According to a tweet from ESL, Tundra Esports won’t attend DreamLeague Season 26 after the team decided to withdraw from the event. Instead of the squad from Western Europe, fans will see NAVI Junior, one of the promising teams that failed to qualify for the competition during the qualifiers. Here is everything you need to know.

NAVI Junior To Replace Tundra Esports at DreamLeague Season 26

ESL surprised Dota 2 fans on May 2 with a tweet that revealed Tundra Esports’s decision to not to take part in Dreamleague Season 25. Although we do not know the exact reason why the Dota 2 powerhouse made this decision, most people believe the team wants to take a break.

Tundra took part in all of the big Dota 2 tournaments recently, such as the PGL Wallachia Season 4. Considering that DreamLeague Season 26 is a bit longer (the event will last around 2 weeks), it seems like the squad decided to take some time off.

Another reason why we believe that Tundra may have decided to skip this event is because of their EPT Ranking. As you know, the ESL tournaments provide EPT points that teams need to secure a slot for the Esports World Cup 2025. The latter is one of the biggest Dota 2 events of the year, and every professional team wants to attend it. Considering Tundra’s results, we can see that the squad has enough EPT points to secure a slot for the competition.

ESL’s Response & NAVI Junior

Following the announcement from Tundra Esports, ESL decided to take action and applied a 20% EPT points penalty. Although this sanction is substantial, it won’t affect Tundra’s overall EPT placing because the team will remain among the top 10. In other words, it will be able to attend the Esports World Cup 2025.

In terms of NAVI Junior, it is safe to say that many people were surprised by ESL’s decision to invite that squad. According to them, the company contacted several organizations and NAVI Junior was the one to accept the invitation on short notice. This sparked a debate about whether NAVI Junior deserved to be here when Team Secret achieved better qualifier results. For better or worse, we won’t be able to see Clement “Puppey” Ivanov in action on the big stage.

As for the tournament, DreamLeague Season 26 will start on May 19 and end on June 1. Unless there is a significant change in the Dota 2 esports schedule, this will be the last big tournament prior to the EWC 2025. The battle will be fierce because teams will compete for EPT points in addition to the impressive amount of money. As mentioned, the Dota 2 squads need those points to secure a slot for the big competition.

Don’t forget that BLAST Slam 3 begins in just a few days, so stay tuned for more information.