It’s make-or-break season.

DreamLeague S21 commences, just a few weeks before The International 2023 is due to begin. Gaimin Gladiators — winners of three Majors and countless events — are the team to beat. But perennial grand finalists Team Liquid will be eager to seek revenge against their WEU rivals, and Team Spirit’s big win at the Riyadh Masters have put teams on high alert.

The Aegis isn’t at stake — but there’s still a lot of money to be won, and a lot of pride on the line.

What is the Dota 2 DreamLeague S21 tournament?

Entity Stormstormer at TI11
Credit: Valve

The 21st season of DreamLeague is the second tournament of the inaugural ESL Pro Tour. Teams are fighting for a US$1 million prize pool, as well as valuable practice heading into The International 12.

This will be an online tournament running from September 18 to 24.

DreamLeague S21 group stage standings

Team Spirit's Yatoro and Larl hugging at Riyadh Masters 2023
Credit: Gamers8

Group A

STANDINGSTEAMGAME RECORDMATCH RECORD
1stShopify Rebellion8 – 23 — 2 — 0
2ndTundra Esports7 – 33 — 1 — 1
3rdEntity6 – 42 — 2 — 1
4th9Pandas5 – 52 — 1 — 2
5thTeam Liquid2 – 80 — 2 — 3
6thTalon Esports2 – 80 — 2 — 3

Group B

STANDINGSTEAMGAME RECORDMATCH RECORD
1stTeam Spirit9 – 14 — 1 — 0
2ndBetBoom Team7 – 32 — 3 — 0
3rdGaimin Gladiators5 – 52 — 1 — 2
4thOG5 – 51 — 3 — 1
5thQuest Esports2 – 80 — 2 — 3
6thEvil Geniuses2 – 90 — 2 — 3

(Group stage standings will be updated after each round of games)

DreamLeague S21 group stage schedule and results

September 18

GROUP ATIME
6 p.m. GMT +810 a.m. GMT3 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Team Liquid0 – 29Pandas
Tundra Esports2 – 0Talon Esports
Entity1 – 1Shopify Rebellion
GROUP BTIME
8:30 p.m. GMT +812:30 p.m. GMT5:30 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Gaimin Gladiators0 – 2Team Spirit
Quest Esports0 – 2BetBoom Team
OG2 – 0Evil Geniuses
GROUP ATIME
11 p.m. GMT +83 p.m. GMT8 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Tundra Esports0 – 2Shopify Rebellion
Talon Esports0 – 29Pandas
Entity2 – 0Team Liquid
GROUP BTIME
September 19, 1:30 a.m. GMT +85:30 p.m. GMT10:30 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
OG1 – 1Gaimin Gladiators
BetBoom Team1 – 1Team Spirit
Quest Esports1 – 1Evil Geniuses

September 19

GROUP ATIME
6 p.m. GMT +810 a.m. GMT3 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Talon Esports1 – 1Team Liquid
Entity0 – 2Tundra Esports
9Pandas0 – 2Shopify Rebellion
GROUP BTIME
8:30 p.m. GMT +812:30 p.m. GMT5:30 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
BetBoom Team2 – 0Gaimin Gladiators
OG1 – 1Quest Esports
Team Spirit2 – 0Evil Geniuses
GROUP ATIME
11 p.m. GMT +83 p.m. GMT8 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Shopify Rebellion1 – 1Team Liquid
9Pandas1 – 1Tundra Esports
Entity1 – 1Talon Esports
GROUP BTIME
September 20, 1:30 a.m. GMT +85:30 p.m. GMT10:30 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Team Spirit2 – 0Quest Esports
OG1 – 1BetBoom Team
Evil Geniuses0 – 2Gaimin Gladiators

September 20

GROUP ATIME
6 p.m. GMT +810 a.m. GMT3 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Team Liquid0 – 2Tundra Esports
Shopify Rebellion2 – 0Talon Esports
Entity2 – 09Pandas
GROUP BTIME
8:30 p.m. GMT +812:30 p.m. GMT5:30 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Evil Geniuses1 – 1BetBoom Team
OG0 – 2Team Spirit

September 21

GROUP BTIME
5:30 p.m. GMT +89:30 a.m. GMT2:30 a.m. PT
TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Gaimin Gladiators2 – 0Quest Esports

DreamLeague S21 playoffs schedule and results

September 21

Upper bracket semifinals

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Shopify Rebellion2 – 1BetBoom Team
Team Spirit2 – 0Tundra Esports

September 22

Lower bracket round 1

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Entity2 – 1Gaimin Gladiators
OG2 – 09Pandas

Lower bracket quarterfinal

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
BetBoom Team2 – 0Entity

September 23

Lower bracket quarterfinal

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Tundra Esports1 – 2OG

Upper bracket final

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Shopify Rebellion1 – 2Team Spirit

Lower bracket semifinal

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
BetBoom Team2 – 0OG

September 24

Lower bracket final

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Shopify Rebellion2 – 1BetBoom Team

Grand final

TEAMRESULTSTEAM
Team Spirit3 – 0Shopify Rebellion

(To be updated)

Format of DreamLeague S21

Talon Esports Jabz at the Berlin Major
Credit: Talon Esports

The 12 competing are split into two groups of six, playing a best-of-two round-robin.

The top four teams from each group move on to the playoffs. The last two teams in each group are eliminated.

Teams are seeded according to their positions in the group starge — top two teams in the upper bracket, next two in the lower bracket.

The playoffs are a double-elimination bracket. All matches will be best-of-three, except for the best-of-five grand finals.

DreamLeague S21 prize pool

Berlin Major Gaimin Gladiators Quinn and tofu
Credit: ESL

DreamLeague 20 has a US$1 million prize pool. But arguably, the bigger prize is a direct qualification to the US$15 million Riyadh Masters for the first-placed team.

STANDINGTEAMPRIZE MONEY
1stTeam SpiritUS$300,000
2ndShopify RebellionUS$175,000
3rdBetBoom TeamUS$120,000
4thOGUS$85,000
5th-6thEntity
Tundra Esports		US$57,500
7th-8th9Pandas
Gaimin Gladiators		US$47,500
9th-10thTeam Liquid
Evil Geniuses		US$30,000
11th-12thTalon Esports
Quest Esports		US$25,000

Teams competing in DreamLeague S21

Tundra Esports Topson
Credit: Tundra Esports

12 teams will compete over the next week in this US$1 million tournament. We will be getting our first look at some revamped rosters as well, including Tundra Esports’ new midlaner Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen and OG’s Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov.

  • Gaimin Gladiators
  • Team Liquid
  • Tundra Esports
  • Quest Esports
  • Entity
  • OG
  • Team Spirit
  • 9Pandas
  • BetBoom Team
  • Talon Esports
  • Shopify Rebellion
  • Evil Geniuses

Where to watch DreamLeague S21

You can watch DreamLeague on the official Twitch and YouTube channels.

A total of three Twitch streams will be available during the group stage:

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