The iconic, long-running Dota 2 tournament series from ESL Gaming returns on May 20, 2024, with DreamLeague Season 23. It features the best teams from each region and a massive prize pool of $1 million. As if that’s not thrilling enough, you can put your Dota 2 esports knowledge to the test and bet on DreamLeague Season 23 matches right here at Thunderpick.
Let’s take a closer look at DreamLeague Season 23, the event’s schedule, format, competing teams, and how you can watch all the Dota 2 esports action live. We’ll finish our guide with betting predictions, including our top four picks.
Check out the latest Dota 2 betting odds, or visit our Dota 2 betting guide for tips on making your DreamLeague Season 23 picks.
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DreamLeague Season 23 Schedule & Format
DreamLeague Season 23 is an online event played on the Europe West servers and forms part of the ESL Pro Tour (EPT). There are two stages of competition for teams to survive.
The Group Stage runs from May 20 to May 22, 2024. It will feature 12 teams split into two groups of six, competing in a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each group advance directly to the upper bracket of the Playoffs Stage, while the 3rd and 4th place teams from each group advance to the lower bracket. The rest of the teams in each group are eliminated. All matches are best-of-two, so we may see some tiebreaker matches!
From May 23 to May 26, 2024, the eight remaining teams will compete in the DreamLeague Season 23 Playoffs Stage, which features a double-elimination bracket format. All matches in the Playoffs stage are best-of-three, except for the Grand Final, which is best-of-five.
For precise match start times in your region for all stages of competition, we recommend checking out our Dota 2 section.
How To Watch DreamLeague Season 23
You can watch all the DreamLeague Season 23 Dota 2 esports action here at Thunderpick. We pride ourselves on providing users with a convenient platform where they can watch all the biggest Dota 2 matches while placing wagers via our intuitive betslip.
Log in with your Thunderpick account, navigate to our Dota 2 betting section, and select a DreamLeague Season 23 match. The stream will automatically appear on the left side when a match starts, with the betslip on the right, featuring live score and odds updates. To increase the stream size, click the “Live Mode” button above the stream. We strive to make it as easy and convenient as possible!
Alternatively, watch DreamLeague Season 23 via the official ESL_DOTA2 Twitch or ESL Dota 2 YouTube channels.
Teams Competing In DreamLeague Season 23
The DreamLeague Season 23 team list comprises the top four squads from the EPT Leaderboard and eight teams that fought their way through regional qualifiers. Below is a list of all 12 competing teams, including their EPT ranking that earned them an invite or which regional qualifier they competed in to claim a spot at the main event.
- BetBoom Team (1st in EPT)
- Team Falcons (2nd in EPT)
- Xtreme Gaming (3rd in EPT)
- Gaimin Gladiators (4th in EPT)
- Tundra Esports (Western Europe qualifier)
- Natus Vincere (Eastern Europe qualifier)
- Team Liquid (Western Europe qualifier)
- Shopify Rebellion (North American qualifier)
- PSG Quest (MENA qualifier)
- Aurora (SEA qualifier)
- HEROIC (South American qualifier)
- Azure Ray (China qualifier)
As you can see, DreamLeague Season 23 features some of the best Dota 2 esports teams globally.
Our Predictions For DreamLeague Season 23
Predicting the outcome of such a big event is both thrilling and daunting. When you take stock of who’s competing, it feels like any team could lift the trophy. Plus, who knows if upsets will occur?!
We’ve channeled our inner Oracle and consulted our crystal ball to make our predictions for DreamLeague Season 23. You’ll find our top four picks below, along with their rosters and explanations for why we picked these specific teams.
Please note: Our DreamLeague Season 23 predictions are based on team form, rankings, historical data, current trends, and a healthy dose of the author’s expert opinion. Readers should not interpret these predictions as betting advice to act upon. Always gamble responsibly. You must be 18+ to play.
1. Team Falcons
As defending champions, Team Falcons is the squad to beat and a clear favorite to take home the gold. Odds and current team form indicate a high chance Team Falcons will continue dominating their opponents. The squad also already has three big tournament wins in 2024: BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, DreamLeague Season 22, and ESL One Birmingham 2024.
Team Falcons roster:
- Oliver “skiter” Lepko
- Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak
- Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf
- Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen
- Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun
2. Xtreme Gaming
Chinese juggernaut Xtreme Gaming is the biggest threat to Team Falcons. They proved as much on April 14, 2024, when the team smashed Team Falcons 3-1 in the Grand Final of Elite League to claim the first-place prize of $300,000.
The team’s current form is a bit questionable. They dropped out of ESL One Birmingham 2024 in the first round of the Playoffs, suffering a devastating reverse sweep at the hands of G2 x iG. However, if the core members of Xtreme Gaming, like legendary carry Ame, can shake off the recent loss, the DreamLeague Season 23 trophy is within their reach.
Xtreme Gaming roster:
- Wang “Ame” Chunyu
- Guo “Xm” Hongcheng
- Lin “Xxs” Jing
- Zhao “XinQ” Zixing
- Ding “Dy” Cong
3. Team Liquid
Consider Team Liquid’s top-three finish as our bold betting prediction for this tournament. That said, it isn’t that bold of a prediction, because we saw some strong form from the team at ESL One Birmingham 2024.
Team Liquid got knocked out in 5th/6th place by Team Falcons, the eventual winner of ESL One Birmingham 2024, after a thrilling and exceptionally close reverse sweep. That’s why we think Team Liquid is arguably stronger than many suspect—and recent results certainly indicate that.
Team Liquid roster:
- Michael “miCKe” Vu
- Michał “Nisha” Jankowski
- Neta “33” Shapira
- Samuel “Boxi” Svahn
- Aydin “Insania” Sarkohi
4. BetBoom Team
As the runner-up at DreamLeague Season 22 and ESL One Birmingham 2024, the BetBoom Team’s strong form is undeniable. They’re one of the top-rated teams heading into Season 23, and many fans expect them to make it to the Grand Final.
But there’s one issue. Their performance at an online event, Elite League, in April 2024 does leave some doubt about their current form, because they couldn’t make it out of the Group Stage. And that’s precisely why we’ve chosen a 4th-place finish for BetBoom at DreamLeague Season 23.
BetBoom Team roster:
- Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko
- Danil “gpk” Skutin
- Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko
- Vitalie “Save-” Melnic
- Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek
Final Notes On DreamLeague Season 23
While we anticipate that these four teams will go the distance in this tournament, we also know it’s really anyone’s game when you consider the level of talent at play here. And that fact alone has left us super-excited to watch the action unfold starting on May 20, because who knows what upsets we may see! These really are some of the best teams in the world, and you know they’re going to bring their top form for such a huge event like DreamLeague Season 23.
Want to get in on the excitement, too? Be sure to visit our Dota 2 betting page to learn how you can place wagers on this tournament’s matches as they happen.
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