A total of 13 Dota 2 teams are already confirmed to be participating in the upcoming DreamLeague Season 13. Also known as the Leipzig Major, the tournament is scheduled for January 2020 and offers a total prize pool of $1 million along with a total of 15,000 DPC Points.
Only three spots remain, with one slot each reserved for the North America and South America regions. Matches are currently being played as of this writing to determine who will make the cut. The final spot is reserved for whoever wins the WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020.
Europe
Let's start with Europe. One of the biggest reveals from the qualifer was the introduction of Nigma, a new Dota 2 team composed of former Team Liquid players. The team had a good showing in the Group Stage, ending second behind Liquid. However, in the Playoffs, Nigma lost against Team Secret 1-2. Making this match even more interesting is the fact that the new roster of Secret now includes Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen.
Going back to Nigma, the team was then matched against Alliance for another shot at the Major. Alliance made short work of Nigma, sweeping the latter 2-0 in games lasting just above 30 minutes.
With that, the three teams coming from Europe have been confirmed to be Team Liquid, Team Secret, and Alliance.
CIS
The CIS Region pretty much had the usual teams make the cut. In the Group Stage, Group A had Gambit Esports and Team Spirit in the top two slots, with Group B filling those spots with Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro. Virtus.pro swept Gambit and then beat out Spirit to secure the first spot.
Na'Vi dropped to the Lower Bracket and played against Gambit. Na'Vi won the match and moved forward against Team Spirit. Na'Vi made quick work of first game with Spirit calling GG in under 18 minutes. The second game took longer, but Natus Vincere managed to close it and get the second spot for the Leipzig Major.
China
The China region had a rather interesting qualifer. For starters, PSG.LGD was eliminated from the open qualifiers and is out for both the Major and Minor. In addition, it was also a rather disappointing showing for EHOME. Despite finishing strong in the Group Stage, EHOME was dropped by Invictus Gaming 2-1. EHOME then lost to Team Aster 0-2 and ended in third place.
With that, the three teams that qualified for the Major are Invictus Gaming, Vici Gaming, and Team Aster.
Southeast Asia
For Southeast Asia, Fnatic started and ended strong. The team finished the Group Stage with no losses. In the Playoffs, Fnatic beat TNC Predator 2-0 to secure a spot for the Major. The second spot was claimed by Reality Rift.
Some drama came from the match of TNC against Cignal Ultra for the final spot. Cignal took the first game in a match that lasted 50 minutes. However, TNC struck back in the second game, resulting in a do-or-die third game. While fans were eager to see how the game would play out, it ended in a sort of dramatic fashion, but for a different reason. With a typhoon hitting the Philippines, this resulted in Cignal facing internet connection issues, causing them to pause the game. Under the rules, teams are allowed to pause the game for a maximum of 10 minutes. With Cignal going past their alloted pause time, TNC burned their own 10 minutes to allow for that extra time. However, Cignal still could not make it and TNC Predator was handed the win, and with it the final slot.
It was a bit anticlimactic with the pertinent disconnection issue but the boys end up qualifying to the #DreamLeague Leipzig Major.
— TNC Predator ?? (@TNCPredator) December 3, 2019
GGs to Cignal Ultra and goodluck to them and to the other teams vying for a spot at the Bukovel Minor.#StrongerTogether#SummonYourStrength pic.twitter.com/mqc3dTuqtc
South America
In this region, paiN Gaming breezed through the competition. The team finished at the top during the Group Stage, after which it defeated EgoBoys 2-0 and then beastcoast 2-1, to secure the first spot.
As of this writing, matches are still being held for the second spot. These matches include EgoBoys going against Vicious Gaming, with the winner then taking on beastcoast.
North America
For North America, the first spot was grabbed by Chaos Esports Club. Chaos ended the Group Stage with zero losses. In the semi-finals, it beat out Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1, then swept Fighting PandaS 2-0.
As of this writing, matches are still being held for the second spot. Currently, NiP is going up against Evil Geniuses. The winner of this match then goes against Fighting PandaS for that sweet second slot.
WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020
The final spot for the Leipzig Major is going to come from the Bukovel Minor. A total of eight teams are going to fight it out in January 2020 to get a chance to join the Major. Of course, there's also a $300,000 prize pool and a total of 660 DPC Points to be won as well.
