{"id":33887,"date":"2026-02-09T11:49:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/?p=33887"},"modified":"2026-02-09T23:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T23:10:12","slug":"dreamleague-season-28-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/news\/dota-2\/dreamleague-season-28-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"DreamLeague Season 28 (2026) \u2013 Dates, Format, Teams &amp; Prize Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>DreamLeague Season 28 <\/strong>is just around the corner, bringing together<strong> 16 of the world\u2019s top Dota 2 teams<\/strong> to compete in one of the most important online events on the ESL Pro Tour calendar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a <strong>$1,000,000 prize pool<\/strong> and over <strong>23,000 EPT<\/strong> points on the line, the tournament plays a key role in shaping future DreamLeague invites and long-term standings for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">DreamLeague Season 28: Tournament Details and General Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/ESLDota2\/status\/2019078691418997023?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>DreamLeague Season 28 is among the crown jewels of the <strong>ESL Pro Tour,<\/strong> and it takes place online. We will see a<strong> round-robin Group Stage and a Double Elimination playoffs<\/strong> that will include a <strong>$1,000,000<\/strong> prize pool.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking place between <strong>February 16 &#8211; March 1<\/strong>, the Dota 2 event will feature <strong>16 teams from multiple regions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">DreamLeague Season 28 Tournament Format and Prize Distribution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Group Stage will take place between<strong> February 16 &#8211; 19 and will have two single round-robin groups of 8 teams<\/strong>. All series will consist of two games, and once the matches are over, the <strong>top 4 teams<\/strong> will advance to Group Stage 2. All of the remaining teams will have to leave the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of Group Stage 2, it will <strong>take place from February 20-28<\/strong> and feature a <strong>single round-robin group of 8 teams<\/strong>. The matches here will be in a <strong>best-of-three format,<\/strong> and only the top two squads from each group will advance to the Upper Bracket of the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Dota 2 teams that <strong>finish 3rd or 4th<\/strong> will advance to the Lower Bracket, while the remaining squads will be eliminated. The Playoffs will run from February 28 to March 1 and conclude with a best-of-five Grand Final. We will see a double-elimination bracket with Bo3 games and a Bo5 Grand Final.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of the prize pool distribution, the <strong>$1M prize <\/strong>will be accompanied by a <strong>total of 23.090 EPT points<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">DreamLeague Season 28 Teams and Main Title Contenders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">OG fans waking up today <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/juh2tvuic9\">pic.twitter.com\/juh2tvuic9<\/a><\/p>&mdash; OG (@OGesports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OGesports\/status\/2019752758182596669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 6, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be a<strong> total of 16 Dota 2 teams<\/strong> at DreamLeague Season 28, so here is a list of all of them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Team Yandex &#8211; Invited<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team Spirit &#8211;  Invited<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PARIVISION &#8211;  Invited<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tundra Esports &#8211;  Invited<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team Falcons &#8211;  Invited<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Xtreme Gaming &#8211;  Invited<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OG &#8211; Invited<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MOUZ &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team Liquid &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Yakult Brothers &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BetBoom Team &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>paiN Gaming &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>GameLegion &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Execration &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Natus Vincere &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TBD &#8211; Qualifier<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If we look at what happened at <a href=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/news\/dota-2\/bast-slam-vi-play-in-recap\/\">BLAST Slam VI<\/a> (the last big Dota 2 event before this one), <strong>OG and Natus Vincere<\/strong> seem to be in a really good position. The two surprised everyone with their results, and it seems like this meta suits them really well. Both teams enter the event in strong form after deep runs at BLAST Slam VI, making them legitimate title contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from these two, Team Yandex, Team Falcon, and Team Liquid are also entering the tournament as consistent top-four threats based on recent results.\u00a0 Their<strong> most recent results<\/strong> have been stable and remain a constant threat to the rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s at Stake at DreamLeague Season 28<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>DreamLeague Season 28 is one of the most impactful online Dota 2 events of early 2026 due to its prize pool, EPT points, and influence on future ESL Pro Tour invitations, and we can safely say it\u2019s going to be fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, this event <strong>provides excellent opportunities for Dota 2 fans<\/strong> to watch their favorite teams. Even though we will <strong>not have any LAN matchup<\/strong>s, the online clashes will be more than worth watching. The tournament is expected to play a major role in shaping the competitive landscape heading into the next ESL Pro Tour events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DreamLeague Season 28 is just around the corner, bringing together 16 of the world\u2019s top Dota 2 teams to compete in one of the most important online events on the ESL Pro Tour calendar. With a $1,000,000 prize pool and over 23,000 EPT points on the line, the tournament plays a key role in shaping<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":33889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[260,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-33887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dota-2","8":"tag-dota-2","9":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33887"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33905,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33887\/revisions\/33905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}