Dota 2 player and OpTic Gaming captain Peter 'Ppd' Dager has just revealed that he has started a semi-pro league for Dota 2 players in North America, called the North American Dota Challengers League, launching this October after the first of the Valve Minor qualifiers.
The league will run throughout the year and avoid clashing with dates for the Pro Circuit, and the goal according to the press release is "to create a semi-professional league within North America. The league will also be an opportunity for aspiring professional players to earn some income for the hard work they put into the game." What this also means is that any unsponsored team or player that isn't being paid to compete can play here.
Ppd had the following to say on the competition: "I think this will be a great opportunity for up and coming players to develop crucial teamwork and game knowledge skills. There are too many talented DOTA players in North America who either can't or won't create an opportunity for themselves, and I think we can help."
The format will see an initial qualifying tournament take place to decide the eight teams for a league/group stage, culminating in four teams advancing to a best-of-three single elimination tournament, with open viewing on Twitch available during the league play. The prize money will then be distributed "in a relatively flat structure from top to bottom allowing even the last place team to earn income for competing in the league," and an initial prize pool will be supplemented with donations during the competition.
For more on the league you can visit the official Discord, where league registration is also available. Are you pleased that you'll get to see more Dota 2 at a semi-pro level?