DreamLeague S20 stage 2 preview

Stage 1 of DreamLeague S20 is over and stage 2 is scheduled to start on June 16. This stage will only feature eight teams, four of which will qualify for the playoffs. Seven of these eight teams are already known and the eight will be decided via a tiebreaker.

DreamLeague S20 started with 16 strong teams but now we’re left only with the best of them. Before the tournament began, competitors like Shopify Rebellion, Team Liquid, and Tundra Esports were expected to qualify for stage 2 with ease. But now the first two of them are out of the race and the third will need to win a tough tiebreaker on June 15.

Here’s the Day 4 Group Stage standings for DreamLeague Season 20! Tiebreaks will be decided tomorrow.#ESLProTour pic.twitter.com/9GdERWSmRi

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) June 14, 2023

Stage 2 participants and favorites

Here are the teams that will compete in stage of DreamLeague S20:

• LGD
• Talon Esports
• Team Spirit
• 9Pandas
• BetBoom Team
• Gaimin Gladiators
• Team Aster
• Team Secret / Tundra Esports / Evil Geniuses

Finally, after a long period of disappointment for the Chinese region, we have two Chinese Dota 2 teams in the top eight of a big tournament. We also have three Eastern European teams!

For Western Europe, this competition hasn’t been a good one. Only Gaimin Gladiators managed to survive stage 1. Potentially, Secret or Tundra will also qualify for stage 2. But both teams are struggling right now and that might give Evil Geniuses an opportunity to steal their spot.

If EG qualify, South America would have a team in the top eight. North America has already failed, but under unfavorable conditions. Shopify Rebellion had to play with a stand-in, which is almost always a bad idea.

For Southeast Asia, Talon Esports did much better than everyone had hoped and finished stage 1 with a record of 1 W – 6 D – 0 L.

The favorites in stage 2 are PSG.LGD, 9Pandas, BetBoom, and Gaimin Gladiators. All of these teams are really hard to beat in a best-of-three and the second stage of the tournament will feature only bo3 matches.

Fortunately for the viewers and the participants, the competitive format will allow us to watch a lot of great matches. Thanks to the round-robin format, the best teams will rise to the surface no matter what happens.

In a single-elimination or even a double-elimination format, it’s very easy to get very unlucky. But when you get the opportunity to play a best-of-three match against every single team in the race, there’s no excuse.

Header: ESL