DreamLeague Season 26 will be the last chance for teams to qualify for this year’s Dota 2 championship in the Esports World Cup 2025. With 29,200 EPT Points available for teams to secure qualification to EWC, the qualified teams have everything to play for. Every team’s performance in this tournament will also play a big part in receiving an invite to The International 2025.
Featuring a prize pool of $1,000,000, DreamLeague 26 will set up the road to The International with only a few tournaments remaining for teams to showcase their prowess for an invitation to TI14. Given that Patch 7.38 was released almost three months ago, we might get to see a new patch around the time of the tournament.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 2 tournament.
Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 26 teams
Sixteen teams will compete for the Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 26 trophy. While four teams have qualified directly based on their EPT points, the remaining 12 teams had to go through regional qualifiers to secure a place at the tournament. Here’s the full list of teams and their roster, along with how they qualified for DreamLeague Season 26:
| Team | Roster | Qualification process |
|---|---|---|
| PARIVISION | Satanic, No[o]ne-, DM, 9Class, Dukalis | EPT Points |
| BetBoom Team | Pure-, gpk, MieRo`, Save-, Kataomi` | EPT Points |
| Team Falcons | skiter, Malr1ne, ATF, Cr1t-, Sneyking | EPT Points |
| Team Liquid | miCKe, Nisha, SaberLight, Boxi, Insania | EPT Points |
| NAVI Junior | gotthejuice, Niku, pma, Zayac, Riddys | Regional Qualifiers – Western Europe |
| Gaimin Gladiators | watson, Quinn, Ace, tOfu, Malady | Regional Qualifiers – Western Europe |
| AVULUS | Smiling Knight, Mo13ei, Xibbe, dEsire, SoNNeikO | Regional Qualifiers – Western Europe |
| Aurora Gaming | Nightfall, kiyotaka, TORONTOTOKYO, Mira, panto | Regional Qualifiers – Eastern Europe |
| Nigma Galaxy | Ghost, SumaiL, No!ob, Omar, GH | Regional Qualifiers – MESWA |
| BOOM Esports | JaCkky, Armel, Jabz, TIMS, Jaunuel | Regional Qualifiers – Southeast Asia |
| Talon Esports | TBD, Mikoto, Ws, Jhocam, Kuku | Regional Qualifiers – Southeast Asia |
| Shopify Rebellion | Timado, Yopaj, Pakazs, Hellscream, skem | Regional Qualifiers – North America |
| OG.LATAM | K1, DarkMago, ILICH-, Elmisho, MoOz | Regional Qualifiers – South America |
| Edge | payk, PiPi, Vitaly, Michael, Yadomi | Regional Qualifiers – South America |
| Xtreme Gaming | Ame, Xm, Xxs, XinQ, poloson | Regional Qualifiers – China |
| Yakult Brothers | flyfly, Emo, zeal, Pyw, Oli- | Regional Qualifiers – China |
Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 26 schedule and format
Similar to previous iterations of DreamLeague, Season 26 will feature two separate group stages before heading to the playoffs. The first group stage will kick off on May 19, 2025, from where the top eight teams will make their way into the second group stage, while the bottom eight teams will be eliminated from the tournament.
A total of four teams will make their way into the playoffs after the second group stage, as the top two placed teams will fight it out in the upper-bracket final for a spot in the Grand Final. However, the third and fourth-placed teams from the second group stage will start their playoff journey from the lower-bracket semi-final, while all the teams placed between fifth and eighth in the second group stage will be eliminated after this point.
