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

　　Yesterday, Star Ladder could reveal that aside from offering their services to North America, they will now also be expanding in to the heartland of Dota itself; China.

　　Following the regular Star Ladder format, six invited teams will compete regularly over a set period of weeks in a round-robin stage. Four amateur teams will also be able to compete for a spot in the tournament, The two teams with the most wins will be flown from China to Kiev in order to compete in the Star Ladder 9 grand finals against five European teams, as well as the top-rated North American team.

　　Professional Chinese teams invited to Star Ladder 9:

　　DK e-SportsLGDVici GamingInvictus Gaming"Super Team"TongFu.WanzhouThe amateur qualifiers commence on the 24th of February and will feature recent WPC ACE-League teams DT.NGC, as well as Hearts Get Together among others.

　　As we at onGamers reported yesterday, when the line-up of Team Dog was revealed, SLTV America has already started and features the same amout of teams as SLTV China, however, only one American team will be able to make the trip across the pond to Kiev.

　　Professional American teams invited to Star Ladder 9:

　　S A D B O Y STeam LiquidSWAGeHugThe RevengeDenial e-Sports

　　Image Source: dota2.starladder.tv, mapia.ua