The DreamLeague Season 24 by ESL is arguably the most consistent tournament series for world’s best Dota 2 teams and fans to enjoy.
Boasting a million-dollar prize pool is always fantastic, but it’s also the participating teams that make DreamLeague S24 a must-watch on October 27 to November 10.
DreamLeague S24 (Image credit: ESL)
DreamLeague S24 matches will be available live on ESL’s official Twitch channel.
Although this is DreamLeague series’ twenty-fourth iteration this time around, ESL still manages to spice things up with a unique tournament format by featuring two levels of Group Stages and a Playoffs.
The Group Stage 1 divides the sixteen teams into two single round-robin groups, where each series is a best-of-two. The top four teams from each group advances to Group Stage 2, whereas the remaining teams are eliminated.
In Group Stage 2, a single round-robin group of the top-eight teams unfolds, where all matches are best-of-three. The top two teams advances into Upper Bracket of Playoffs and the third/fourth-place teams also advance to Lower Bracket of Playoffs. Meanwhile, the remaining teams are eliminated.
Finally, the Playoffs are of double-elimination bracket, where matches are best-of-three, except the best-of-five grand finals. The gist of this format is that we will ultimately have a shorter Playoffs bracket, but a fairer match-up among the top-eight teams as they will likely face most candidates.
Speaking of the teams, there are only six invited teams, including Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators, Team Falcons, Xtreme Gaming, BetBoom Team and Tundra Esports.
The rest of them qualified via their respective regional qualifiers, which include:
Teams at DreamLeague S24 (Image credit: ESL)
Haven’t you heard? There’s a new player in town. HEROIC is the indisputable champions of PGL Wallachia S2, defeating the favorites, Team Falcons. This marks the first time a South American team won a major tournament, which makes this a record-breaking accomplishment.
It will be interesting to see how well HEROIC fares against the likes of other powerhouses, such as Liquid and Gaimin.
This duo needs no introduction after their incredible performance at the International 2024 Grand Finals. Liquid and Gaimin is finaly returning for the new season, first at the BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 and shortly after, the DreamLeague S24.
The TI13 Champs are debuting at DreamLeague S24 with high hopes, but it’s wise to note that there is roster shuffle that happened. Their former captain and offlane player, Neta “33” Shapira, has left for Tundra Esports.
Meanwhile, Gaimin also saw the exit of their hard carry player, Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov. Despite the phenomenal performance at TI13, it’s evident that dyrachyo often gets shut down by more prominent teams. Since he’s the weakest link in Gaimin, it’s unfortunately his time to bid farewell. Instead, it’s Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov, who will be Gaimin’s new core going into DreamLeague S24.
Besides the previous mentions, the rest of the participants do have interesting line-ups and potential. There’s Team Spirit, Nigma Galaxy and Tundra Esports, which had quite the post-TI13 roster shuffle.
Moreover, there are familiar faces, leading new teams into DreamLeague S24, such as Volodymyr “No[o]ne-” Minenko in BandaNoone (formerly Cloud9) and Vladyslav “Crystallize” Krystanek in Palianytsia.
Of course, there’s the controversial Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev and team AVULUS after their drama at PGL Wallachia S2.
All in all, there’s a lot to look forward for the DreamLeague S24, especially given ESL’s record of great production quality and notable teams.
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