Here’s the full schedule for all the matches from the first group stage of the tournament:
Group A
| Match | Date | Time (CDT) |
|---|---|---|
| Team Liquid 0-2 BetBoom Team | May 19 | 5am |
| Nigma Galaxy 2-0 Shopify Rebellion | May 19 | 5am |
| Xtreme Gaming 1-1 BOOM Esports | May 19 | 5am |
| Aurora 1-1 OG.LATAM | May 19 | 5am |
| Team Liquid 2-0 Nigma Galaxy | May 19 | 10am |
| BOOM Esports 0-2 Aurora Gaming | May 19 | 10am |
| OG.LATAM 1-1 BetBoom Team | May 19 | 10am |
| Shopify Rebellion 2-0 Xtreme Gaming | May 19 | 10am |
| Nigma Galaxy 1-1 Aurora Gaming | May 20 | 5am |
| Shopify Rebellion 1-1 BetBoom Team | May 20 | 5am |
| Team Liquid 1-1 Xtreme Gaming | May 20 | 5am |
| BOOM Esports 2-0 OG.LATAM | May 20 | 5am |
| Team Liquid 0-2 Aurora Gaming | May 20 | 10am |
| Nigma Galaxy 2-0 OG.LATAM | May 20 | 10am |
| Xtreme Gaming 1-1 BetBoom Team | May 20 | 10am |
| Shopify Rebellion 0-2 BOOM Esports | May 20 | 10am |
| BetBoom Team 1-1 Aurora Gaming | May 21 | 5am |
| Team Liquid 1-1 Shopify Rebellion | May 21 | 5am |
| BOOM Esports 0-2 Nigma Galaxy | May 21 | 5am |
| OG.LATAM 1-1 Xtreme Gaming | May 21 | 5am |
| BetBoom Team 0-2 Nigma Galaxy | May 21 | 10am |
| OG.LATAM 0-2 Shopify Rebellion | May 21 | 10am |
| Team Liquid 2-0 BOOM Esports | May 21 | 10am |
| Aurora Gaming 2-0 Xtreme Gaming | May 21 | 10am |
| Xtreme Gaming 1-1 Nigma Galaxy | May 22 | 5am |
| Team Liquid 2-0 OG.LATAM |
May 22 |
5am |
| BetBoom Team 2-0 BOOM Esports |
May 22 |
5am |
| Aurora Gaming 1-1 Shopify Rebellion |
May 22 |
5am |
Group B
| Match | Date | Time (CDT) |
|---|---|---|
| PARIVISION 2-0 Team Falcons | May 19 | 7:30am |
| Yakult Brothers 1-1 NAVI Junior | May 19 | 7:30am |
| Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 Edge | May 19 | 7:30am |
| AVULUS 1-1 Talon Esports | May 19 | 7:30am |
| Team Falcons 1-1 Gaimin Gladiators | May 19 | 12:30pm |
| NAVI Junior 2-0 AVULUS | May 19 | 12:30pm |
| PARIVISION 1-1 Talon Esports | May 19 | 12:30pm |
| Edge 0-2 Yakult Brothers | May 19 | 12:30pm |
| Talon Esports 0-2 Team Falcons | May 20 | 7:30am |
| PARIVISION 1-1 Yakult Brothers | May 20 | 7:30am |
| AVULUS 0-2 Gaimin Gladiators | May 20 | 7:30am |
| NAVI Junior 0-2 Edge | May 20 | 7:30am |
| PARIVISION 2-0 Gaimin Gladiators | May 20 | 12:30pm |
| Yakult Brothers 2-0 Team Falcons | May 20 | 12:30pm |
| Talon Esports 2-0 NAVI Junior | May 20 | 12:30pm |
| AVULUS 2-0 Edge | May 20 | 12:30pm |
| PARIVISION 2-0 AVULUS | May 21 | 7:30am |
| NAVI Junior 2-0 Gaimin Gladiators | May 21 | 7:30am |
| Edge 0-2 Team Falcons | May 21 | 7:30am |
| Talon Esports 2-0 Yakult Brothers | May 21 | 7:30am |
| Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Yakult Brothers | May 21 | 12:30pm |
| PARIVISION 2-0 NAVI Junior | May 21 | 12:30pm |
| Team Falcons 1-1 AVULUS | May 21 | 12:30pm |
| Edge 1-1 Talon Esports | May 21 | 12:30pm |
| Yakult Brothers 2-0 AVULUS | May 22 | 7:30am |
| Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Talon Esports |
May 22 |
7:30am |
| Team Falcons 1-1 NAVI Junior |
May 22 |
7:30am |
| PARIVISION 2-0 Edge |
May 22 |
7:30am |
Group Stage 1 tiebreaker
| Match | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gaimin Gladiators 2-1 Team Falcons | May 22 | 5am |
Group Stage 1 standings
Group A
| Standing | Team | Bo2 score (overall score) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aurora Gaming | 3-4-0 (10-4) |
