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Dota 2: DreamLeague Season 11 Major Overview

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Dota 2: DreamLeague Season 11 Major Overview

Just a few days after the end of StarLadder ImbaTV Minor and WESG 2018-2019, now it’s time to focus on the third Major of the 2018/2019 Pro Circuit: DreamLeague Season 11 in Stockholm, Sweden. Sixteen of the best teams in the world will be fighting for that sweet $1,000,000 prize pool as well as 15,000 DPC points. This will be the second event for DreamLeague for this DPC season and their second Valve Major overall. Let's get started!

Format

Fifteen out of sixteen teams got their Major spot through regional qualifiers. Three come from Europe, China, and NA. Two teams each entered from the CIS, Southeast Asia, and South American regions. The last contender is the StarLadder’s Minor champion – Vici Gaming.

The group stage will take place on the 14th and 15th of March. The teams will be divided into four groups of four. The top two will advance to the Upper Bracket, and the bottom two are going to the lower bracket of the playoffs. All games here are best of threes.

The double-elimination playoffs start on March 16. All games are Bo3's except for the Grand Final and the first round of the Lower Bracket.

Group A

The first group in the Major is also the strongest one. Of course, the main teams to look out for are Team Secret and Team Liquid.

Secret is considered to be the best team in the world right now. Their most recent performance further proves that claim. The good news for them is that they have already secured their spot for TI 9. The only thing left for them is to enjoy the remaining events and perhaps experiment with some different combos.

Coming in second is Team Liquid. Kuroky and his team-mates have been the most consistent team two years in a row now. They managed to win MDL Macau just a few weeks ago after defeating EG in the finals, which definitely makes them one of the biggest favourites for this Major.

The other two teams that will accompany the top two powerhouses are J.storm and Keen Gaming. The Chinese squad is slowly gaining popularity and I won’t be surprised if they manage to upset the plans of some of the big teams.

Group B

Two of the teams in group B definitely stand out compared to the other two. PSG.LGD is back on the big stage, but, sadly, Lu “Maybe” Yao is still inactive. This will be their first big tournament without their star player. It will definitely be interesting to see how they perform.

Fnatic is considered to be the best team in SEA by many, even though their most recent results are not really backing it up. They finished 5-6th in the Chongqing Major after a loss against PSG.LGD. Following TNC’s success at WESG, Fnatic really needs to step up their game if they want to be the kings of SEA.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and Infamous are the other two teams that will compete in Group B. PPD’s roster has slowly but steadily become a force to be reckoned with. That said, the question is are they are ready to go toe-to-toe with the best teams right now? We will find out when Group B kicks off.

Group C

Group C is home to the CIS Powerhouse – Virtus.Pro, EHOME, Mineski and Forward Gaming.

Similarly to Team Secret, VP has already secured their spot for the biggest event of the year – TI 9. That probably also explains their most recent results. The team’s performance has not been the best, despite the fact that they managed to get third place at WESG 2018-2019 without even having No[o]ne in their team.

In my opinion, the second place of the group will be more exciting. Pretty much all of the three remaining teams have what it takes to secure their upper bracket slot. However, EHOME is probably the one that have the best shot at the final upper bracket slot. That is, of course, unless they mess something along the way.

It will be very interesting to see if Forward Gaming can “unleash” their full potential. They have one of the strongest rosters in terms of individual talents, yet Yawar and Co.’s performance is definitely not what their fans expect. 

Group D

The last group of DreamLeague Season 11 is home to the StarLadder Champion, Evil Geniuses, Na’Vi and Chaos Esports Club.

EG is pretty much always on the favourites list for any event that they go to. However, they occasionally still struggle when facing some of the other top teams. Despite all that, if we believe what Artour said in a recent interview, EG is slowly but steadily improving each tournament.

One of the all-time fan-favourite teams is also back on the big stage — Na'Vi. Even though Dendi is currently not playing for Na’Vi, the CIS team is trying to get back where they belong.

Vici Gaming was on top of their game during StarLadder ImbaTV’s Minor just a few days ago. They completely demolished Gambit in the Grand Final and delivered a clear message.

Chaos Esports Club is perhaps the best team from South America. They are constantly improving themselves and I won’t be surprised if they upset some plans here.

Conclusion

This Major is a must-watch for every Dota 2 fan out there. Be sure to follow DreamLeague’s Twitch channel so that you won’t miss out on anything.

If you have too much stuff to do and you won’t have the time to watch the games, don’t worry! We will be doing daily coverage. Make sure to follow us to Twitter so you won’t miss any future news.

Dota 2: DreamLeague Season 11 Major Overview
Zlosterr
Zlosterr has been a fan of esports for many years and mainly focuses on Dota 2. He has more than five years of experience writing Dota 2 content for numerous platforms. Besides being a passionate fan of the game, he's also played for various amateur teams.