DreamLeague Season 9 schedule, teams and format

A viewer favorite is making its return this week with the DreamLeague Season 9 LAN finals. Renown for its fun mix of personalities and experimental content in a high-quality production setting, DreamLeague will bring eight of the top teams in the competitive Dota scene together in Stockholm. Two teams were invited due to high Qualifying Points, and the other six are winners of the DreamLeague regional qualifiers.

This major and the GESC Indonesia Dota 2 Minor have been warm-ups for a few of the teams planning to attend the upcoming Dota 2 Asia Championships, a Chinese Dota 2 Major. Indeed, Team Liquid will make an appearance here in Stockholm after a substantially okay run at the Bucharest Major, where they fell to top performers Virtus.Pro.

Notably, this will be OG Dota’s first event since rotating out Roman “Resolut1on” Fominok. Due to the nature of the Dota Pro Circuit, OG lost all their TI8-valid Qualifying Points after the roster change, but any tier-one or tier-two needs their income somehow. Also showing up with a fresh face is North America’s Immortals, which recruited Kim “Velo” Tae-Sung and Eric “Ryoya” Dong to mix up the formerly all-Korean roster.

Still, it’s a Dota Pro Circuit Minor, which means there’s plenty at stake. A pot of $300,000 USD will be split among the winning teams, as well as 300 Qualifying Points accordingly.

If you want to catch the action, we’ve got your schedule below.

Format

Official Stream: twitch.tv/dotapit

Prizes: The prize pool will be $300,00 USD with 300 Qualifying Points at stake. Point distribution for teams that earn points will be as follows:

• 1st Place — $125,000 team prize, 150 Qualifying Points/player
• 2nd Place — $70,000 team prize, 90 QP/Player
• 3rd Place — $45,000 team prize, 15 QP/Player
• 4th Place — $30,000 team prize, 5 QP/Player

If you’re still a bit confused about how the Pro Circuit will work, check out our primer about the Valve-sanctioned tournament series.

Competition Format: This event works in a randomly-seeded double-elimination bracket.

1. All teams start in the upper bracket.
2. When a team wins, they continue in the upper bracket.
3. When they lose, they fall to the lower bracket and play other teams that have fallen into this bracket.
4. All lower bracket matches are elimination matches.

This year, the Upper Bracket finals will take place on Saturday afternoon, and the Lower Bracket finals will occur on Sunday. Finals will happen on Sunday as well.

Teams:

• Fnatic (Southeast Asia)
• Immortals (North America, Qualifiers)
• Newbee (China, Qualifiers)
• OG Dota (Europe, Qualifiers)
• paiN Gaming (South America, Qualifiers)
• Team Empire (Commonwealth of Independent States, Qualifiers)
• Team Liquid (Europe, Direct Invite)
• Team Secret (Europe, Direct Invite)

via Liquipedia

Schedule:

(Note: All times are approximate and will shift depending on match length.)

Wednesday, March 21

1. 10:30 AM CET (5:30 AM ET) — OG (EU) vs Fnatic (SEA)
2. 1:30 PM CET (8:30 AM ET)— Newbee (CN) vs Immortals (NA)
3. 4:30 PM CET (11:30 AM ET) — Team Secret (EU) vs Team Empire (CIS)
4. 7:30 PM CET (2:30 PM ET) — Team Liquid (EU) vs paiN Gaming (SA)

Thursday, March 22

1. 10:30 AM CET (5:30 AM ET) — Lower Bracket Round 1 Match 1
2. 1:30 PM CET (8:30 AM ET)— Lower Bracket Round 1 Match 2
3. 4:30 PM CET (11:30 AM ET) — Upper Bracket Semifnals Match 1
4. 7:30 PM CET (2:30 PM ET) — Upper Bracket Semifinals Match 2

Friday, March 23

1. 1:30 PM CET (8:30 AM ET) — Lower Bracket Round 2 Match 1
2. 4:30 PM CET (11:30 AM ET) — Lower Bracket Round 2 Match 2
3. 7:30 PM CET (2:30 PM ET) — Upper Bracket Finals

Wednesday, March 21

• 4:30 PM CET (11:30 AM ET) — Lower Bracket Semifinals
• 7:30 PM CET (2:30 PM ET) — Lower Bracket Finals

Wednesday, March 21

• 4:30 PM CET (11:30 AM ET) — Grand Finals [Best of Five]