posted by Abelle,
Virtus.pro had originally been invited to the upcoming MDL Major but both the tournament organizers and the team recently announced that the CIS squad had decided to drop out. According to MDL, the team was concerned with "fatigue and health concerns." Virtus.pro later posted a statement from General Manager Roman Dvoryankin which confirmed that the intense schedule of tournaments and frequent time zone switches had worn on them in the past and prompted them to drop out of MDL.
MDL takes place in China between two other events that Virtus.pro have been invited to. The first is EPICENTER XL in Moscow, which ends May 7th in a timezone five hours earlier than China. MDL takes place May 14-20, then is followed almost directly by ESL One Birmingham 2018, which starts May 23 in a timezone 7 hours earlier than China. That's certainly a hefty serving of jetlag for any team attempting to compete in all three. Since VP have already secured their spot at TI8, they can afford to pick and choose events more than any other team on the field.
Their replacement will be a very deserving squad - recently crowned DAC champions Mineski. They didn't qualify for the event, but that's because the SEA qualifiers haven't been held yet. It's the only regular regional qualifier that remains, though Chinese teams have also yet to be determined since they'll come through The Dota 2 Professional League.
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