PGL Wallachia Season 9 Survival Guide; Teams, stand-ins, format, schedule, prize pool
Sixteen teams will gather at the PGL Studios in Bucharest from September 19-27th to battle for their share of the $1,000,000 prize pool. As always, the tournament features a mix of established contenders, rising teams trying to cement their place among the elite, and qualifier hopefuls simply looking to prove they belong on the same stage.
The event arrives with considerably more uncertainty than usual. Originally scheduled to begin on September 17, PGL Wallachia Season 9 was quietly pushed back two days as the tournament collided almost directly with the post-TI roster shuffle.
With several of Dota’s biggest organisations sitting the event out and teams still rebuilding for the new season, the resulting field looks very different from a typical Wallachia. There is a heavier tier-two presence, a particularly large South American contingent, and, remarkably, less than 24 hours before the opening matches, we still do not know the confirmed rosters of several teams competing in Bucharest.
Even some of the more established lineups will arrive incomplete. 1win will play with Shad standing in for Pure, who will miss the tournament due to visa issues, while Aurora Gaming will use Stojkov in place of Mikoto, who is absent for personal reasons. Team Nemesis has been hit twice, with both Ken and Jabz unable to attend due to visa issues; Mo13ei and SabeRLight will take their places.
The result is an unusually unsettled opening tournament, where several teams will be playing with new combinations, temporary replacements, or rosters assembled only days before their first series.
That uncertainty may also be what makes Wallachia particularly interesting. 1win, Aurora Gaming and Team Yandex are among the teams drawing the most attention, but for very different reasons. 1win will have to adapt around Shad after retaining the rest of its TI lineup, Aurora arrives with both Oliver “skiter” Lepko and a temporary midlaner after its post-TI changes, while Yandex will offer the first look at Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf.
In a tournament where even the starting lineups have been something of a moving target, Season 9 may be about discovering what the new competitive landscape actually looks like.
The action kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, September 19th at 09:00 CEST as 1win take on Team Nemesis and Xtreme Gaming goes head-to-head with Pibbles.
PGL Wallachia Season 9 teams
PGL Wallachia Season 9 invited teams
All teams competing were directly invited by PGL.
- 1win*
- Aurora Gaming**
- Conventus Stellarum
- GamerLegion
- Hokori
- LGD Gaming
- MOUZ
- NAVI
- Pibbles Corp
- Pipsqueak+4
- Playtime
- Team Cobra
- Team Nemesis***
- Team Yandex
- Xtreme Gaming
- Yakult Brothers
Notes:
*Shad stand-in for Pure due to visa issue.
**Stojkov stand-in for Mikoto due to personal reasons
***Mo13ei and SaberLight stand-in for Ken and Jabz due to visa issues
PGL Wallachia Season 9 format
As with every PGL Wallachia event since Season 1, Season 9 shares the same format. All 16 teams will begin in a single group, participating in a modified Swiss-style Round Robin Group Stage. All games during this stage will be best-of-three, with the top 8 teams advancing to the playoffs. The remaining 8 teams will be eliminated from the event.
Group Stage
- One modified swiss-system of 16 teams
- All matches are Bo3
- Top eight teams advance to playoffs
- Remaining teams are eliminated
Heading into the Playoff Stage, the teams will enter into a double-elimination bracket. Once again, all series played will be best-of-three, leading up to a best-of-five grand finals where the champion is crowned.
Playoffs
- Double-elimination bracket
- All matches are Bo3
- Grand Final is Bo5
PGL Wallachia Season 9 prize pool
PGL Wallachia Season 9 will feature a prize pool of $1,000,000. This prize pool is split between all participating teams, depending on their placements, with the lion’s share going to the champion.
- First place – $300,000
- Second place – $175,000
- Third place – $120,000
- Fourth place – $80,000
- Fifth-Sixth place – $60,000
- Seventh-Eighth place – $40,000
- Ninth-Eleventh place – $20,000
- Twelfth-Fourteenth place – $15,000
- Fifteenth-Sixteenth place – $10,000
PGL Wallachia Season 9 broadcasts
PGL Wallachia Season 9 will be broadcast over multiple channels, with the chance of overlapping series. You can find your favourite way to watch on any of the platforms listed below:
