…and yes, CS:GO features (again). But so does Dota 2.
The Orena Champions Series is “one of the country’s richest esports tournaments,” and will see a series of online leagues starting on 5 June culminate in a LAN final in September and October.
Both CS:GO and Dota 2 will feature two divisions. The Champions Division will feature eight pre-invited teams per title, while the Premier Division will be open to everyone else.
The Champions Division will run over 14 weeks as an ‘online double round robin league’ and act as a seeding for the LAN finals. Teams in the Premier Division [surely it should be called the ‘Open Division’ – easily confused Ed] will battle it out in a ladder format from 5 June until 17 June. Up for grabs is R50,000 with the top two teams also standing in line to win a berth in the LAN finals via a playoff with the bottom two teams in the Champions Division.
All roads lead to Rome, or at least Emperors Palace in Johannesburg where the matches will be played in the Nu Metro Arena over two weekends. Dota 2 will run from 21 to 24 September while the CS:GO will end things off on 28 September to 1 October.
There is a total prize pool of R1.4 million for the finals with R700,000 going to both Dota 2 and CS:GO.
Prize breakdown per title:
- First Prize: R300,000
- Second Prize: R100,000
- Third & Fourth Prizes: R 75,000
- Fifth & Sixth Prizes: R50,000
- Seventh & Eighth Prizes: R25,000
There will be another playoffs following the LAN qualifiers to determine the 2018 Champions Division teams.
From the Press Release on the Orena site:
At OCS, gaming fans will be able to enjoy an unprecedented esports experience in a world-class setting, enjoy a dedicated fan zone with refreshments powered by Red Bull, grab some team merchandise in the official Orena store in the expo area, show their support for their chosen squad and meet their favourite esports personalities. For those who can’t make it to the live finals, the tournament (and early rounds) will be streamed on twitch.tv/orenaonline.
“Last year’s OCS tournament delivered some fantastic competition, with fans tuning in from afar to compete and experience the action, live,” says Luca Tucconi, Operations Executive at Orena. “This year’s event is set to be exponentially bigger, better and richer and will deliver the ultimate in esports experiences for the teams and the fans. We have big plans for the OCS, as evidenced by the quantum leap between last year’s tournament and the 2017 edition, and we’re looking forward to giving the country’s best teams a chance to compete in a world-class setting”.
Tickets will also be available for spectators in what is believed to be a 500-seater venue:
Spectators will be able to purchase tickets to watch games throughout the online season, as well as for the LAN Finals at Emperors Palace in September and October. Different ticket options, including season tickets and VIP passes will be made available, via champions.orena.com/tickets.
At the rate things are going, it would seem the R10 million mark in cash prizes in a calendar year for CS:GO is just around the corner.
The Orena announcement goes alongside a new logo and an updated website.
https://youtu.be/yd4Rom7oFv0
