FRI 8/16 - PokemonGO announces invitational tournament, Dota 2 International crests $33 Million, Riot Games to sell Echo Fox’s LCS slot

TGIF my friends. It is Friday August 16th and PokemonGO announces a tournament?! Dota 2 International surpasses $33 Million prize pool, and Riot Games takes over sale of Echo Fox’s LCS slot after Kroenke deal falls through. Let’s dive in!
Welcome. Back. Friends! To the UEG Podcast. It’s ya boi the Choice, your voice for esports! Really quick before we jump into what’s happening, we’re working on some cool ideas for Friday episodes, and I’m excited! So stay tuned for that. 
So a little something off the norm, the official PokemonGO twitter announced yesterday that it will be holding an eight trainer Invitational Tournament during the 2019 Pokemon World Championships. 
This will be PokemonGO’s first Trainer Battle Tournament and they’re kicking it off with some big Content Creator names.
Junichi Masuda, Shigeki Morimoto, UnlistedLeaf, Strawburry17, Yamada, Poke AK, PokoKieng, and one lucky trainer!
They may be doing a raffle, or drawing for that last spot to compete.
The rules are simple, Double Elimination bracket, best of 5 matches, but here’s where it gets a little interesting. 
Trainers need to pick six Pokemon that are Great League eligible, which means less than 1500 CP, that they will use for the entirety of the tournament. 
A little twist thrown in at the end, no Pokemon can be of the same species. 
Should be a fun little watch! This will be happening today after the opening ceremonies. I will definitely be watching. 🎵 Pokemon…

[Pokémon GO Invitational Tournament at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships | Pokemon.com](https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/worlds/2019/pokemon-go-invitational-tournament/)[Pokémon GO on Twitter: “❗ Trainers, our very first Pokémon GO Invitational tournament will be happening on August 16 during the 2019 Pokémon World Championships! Follow the action by tuning in to @Pokemon’s Twitch stream at 9:30 a.m. ET! https://t.co/o2hIo7MfiX #GOBattle… https://t.co/nwnFU572ys”](https://twitter.com/PokemonGoApp/status/1161668901157122048)[Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/Pokemon)

Going back to something we covered a week or so ago, the Dota 2 International 19 prize pool that has grown to amazing numbers. As of yesterday, the prize pool broke $33 million! 
That’s a HEFTY chunk of change. It beats last year’s record setting $25.5 million International prize pool and the more recent Fortnite World Cup prize pool of $30 million. 
This year’s $33 is crowdfunded by Dota 2 players buying in game packages and will continue until the event itself concludes on August 25th.

[The International prize pool eclipses $33 million](https://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/27394574/the-international-prize-pool-eclipses-33-million)

Now, there has been a bit of drama concerning Echo Fox and what’s going to happen with their LCS slot since they were cut by Riot Games due to some unfortunate racism within the company.
Kroenke Sports and Entertainment were poised to purchase the spot for $30.2 Million, but after a lawsuit filed by Ron Moore, CEO of Sentinels Esports, LCS commissioner Chris Greeley issued a statement on the League of Legend website saying, “The sale did not come to fruition.”
Echo Fox retains their slot as of now. 

 [https://esportsobserver.com/riot-selling-echo-fox-lcs-slot/](https://esportsobserver.com/riot-selling-echo-fox-lcs-slot/)