What to know about DreamLeague Season 21, the undercard event to Dota 2's TI 2023

DreamLeague is back with its third installment this year with DreamLeague Season 21, featuring 12 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world fighting for their cut of a US$1 million prize pool from 18 to 24 September.

With almost all of the participating teams in DreamLeague Season 21 also set to play in The International (TI) 2023, it will also serve as the undercard event to this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament.

Here's everything you need to know about DreamLeague Season 21:

Format

DreamLeague Season 21 is split into two phases: the Group Stage, taking place from 18 to 20 September, and the Playoffs, scheduled from 21 to 24 September.

The Group Stage will split the 12 participating teams into two single round-robin groups of six teams each, where they will be fighting to be among the eight squads advancing into the Playoffs. All matches in the Group Stage will be a best-of-two.

The groupings for the Group Stage are as follows:

Group A:

• Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, Entity, 9Pandas, Talon Esports, Shopify Rebellion

Group B:

• Gaimin Gladiators, Quest Esports, OG, Team Spirit, BetBoom Team, Evil Geniuses

The Top 4 teams in each group will advance to the Playoffs, with the Top 2 teams earning an upper bracket berth while the third to fourth-placed teams will have to start in the lower bracket. Meanwhile, the bottom two teams of each group will be eliminated early.

The DreamLeague Season 21 Playoffs will follow a double-elimination bracket format, with four teams starting in the upper bracket while four others will be seeded into the lower bracket. All matches in the Playoffs will be a best-of-three except for the Grand Finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.

Teams

The 12 participating teams in DreamLeague Season 21 all received direct invites to the event, with six coming from Western Europe, three from Eastern Europe, and one each from North America, South America, and Southeast Asia.

All of the teams, except for OG, have notably earned spots in TI 2023 and many of them are considered to be the biggest favourites to raise the Aegis of Champions this year.

Some notable teams include three-time Major champions and DreamLeague Seasons 19 and 20 winners Gaimin Gladiators, TI 2022 champions Tundra Esports now with two-time TI champion Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen, three-time Major finalist Team Liquid, and TI 2021 champions and Riyadh Masters 2023 winners Team Spirit, among others.

Here's the full list of teams and players in DreamLeague Season 21:

Western Europe

Gaimin Gladiators

1. Anton "dyrachyo" Shkredov

2. Quinn "Quinn" Callahan

3. Marcus "Ace" Hoelgaard

4. Erik "tOfu" Engel

5. Melchior "Seleri" Hillenkamp

Team Liquid

1. Michael "miCKe" Vu

2. Michał "Nisha" Jankowski

3. Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg

4. Samuel "Boxi" Svahn

5. Aydin "Insania" Sarkohi

Tundra Esports

1. Oliver "skiter" Lepko

2. Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen

3. Neta "33" Shapira

4. Leon "Nine" Kirilin

5. Wu "Sneyking" Jingjun

Quest Esports

1. Aybek "TA2000" Tokayev

2. Tony "No!ob" Assaf

3. Tobias "Tobi" Buchner

4. Omar "OmaR" Moughrabi

5. Oleh "kaori" Medvedok

Entity

1. Alimzan "watson" Islambekov

2. Daniel "Stormstormer" Schoetzau

3. Kim "Gabbi" Santos

4. Vladislav "kataomi`" Semenov

5. Dzmitry "Fishman" Palishchuk

OG

1. Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev

2. Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov

3. Ivan "MinD_ControL" Ivanov

4. Sébastien "Ceb" Debs

5. Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi

Eastern Europe

Team Spirit

1. Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk

2. Denis "Larl" Sigitov

3. Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov

4. Myroslav "Mira" Kolpakov

5. Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov

9Pandas

1. Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev

2. Gleb "kiyotaka" Zyryanov

3. Matvey "MieRo`" Vasyunin

4. Vladislav "Antares" Kertman

5. Alexey "Solo" Berezin

BetBoom Team

1. Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko

2. Danil "gpk" Skutin

3. Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko

4. Vitalie "Save-" Melnic

5. Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek

North America

Shopify Rebellion

1. Artour "Arteezy" Babaev

2. Abed "Abed" Yusop

3. Jonáš "SaBeRLight-" Volek

4. Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen

5. Tal "Fly" Aizik

South America

Evil Geniuses

1. Crhistian "Pakazs" Savina

2. Jean "Chris Luck" Salazar

3. Adrián "Wisper" Dobles

4. Farith "Matthew" Puente

5. Jose "Panda" Padilla

Southeast Asia

Talon Esports

1. Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon

2. Rafli "Mikoto" Rahman

3. Anucha "Jabz" Jirawong

4. Worawit "Q" Mekchai

5. Chan "Oli" Chon Kien

Prize pool

DreamLeague Season 21 will have a US$1 million prize pool, with the lion's share of US$300,000 going to the champions. All participating teams are also guaranteed at least US$25,000 in winnings.

Here's the full prize pool breakdown for the tournament:

• Champions: US$300,000

• 2nd place: US$175,000

• 3rd place: US$120,000

• 4th place: US$85,000

• 5th-6th place: US$57,500

• 7th-8th place: US$47,500

• 9th-10th place: US$30,000

• 11th-12th place: US$25,000

How to watch

DreamLeague Season 21's official English broadcast will be on the official ESL Dota 2 Twitch and YouTube channels. There will be secondary and tertiary streams active for the Group Stage. Russian, Chinese, and Spanish broadcasts are also available.

For the full list of English broadcast talent for DreamLeague Season 21, check here.

DreamLeague Season 21 will be the last chance for fans to watch some of the biggest contenders to claim the Aegis of Champions this year in action before TI 2023 kicks off in mid-October.

TI 2023 will be hosted across multiple weekends from 12 to 29 October in Seattle, the United States. This year's tournament also features a revamped format split into two distinct phases, called 'The Road to The International' and 'The International' itself.

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