| 2 | Nigma Galaxy | 4-2-1 (10-4) |
| 3 | BetBoom Team | 2-4-1 (8-6) |
| 4 | Team Liquid | 3-2-2 (8-6) |
| 5 | Shopify Rebellion | 2-3-2 (7-7) |
| 6 | Xtreme Gaming | 0-5-2 (5-9) |
| 7 | BOOM Esports | 2-1-4 (5-9) |
| 8 | OG.LATAM | 0-3-4 (3-11) |
Group B
| Standing | Team | Bo2 score (overall score) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PARIVISION | 5-2-0 (12-2) |
| 2 | Yakult Brothers | 3-3-1 (9-5) |
| 3 | Talon Esports | 2-4-1 (8-6) |
| 4 | Gaimin Gladiators (Won tiebreaker) | 2-3-2 (7-7) |
| 5 | Team Falcons (Lost tiebreaker) | 2-3-2 (7-7) |
| 6 | NAVI Junior | 2-2-3 (6-8) |
| 7 | AVULUS | 1-2-4 (4-10) |
| 8 | Edge | 1-1-5 (3-11) |
The top four teams from both groups will head into the second group stage while the bottom four teams will be eliminated. Here are the fixtures for the second group stage:
Group Stage 2
| Match | Date | Time (CDT) |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora Gaming vs BetBoom Team | May 23 | 4:30am |
| Yakult Brothers vs Team Liquid | May 23 | 7:30am |
| Gaimin Gladiators vs Nigma Galaxy | May 23 | 10:30am |
| Talon Esports vs PARIVISION | May 23 | 1:30pm |
| Yakult Brothers vs Nigma Galaxy | May 24 | 4:30am |
| Talon Esports vs Gaimin Gladiators | May 24 | 7:30am |
| Aurora Gaming vs Team Liquid | May 24 | 10:30am |
| BetBoom Team vs PARIVISION | May 24 | 1:30pm |
| Nigma Galaxy vs Talon Esports | May 25 | 4:30am |
| PARIVISION vs Yakult Brothers | May 25 | 7:30am |
| Aurora Gaming vs Gaimin Gladiators | May 25 | 10:30am |
| Team Liquid vs BetBoom Team | May 25 | 1:30pm |
| Aurora Gaming vs Talon Esports | May 26 | 4:30am |
| Nigma Galaxy vs BetBoom Team | May 26 | 7:30am |
| Gaimin Gladiators vs Yakult Brothers | May 26 | 10:30am |
| PARIVISION vs Team Liquid | May 26 | 1:30pm |
| Yakult Brothers vs Talon Esports | May 27 | 4:30am |
| Aurora Gaming vs PARIVISION | May 27 | 7:30am |
| Team Liquid vs Nigma Galaxy | May 27 | 10:30am |
| BetBoom Team vs Gaimin Gladiators | May 27 | 1:30pm |
| Aurora Gaming vs Yakult Brothers | May 28 | 4:30am |
| Talon Esports vs BetBoom Team | May 28 | 7:30am |
| Gaimin Gladiators vs Team Liquid | May 28 | 10:30am |
| Nigma Galaxy vs PARIVISION | May 28 | 1:30pm |
| Team Liquid vs Talon Esports | May 29 | 4:30am |
| BetBoom Team vs Yakult Brothers | May 29 | 7:30am |
| Aurora Gaming vs Nigma Galaxy | May 29 | 10:30am |
| PARIVISION vs Gaimin Gladiators | May 29 | 1:30pm |
All the matches from the first group stage featured best-of-twos, and teams have moved on to the next round based on their performances. The second group stage features eight teams playing best-of-threes against each other, with the top two teams making it into the upper bracket, and the third and fourth placed teams into the lower bracket while the bottom four teams are eliminated from the tournament.
We will update this section with the results and standings as the matches from the second group stage progress. Additionally, the schedule for the playoffs will be revealed as we complete the second group stage of DreamLeague Season 26.
Where to watch the Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 26
DreamLeague is famous for streaming multiple matches simultaneously during the group stage. You can catch all of these matches live across the various Twitch channels of ESL as listed here:
You can also check out all the VODs of the matches on the ESL Dota 2 YouTube channel.
