This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　The NADotA Elite League (NEL) kicked off its second season this week. After a five day offseason, NEL is back with an increased prize pool and changes to league operations.

　　NEL is a Dota 2 “inhouse league” where individual players can join pickup games, much like standard matchmaking. However, NEL players maintain a ranking within the league that fluctuates with wins and losses. To compete in the league, players need to be “vouched” by league staff or have support from other NEL players. As a result, the league features the best 400 Dota 2 players in North America, including players from Team Liquid, Team Dignitas, Evil Geniuses, and recent MLG Columbus qualifiers Pretty Boy Swag. Despite the fact that most games are played in captain’s mode, NEL games tend to be somewhere between flashy and clowny. The mix of talented players with competitive heroes creates a show-off atmosphere, where ridiculous plays are encouraged and friendly (often vulgar) banter is the norm. NEL has been described as the breeding ground for changes in the metagame, as players often experiment freely with new strategies.

　　The league had a strong start in September, offering a $1,000 prize pool, plus 50% of DotaTV ticket sales revenue (a total prize of roughly $2,500). More importantly, NEL provides a custom-made league client to facilitate games, rankings, and league chat.

　　As the Season 1 playoffs neared, NEL’s activity waned. Many players began focusing their time on the newly launched sister league, the European Elite League. Along with the announcement of Season 2, NEL and EEL have declared a region lock, forcing players to stay on their side of the Atlantic. League organizer and former Team Liquid Dota 2 player, Michael “ixmike88” Ghannam, says that the difficult region lock decision was because “the leagues shouldn’t compete with each other for activity”. He further explained, “We want to separate the content. It shouldn’t feel like you’re buying the same ticket twice when you get both an EEL and an NEL ticket.”

　　ixmike88 and Dendi at TI3. Photo credit: dota2.neotv.cnIn addition to EEL, Mike attributes Season 1’s decreased activity to the travel of Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, and Team Dignitas, who were all attending LAN tournaments in France or Korea. He also notes that some players may have given up when their rankings were not high enough to let them compete for prize money.

　　Season 2 offers $3,000 in cash prizes over an eight week season. NEL sells seasonal DotaTV tickets for $4.99 and also provides a free nightly Twitch stream.

　　Update: The region lock has been updated and NEL players can now play in EEL from 5am-2pm ET. The region lock is still in effect during NEL's prime time hours.