DreamLeague Season 13 Preview

The second major of the season in Dota 2 will be decided and this time Leipzig, Germany and DreamHack will be in attendance. The tournament usually includes 16 teams chasing both the big prize pool, but also the incredibly important DPC points that can lead to direct qualification for The International 10. What distinguishes this major from others is that it is the first really big tournament to be played on the the latest patch, 7.23, which brought with it major changes in the game in the form of, among other things, Outposts, neutral items, all players starting with a courier and a lot of other things. It promises a tournament where we will see the teams fight to find the best strategies in the new meta and game.

Qualified Teams

• Alliance
• Chaos Esports Club
• Evil Geniuses
• Fnatic
• Invictus Gaming
• Natus Vincere
• Reality Rift
• TNC Predator
• Team Aster
• Team Liquid
• Team Secret
• Vici Gaming
• Virtus.Pro
• Beast Coast
• paiN Gaming
• TBD (Winner of Bukovel Minor)

Prize Pool

1st $300,000

2nd $160,000

3rd $110,000

4th $80,000

5th-6th $60,000

7th-8th $ 40,000

9th-12th $25,000

13th-16th $2,500

Format

Group stage

• The participants are divided into four groups of four teams each.
• Played in GSL format.
• All matches are best of three.
• The top two teams go to the playoffs upper bracket.
• The two worst teams go to the playoffs lower bracket.

Playoffs

• Double elimination.
• The first round of the lower bracket is best played by one.
• The finals are best played by five.
• Remaining matches are best played by three.

Expectations

Favorites

Team Secret

There are two clear favorites coming to this major and the first is Team Secret. The results of their last tournament should not be taken very seriously as the team did not play at full five. At that time, former Secret player Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng replaced one of the team's stars in Yazied "YapzOr" Jaradat who was unable to participate. Despite this, Vici Gaming was pushed to its limit before Secret was knocked out. It is a message of strength in itself and with full crew the team should have good chances to go all the way in Leipzig. In addition, the team has had plenty of time to play with its new mid laner Lasse "Matumbaman" Urpalainen.

Vici Gaming

The Chinese are used to being favorites for almost every tournament since a year ago and even if a change has taken place in the team hold the highest class. The win in ONE Esports that was played in Singapore was impressive especially as the team grew several snaps during the tournament. In the final, Evil Geniuses were defeated by a clear 3-0 dominant performance. Anything but a final in this major may be considered a disappointment for Vici Gaming.

Questionable at Best

Invictus Gaming

The team has since emerged its superior victory in Dota Summit 11 as China's third best team. The only question that remains is whether the team could possibly upset the two giants Vici Gaming and PSG.LGD? It is not impossible in the long run as the team consists of young promising players along with the experience of Hu "Kaka" Liangzhi. Above all, it is Zhou "Emo" Yi who, through his play in the mid lane, received incredible praise. If the team can get all the parts together and rub away the mistakes that have been seen too much, this team will be deadly. We could say that the team follows up their third place in the last major with the same results here.

TNC.Predator

Since the South Korean Park "March" Tae-won joined the team last fall, it has been something of a roller coaster for the team. That they picked Southeast Asia's first victory in a major in MDL Chengdu was a fantastic result for the team, but it was followed up with a weak qualification to this particular major where it was close to the team boom. In the end, the task was solved and the question is whether or not the team's faltering effort was largely due to lack of time to play the new patch in which it was speculated. Not by any means a favorite to win DreamLeague, but this team can set up for anything. It is a force that usually takes them a long way and this time is not an exception.

Our Underdog

Nigma

The newly created organization that consists of the players from the former Team Liquid has not had a dream start under its new banner. The team did not take the chance of a live spot for DreamLeague season 13 but instead had to qualify for the minor. This is also where the team starts their journey, but the possibility is very high that the team wins the tournament played in Bukovel, Ukraine and thus gets the last place for the major. Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi, Maroun “GH” Merhej, Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi, Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov and Aliwi “w33” Omar is a standout that puts terror in any opponent and their final place in TI9 proves which incredible strength the team possesses. A less good start may raise some concern, but this team should be able to challenge the world top without discussion. Does this organization's journey towards being the stars of Leipzig begin? 

We think so.