Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2025 Review

From July 8 to July 19, 2025, Riyadh hosted the one of the biggest Dota 2 event of the season — the Esports World Cup. The Dota 2 EWC 2025 featured 16 of the world's strongest teams battling not only for the championship title but also for a $3 million prize pool. The event proved to be highly productive and exciting, so in this article, we’ll provide a full review, highlighting all the key moments.

Team Spirit – Dota 2 EWC 2025 Champions

Let’s start with the most important part — the winners. Team Spirit claimed the championship title at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2025, earning $1 million and 1,000 EWC club points, as the main award. The team finished the Group Stage with a 2-1-0 record, topping their group and advancing directly to the playoffs. From there, Team Spirit remained undefeated.

In the Quarterfinals, they faced off against Gaimin Gladiators in a tense series and won 2-0. The Semifinals presented a tougher challenge in the form of PARIVISION. In this match, Team Spirit proved they are nearly unbeatable in the lategame. They won another close series 2-0 to reach the Grand Final.

In the Grand Final of Dota 2 EWC 2025, Team Spirit met the tournament sensation Team Falcons. The match was held in the bo5 format, but Team Spirit did not need 5 matches. They defeated their opponents 3-0 without any problems and became the champions of the tournament.

Team Falcons – The Biggest Surprise of the Tournament

For Team Falcons, the EWC 2025 is nominally a home tournament, as the team is from Saudi Arabia, so they could not let their fans down. However, the team did not start very confidently with a 0-2-1 record in the group stage, finishing 3rd in the group.

Few expected them to even reach the top 8, but their championship run began in the Elimination Phase, where they defeated VP and Natus Vincere 2-0 to advance to the playoffs. In the Quarterfinals, they pulled off a major upset by beating Team Liquid 2-0 — and did so convincingly.

The Semifinal match against Tundra Esports became one of the tournament’s highlights. The second map lasted an incredible 80 minutes, making it the longest game of the event. In the end, Team Falcons prevailed 2-0. Although they couldn’t overcome Team Spirit in the final and lost 0-3, they finished second overall, earning $500,000 and 750 EWC club points.

A Convenient Format

One of the standout features of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2025 was its streamlined format. Instead of multiple group stages, there was a single Group Stage followed by a brief Elimination Phase, after which the top 8 teams advanced to the playoffs. This structure shortened the duration of the event and made each match more important for all Dota 2 teams and more interesting for fans.

Dota 2 EWC 2025 Results and Prize Pool Distribution

We’ve already talked about the winner — now let’s look at the full top 8 results, along with prize money and EWC club point distribution:

The EWC 2025 wasn’t just important because of the prize pool. As for the upcoming Dota 2 tournaments, the points earned by the teams at this tournament will help them receive direct invitations to them.

What’s Next After EWC 2025?

Even though the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2025 was the most prestigious tournament of the season, there are still several exciting events coming up. Here’s a look at the upcoming tournaments:

The most anticipated event after EWC will be The International 2025, which will captivate the entire esports world. To stay up to date with the latest news on this and other tournaments, we recommend following our TI 2025 page and official sources.