Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 28 Overview

DreamLeague Season 28 is the second Dota 2 tournament of the 2026 season. 16 teams will compete in an online event in Europe from February 16 to March 1. The tournament is divided into 3 stages: Group Stage 1, Group Stage 2 and Playoffs. The best Dota 2 teams in the world will fight for a $1,000,000 prize pool, with the champions taking $250,000 plus a $40,000 Club Share.

Below is all the key information about the Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 28 and a closer look at the main favourites.

DreamLeague Season 28 starts with Group Stage 1, where 2 groups of 8 teams (Group A and Group B) play against each other. The top 4 teams from each group move on to Stage 2, while the remaining teams are eliminated from the tournament.

Group Stage 2 is played as a single round robin. All matches are best of 3. The top 2 teams advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs. Third and fourth placed teams move to the lower bracket. All other teams end their run in the tournament.

The playoffs are played with a double elimination bracket. All matches are best of 3, while the grand final is a best of 5 series.

Out of the 16 participants, 3 teams stand out as the main favourites:

• Team Spirit
• Team Falcons
• Tundra Esports.

Team Yandex also deserves a mention after beating Team Spirit in the DreamLeague Season 27 grand final, although the chances of a successful title defense are not very high.

Each of the last 3 DreamLeague seasons had a different champion. Season 27 was won by Team Yandex, Season 26 by PARIVISION and Season 25 by Team Spirit. The last team that managed to defend the title was Team Falcons, winning both Season 24 and Season 23.

All teams participating in DreamLeague Season 28: Team Yandex, Xtreme Gaming, MOUZ, Team Falcons, Execration, Aurora Gaming, Team Spirit, OG, Team Liquid, BetBoom Team, GamerLegion, PARIVISION, Tundra Esports, Natus Vincere, Yakult Brothers and paiN Gaming.

In 2025 Team Spirit won DreamLeague Season 25 and the Esports World Cup 2025. At the end of the year the team finished second at PGL Wallachia Season 6, losing the final to MOUZ. At FISSURE Universe 8, played from January 29 to February 1, Team Spirit also finished second after losing the final to Aurora.

3 players of Team Spirit have been playing together since 2022. Alexandr “rue” Filin joined on September 26, 2024, while Nikita “panto” Balaganin arrived on October 9, 2025. With this roster the team has already reached 2 finals but lost both of them.

At DreamLeague Season 28 Team Spirit are once again considered one of the contenders at least to reach the final.

Team Falcons can be listed among the favourites in every Dota 2 tournament they attend. This roster has been together since November 11, 2023. In 2025 the team won FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 and reached the Esports World Cup 2025 grand final, where Falcons lost 2 to 3 against Team Spirit. The main highlight is the victory at The International 2025.

At BLAST Slam VI Team Falcons unexpectedly lost to Team Liquid in the quarterfinals, but this also meant a few extra days of preparation for DreamLeague Season 28. With championship experience behind them, Falcons are one of the main contenders not only to reach the grand final but also to win the tournament.

Among the main favourites, Tundra Esports went through the largest number of changes. 3 players joined the team in 2025, 2 of them at the end of the year. Matthew “Ari” Walker arrived on September 29 and Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko joined on October 9. With this roster Tundra won BLAST Slam V, beating Team Yandex 3:0 in the final.

On November 9, 2025, Tundra also won BLAST Slam IV, this time beating Team Falcons 3:2 in the final. The team failed to secure a fifth straight BLAST Slam title and lost 0:2 against HEROIC in the Play In.

DreamLeague Season 28 will be played in 3 stages without any breaks. The first matches will be played on February 16 and the grand final is scheduled for March 1. Here you can find all dates:

The first big Dota 2 tournament in 2026 was BLAST Slam VI, but teams are placing more focus and motivation on DreamLeague Season 28. Because of that, BLAST Slam VI results should not be overvalued when evaluating teams and placing bets at the best online bookmakers on DreamLeague Season 28.

At the start of the tournament teams can afford to drop a series, so especially in Group Stage 1 surprises are quite common. From Group Stage 2 and the playoffs onward, the main favourites usually win more often than they lose. At Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 28 the main favourites are Team Falcons, Team Spirit and Tundra Esports, while OG and Team Liquid have the potential to upset and deliver strong results.