The International 2018 is the concluding tournament of the Dota Pro Circuit and the eighth annual edition of The International. The tournament will be held on Canadian soil for the first time, as it moves to the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.[1] For the first time a point system based on official sponsored Majors and Minors will be used to determine invites to The International.
*Open Qualifers - June 14th - June 17th, 2018
Twelve Regional Single-elimination Open Qualifiers, two brackets for each region.
The winners of each Open Qualifier will advance to the respective Main Qualifier.
*Regional Qualifiers - June 18th - June 25th, 2018
Six Regional Qualifiers.
The winners of each Main Qualifier will advance directly to The International.
The runners-up of the China, Southeast Asia, and North America Main Qualifiers will advance directly to The International.
The third place team of the North America Main Qualifiers will advance directly to The International.
*Group Stage - August 15th - August 18th, 2018
All eighteen teams are divided into two groups where they play in a Round Robin format.
All matches are played in a Bo2.
The top four teams in each group advance to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event.
The bottom team in each group is eliminated.
The remaining teams advance to the Lower Bracket of the Main Event.
*Main Event - August 20th - August 25th, 2018!
Sixteen teams play in a double-elimination format over six days.
Eight teams begin in the Upper Bracket, eight in the Lower Bracket.
First Lower Bracket round is Bo1, Grand Finals are Bo5, all others rounds are Bo3.