FACEIT has announced the launch of the “FPL” Circuit for Dota 2. For those familiar with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the FPL Circuit aims to provide players with a solid competitive environment on which they can play, improve and potentially get noticed and picked up at the top-tier of professional gameplay.
It’s a fairly new prospect to Dota 2, although we have had FPL before but it has strictly been closed to professional gamers only. Now, the FACEIT team are opening it up to the wider Dota world. It provides a real in-house league and gives players of every skill the chance to thrive and improve in a competitive environment and climb the proverbial ladder.
In Counter-Strike we’ve already seen success stories in the shape of Robin “ropz” Kool who demolished opposition in FPL and was thus picked up by mousesports later in the year as a result. The Dota 2 circuit will have its own dedicated team managing every aspect of the league and ensuring that it runs smoothly. The highest ranked Dota 2 players in North America and Europe will have two separate leagues and there will be a monthly prize pool of $20,000 up for grabs just to sweeten the deal.
Each division will replicate the format of the main FPL league, including solo only queue and a captain pick system designed to ensure the fairness of the system which is often tough to get right.
“I think this is a great opportunity for the Dota2 competitive scene to grow together, allowing both new talent and also veterans to learn from one another and improve together in a good environment, and that is why I’m excited to be a part of the new in-house league by FPL,” said Tal “Fly” Aizik, OG’s team captain.
“FPL offers a great environment for top players to practise without the problem of toxicity. It allows us to hone our skills and have fun playing with other serious competitors,” added Peter “ppd” Dager from OpTic Gaming.
The first season of the FPL in September 2017 was won by Artour “Arteezy” Babaev for North America and The International 7 winner Ivan Borislavov “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov for Europe.
It remains to be seen as to whether FPL will firmly take-off in Dota 2, as it requires a concerted effort from everyone to scrap traditional matchmaking and constantly queue through the FACEIT platform. Make no doubt, those who watch streams have enjoyed watching the best pros mix it up and battle it out in FPL so far, but with the season getting more and more hectic it may become less common.
Esports Insider says: The Dota seen most definitely needs FACEIT to work out for them, it just remains to be seen if the community will firmly embrace it. There’s been already significant success with the UK IHL, and that’s a tiny subsection of the community so there’s absolutely no reason why this can’t too succeed.
