With TI7 boasting the biggest prize pool in eSports history with a total of over US$24 million, Dota 2 tournaments from around the world will be looking to keep up with the standards Valve has set in place, especially if organisers are looking to garner potential sponsors and partners to ensure the event is a success. Up comes the Malaysia Esports League (MESL), the first ever league-based tournament with a prize pool of RM500,000!
Set to be the biggest Dota 2 eSports league in Malaysia, it is to be hosted by the Mineski Events Team (MET) alongside U Mobile and Logitech as the official title sponsor and official gaming gear sponsor, respectively. The entire league will also be broadcasted on two different channels: Astro 808 eGG, the official gaming channel from Astro and Twitch.TV.
Starting on 2 September 2017, first up will be the qualifier stage held across all states in both Peninsular and East Malaysia. All qualifiers will be played offline in LAN cafes, majority of which will be played in Mineski-owned cafes. There will be a RM3,000 prize pool for the qualified teams with the top 16 from each qualifier advancing to the group stages of the league where they will play for 3 months.
The top 8 teams of the group stages will go through to the playoffs, which will determine the final two teams who will meet in the MESL grand finals in early 2018.
Mineski Corporation President and CEO, Kenchi Yap was also in attendance during the press conference and has spoken out about the eligibility of tier 1 and tier 2 professional Dota 2 teams being allowed to join the tournament as well as amateur and semi-pro teams from the lower tiers. Interestingly enough, the only requirement needed for a team to register is to have three homegrown Malaysian players. U Mobile will also be submitting its very own Dota 2 squad for the tournament with an added bonus: U Mobile will be giving an additional RM50,000 to the winning team if every member is an active U Mobile subscriber (whether it’s postpaid or prepaid) from the start of MESL.
For more information, you can visit MESL’s website.
