It was the first of three Valve sponsored major Dota tournaments for the 2015–16 season, which were announced by the company on April 25, 2015.

[2] The Electronic Sports League (ESL) hosted and organized the tournament.

Although directly invited, China-based team Invictus Gaming encountered visa problems and on November 11 it was announced they would be replaced by another Chinese team, Newbee Young.

The main stage was double-elimination, with best-of-three matches save for the grand finals, which was a best-of-five.

[7] 1Invictus Gaming was replaced by Newbee Young due to visa complications (Note: Prizes are in USD)