determine the ultimate victors. It kicks off with an Online Qualifier from March 7th to March 30th, where one champion will emerge each week to progress to the next stage.
In the subsequent stage, the Season Finals, the top four teams from the Open Qualifiers will compete against four invited teams including Xtreme Gaming (XG), Team YB, Tidebound, and a mystery team. The Season Finals are scheduled to take place from May 1st to May 3rd.
The top four teams from the Season Finals will then battle it out in the Grand Finals on May 16th to determine the overall champion. In addition to securing a spot at the Esports World Cup, the winning team will also earn a place at the upcoming Dreamleague S26.
It’s worth noting that Dota 2 is not the only ACL tournament that grants access to the EWC. The CS2 and the Honor of Kings winners will also be heading to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later in the summer.
Hero Esports, established in 2016 and based in Shanghai, is a prominent tournament operator in Asia, having been involved in major global esports events such as the Olympic Esports Week, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Esports World Cup.
The ACL, launched in September 2024, is organized by the Asia Champions League Foundation, a division under Hero Esports. The event aims to set a new standard for cloud-based, virtual, and immersive esports tournaments.
The inaugural edition of the tournament features up to 10 game titles, offering a combined prize pool of 15m RMB (~£1.67m).