Dreamleague Season 20: three teams tied for first place after three series
22 June 2023
Everyone in the world of international esports and the fans of Dota 2 in particular are anxiously waiting for the Riyadh Masters 2023 and not just because it’s the final event of the revamped Electronic Sports League (ESL) Pro Tour 2023. That is because there is also the small matter of the prize money, which at $ 15 million in total is the highest ever for any championship outside of the Dota Pro Circuit organization. From July 17th to July 30th, 2023, twenty of the best Dota 2 teams in the world will be competing for millions of dollars’ worth of prize money in the capital of Saudi Arabia. There are different routes to qualifying for this event and one of them is for teams to make it to the final of Dreamleague Season 20, which has just gotten underway. Below we’ll take a quick look at the action so far.
Tight start to Dreamleague Season 20
As usual, a total of eight teams qualified for the newest season of Dreamleague and after the first three series, it looks like it’s going to be another very tight one. At the moment of writing, three teams are actually sharing first place, with those teams being Russian organization BetBoom Team, Chinese team PSG.LGD and Hong Kong organization Talon Esports. They are followed by four teams with one victory so far, namely Serbian organization 9Pandas, American team Evil Geniuses, European organization Gaimin Gladiators and Russian team Team Spirit. At the moment of writing, Chinese esports organization Team Aster occupies the last place due to them not having been able to bring home a victory yet during Dream Season 20.
During the opening series of Dreamleague Season 20, Talon Esports has emerged as the big surprise so far. While BetBoom Esports and PSG.LGD were considered to be amongst the favorites from day one, Talon’s current favorable position was not expected by many. The fact that the Hong Kong side has seen different players on its roster shine during the first three series only adds to the hope that they might make it to the final two and therefore, the Riyadh Masters 2023.
In the encounter against 9Pandas, for example, it was second-position Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman who stole the show in his Windranger as he finished with an impressive 18-1-11 score, helping his team to a comfortable 2-0 victory. A day earlier, it was Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon who shone and finished the game with a perfect 16-0-8 score. These two series were won by Talon, whole the only defeat until now came against Evil Geniuses on Friday, June 16th.
Next stop Riyadh
Besides the prize money, the competitors during Dreamleague Season 20 are also fighting for one of the two starting spots for the upcoming Riyadh Masters 2023. The numbers one and two get to travel to Saudi Arabia after cashing prizes of $ 300.000 and $ 175.000, respectively. Apart from the two Dreamleague 20 finalists, the Riyadh Masters 2023 will also feature one side from Dreamleague Season 19, the top five average placed teams from both Seasons 19 and 20, eleven teams based on the EPT Ranking System and one team from a MENA qualifier.