MDL to return to the “Vegas of the East” with $300,000 on the line

Ollie Ring
calendar-icon

Tournament organiser Mars Media has announced the return of MDL to Macau for another Dota 2 tournament, with $300,000 on the line.

The tournament will feature eight teams in total, with PSG.LGD and Virtus.pro announced as the first two teams invited to the tournament. PSG.LGD were the winners of the MDL Changsha Major last May, before coming second at Dota 2’s flagship tournament “The International” in the summer. Virtus.pro won the first DPC sanctioned Major of the season in Kuala Lumpur and continue to be one of the most consistent and strongest teams in the Dota 2 world.

Although typically MDL moves between cities, Mars Media has decided that the event will return to the “Vegas of the East” after the success of the DPC minor hosted in December 2017 which saw eventual TI winners OG take their first title of the 2017-18 title after beating rivals TnC 2-0 in the grand final. 

Dimitri Vallette, Director of Events at Mars Media told ESI: “I’m super excited to bring the event back to Macau following the success it had last year with our Minor. We originally planned to host it in another city in China in order to continue our efforts to host the event in different major cities in the country, but the response from the fans and teams were overwhelming. We wanted to return there sooner rather than later, but rest assured that MDL will visit more cities in the future as we want to continue to promote Dota 2 as well as our brand in China.”

Esports Insider says: Mars Media have a history of putting on cracking events, and one would assume this MDL will be no different. It’s heading back to Macau, a typically fun region and it’s off the back of cracking feedback from fans and players alike. Although it’s not a DPC sanctioned event, with $300,000 on the line there’s a whole lot to play for and the Dota will undoubtedly be top tier. 

Ollie Ring

Contributing Editor
Ollie swapped the abacus for Sonic on the SEGA Mega Drive at neighbor Frank's house at an early age and has never looked back. With thousands of hours in Dota 2 (and no ability to show for it), he still clings on to the hope that one day, he will replicate Natus Vincere at gamescom 14 years ago and lift the Aegis of Champions. Ollie has been at the intersection of video games, esports, and gambling for over ten years and has also worked in consultancy in the gambling industry. Ollie's work can be found on the likes of: BBC, Red Bull Gaming, Esports Insider, CasinoBeats, PC Gamer, Green Man Gaming as well as his own thought-leadership substack "Esprouts" looking at specific studies and stories where games meet gambling.
Read Full Bio
Stay updated with the latest in Esports Follow Esports Insider for breaking news, features and guides
Add ESI as your preferred source on Google Add ESI as your preferred source on Google
ESI Ranking System
We’ve created a ranking system to help you quickly know how good each gambling platform is. As gamblers ourselves, we know which factors matter most to you, so we follow a best-in-class methodology to test each one with no stone unturned. Once done, we then rank each platform based on the following tiers:
  • A-Tier High-quality sites that deliver a top experience every time. They boast strong performance, nice features, and reliable support, but are just shy of perfection.
  • B-Tier Solid platforms that are worth a spin. They’re safe, fun, and functional, but may be lacking advanced features or have minor drawbacks.
  • S-Tier Reserved for elite operators only. These go well beyond the norm with lucrative bonuses, rewarding promotions, lightning-fast payouts, and a flawless experience overall.
To read more details about how we review casino and betting sites, check out How We Rate Gambling Operators.