DreamHack breathes new life into DreamLeague Season 5, announcing big changes to the format. The fifth season of the well established competition will pit eight invited teams against each other in the League Play segment, set to kick off on March 21st. Three of those teams will join directly invited team OG in the offline playoffs that will take place between May 21-22, at the Monster Energy DreamHack Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.
We're proud to announce DreamLeague season 5! https://t.co/8TJkaOX5dL #DHDreamLeague @MonsterGaming pic.twitter.com/2QOj2Uqrax
— DreamLeague (@DHDreamLeague) March 11, 2016
DreamLeague Season 5 will get underway by the end of the month. The League Play segment is set to begin on March 21st. The playoffs will take place between May 21-22 at the Monster Energy DreamHack Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.
Defending champions OG have been directly invited to the offline playoffs. Eight other teams have been invited to compete in the League Play. Three of them will advance in the offline playoffs to compete against OG for a share of the $100,000 prize-pool.
The League segment, however, will have a prize-pool of its own: for each series won during the League Play, teams will be awarded $1,000. A total of $56,000 will be allotted to the League Play segment alone, separate from the playoffs’ $100,000 prize fund. Therefore, DreamLeague Season 5 offers a combined total of $156,000 in prize money.
In addition, DreamLeague organizers are offering the teams that qualify for the playoffs a chance to stay in Stockholm for the week to bootcamp for the Manila Major. Accommodation, practice facilities and overall assistance will be provided.
Unlike at DreamLeague Season 4, there will be no open or invitational qualifiers.
DreamLeague Season 5 Project Manager Michael Fuxborg has explained the reasons behind the changes in format for DotaBlast:
The Dota ecosystem has changed a lot since Valve presented the Majors. Fitting into this is very important for DreamLeague. A lot of tournament organizers are leaving league format and are moving towards the one-weekend-event format with online qualifiers leading into that weekend. We want to keep the league format around and bring weekly Dota 2 content of the highest possible quality to the community. Having an open qualifiers into a league that spans for a whole month online and then concluding with a playoff weekend on LAN is not something we feel would help DreamLeague at this moment.
Virtus.Pro, Vega Squadron, Team Empire, Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, Mamas Boys, London Conspiracy, and No Diggity are the eight teams that have been invited to the League. Since Mamas Boys don’t have a finalized roster yet and No Diggity – a mix currently comprised of Zai, SyndereN, Yapzor, Era, and qojqva – has only just made its debut, we asked Michael Fuxborg to explain how the two have come to be considered for League invitations.
A last minute cancellation opened up an opportunity for us to give No Diggity a chance and show the community what they are able to do with this new roster. Why they were selected to fill the spot is because we think that the team has real potential and have a really exciting lineup. DreamLeague is known for giving new teams a chance to prove their skill vs. more established teams. As for Mamas Boys, I think there will be a lot of changes to rosters as we have only a few days left before the trade deadline for the Manila Major and TI6. This is how the Dota 2 ecosystem looks at the moment and we have taken this into account. We are, however, certain that the core members of the team will find a way to repeat their nice result in our previous season under the name of 4C&L.
– DreamLeague Season 5 Project Manager, Michael Fuxborg
Jorien “Sheever” Van der Heijden will return to host the new DreamLeague season, alongside new addition Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner. They will be joined by Owen “ODPixel” Davies and Andy “Draskyl” Stiles who will be casting games weekly. More guests and talent will be announced in the near future.
All the information available until now is summed up below.
DreamLeague Season 5 League
- League start: Monday, March 21st; full schedule to be announced
- Teams: 8
- Playoff spots: 3
- Format: Round Robin Bo2, one point per game
- Prize-pool: $56,000 – each game in the League Play awards $1,000 to the winning team
DreamLeague Season 5 Playoffs
- Dates: May 21-22
- Teams: 4
- Location: Monster Energy DreamHack Studios, Stockholm, Sweden
- Format: Double Elimination Bo3 bracket./li>
- Grand Finals: Bo5
- Prize-pool: $100,000
- Travel support: $3,000 per team
DreamLeague Season 5 Teams
Invited to the playoffs
- OG
Invited to the league
- Virtus.Pro
- Vega Squadron
- Team Empire
- Natus Vincere
- Team Spirit
- Mamas Boys
- London Conspiracy
- No Diggity
DreamLeague Season 5 Talent
- Jorien “Sheever” Van der Heijden – Host
- Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner – Co-host
- Owen “ODPixel” Davies – Caster
- Andy “Draskyl” Stiles – Caster
DreamLeague Season 5 Schedule
- The League Play segment will start on Monday, the 21st of March.
- The League will conclude on Thursday, April 21st.
- Full schedule, complete with matches for the 14 days of League Play, will be published as soon as possible.
- The playoffs will be played on May 21st and 22nd.
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