New York/Cologne – DreamLeague Season 23 powered by Intel® has come to a riveting conclusion, as Team Falcons take the crown with a commanding 3-0 victory over Gaimin Gladiators, claiming the $300,000 grand prize.
Team Falcons won 6,000 of the 26,100 available ESL Pro Tour (EPT) Points. Team Falcons also won DreamLeague Season 22, making them back-to-back Champions.
Over 260,000* viewers witnessed Team Falcons claim victory, with the overall tournament seeing well over 9 million hours watched throughout its week-long duration.
With DreamLeague Season 23 concluded, the EPT Leaderboard is now final, meaning the top eight teams qualifying directly to Riyadh Masters from July 4-21 have been decided. The teams, in order of points, are: Team Falcons, BetBoom Team, Xtreme Gaming, Gaimin Gladiators, Team Liquid, OG, Tundra Esports and Team Spirit.
Riyadh Masters is part of the Esports World Cup (EWC), and will conclude the ESL Pro Tour Season 2. EWC promises to be an action-packed spectacle, gathering the world’s premier esports athletes as it searches for the first Club World Champion. Spanning across multiple game titles, the summer festival boasts the largest prize pool in EWC history at $60,000,000+ – of which an eyewatering $5,000,000 for the Dota 2 tournament – while simultaneously offering fans an unparalleled experience of esports and gaming excellence. More information about EWC is available on https://esportsworldcup.com/.
Group Stage
Season 23 of the longest-running Dota 2 league kicked off on May 20 with 12 teams split into two even groups, competing in a round robin format. This first phase of the online tournament saw Gaimin Gladiators and Team Falcons dominate their respective groups, with neither team losing a match.
Xtreme Gaming took second place in Group A, proceeding directly to the Upper Bracket Semifinals alongside Gaimin Gladiators. Aurora and HEROIC then took the other two spots in the Playoffs with respective scores of 5-5 and 4-6, knocking Team Liquid and PSG Quest out of the competition.
Group B, on the other hand, saw Tundra Esports take second place and advance to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, with ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 winners Azure Ray and DreamLeague Season 22 runners-up BetBoom Team taking the last two Playoffs spots with matching scores of 4-6. Natus Vincere and Shopify Rebellion were therefore knocked out, taking 5th and 6th place in the group with matching scores of 3-7.
Playoffs
The first day of the Playoffs saw Group Stage leaders Gaimin Gladiators and Team Falcons once again show off their prowess, securing 2-0 wins against their opponents in the Upper Bracket Semifinals with relative ease.
Day 2 saw three lower bracket matches take place, with BetBoom Team and Azure Ray making it through round 1, and BetBoom Team continuing with their momentum to beat Tundra Esports in the Lower Bracket Quarterfinal.
The lower bracket matches continued into Day 3, with Xtreme Gaming knocking out Azure Ray in the second Lower Bracket Quarterfinal, before losing to BetBoom Team in the Lower Bracket Semifinal. The Upper Bracket Final also took place on this day, and following a dominant performance, Gaimin Gladiators won 2-0 and secured the first Grand Final spot for themselves.
The final day kicked off with the Lower Bracket Final, serving as a re-match of sorts between DreamLeague Season 22 winners Team Falcons and runners-up BetBoom Team. Both teams put on a show for the fans, trading wins, before Team Falcons ultimately triumphed 2-1 and moved onto the Grand Final.
Grand Finals
The Grand Final then saw Gaimin Gladiators and Team Falcons go head-to-head in a best-of-5 matchup. Despite their 0-2 loss against Gaimin Gladiators in the Upper Bracket Final, Team Falcons put on an impressive performance, winning the first game in less than 30 minutes. While the next two games were tougher for Team Falcons, they proved their worth in team fights over and over again, eventually securing a 3-0 sweep over Gaimin Gladiators and being crowned DreamLeague Champions for the second time in a row.
“A big reason why I think we’re a strong team is because we focus on the small stuff,” said Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu from Team Falcons. “I think it adds up over time. It’s about having the right building blocks.”
Next on the horizon for Dota 2 fans is Riyadh Masters, which will take place at the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) from July 4-21. The event will mark the end of ESL Pro Tour Season 2, and a third season is set to kick off online on October 27 with DreamLeague Season 24. ESL One Asia powered by Intel® will also be taking place with a week-long in-person tournament from December 9-15.
For more details about the ESL Pro Tour for Dota 2, head over to the official website, and follow ESL Dota 2 on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
*According to escharts.com.
***
Assets for DreamLeague Season 23 can be found in the DreamLeague Season 23 press kit.
About ESL FACEIT Group
ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) is the leading esports and video game entertainment company dedicated to creating worlds beyond gameplay where players and fans become community. EFG is built on a legacy of world-renowned brands including ESL, FACEIT, DreamHack and DreamHack Sports Games, providing innovative ecosystems for global communities of players, fans and creators around the games they love. Working alongside leading partners, brands and global IPs, EFG operates an unmatched portfolio of live events, digital platforms and developer tools that reach and engage millions of gamers worldwide. For more information visit www.eslfaceitgroup.com.
About ESL
ESL creates a world where everybody can be somebody. For more than two decades, we have been shaping the industry and leading esports and gaming innovation globally across the most popular video games, creating a comprehensive ecosystem with opportunities for players to go from zero to hero and for fans to witness the best stories esports has to offer. The ESL portfolio consists of high-profile products such as the ESL Pro Tour, Intel® Extreme Masters, the Snapdragon Pro Series, and many more, ranging from grassroots to global elite competitions. ESL is part of ESL FACEIT Group, the leading esports and video game entertainment company.
About DreamLeague
Founded by DreamHack in 2013, DreamLeague is one of the oldest Dota 2 brands and features the best teams from around the globe. The league is among the longest running Dota 2 leagues, celebrating its 20th season this year. Since 2023, DreamLeague is hosted online as part of the ESL Pro Tour for Dota 2 and has millions of US dollars in prize money up for grabs every year (https://pro.eslgaming.com/dreamleague/).
