What you need to know before DreamLeague Season 19: competitors, substitutions, format

On 9 April, Dota 2 resumes its season of major championships with a top-flight line-up. The DreamLeague Season 19 tournament, part of the Riyadh Masters 2023 league, is getting ready for Long Song.

In anticipation of the big event for the discipline, we have gathered all the necessary information about the tournament in one place. From the DreamLeague Season 19 participants to the format of the tournament.

This post will help you grasp all the key aspects of DreamLeague S19 and prepare for tomorrow's matches. Here we go.

General information on DreamLeague Season 19

• Dates: 9-23 April

• Organiser: ESL

• Lists of participants: 16 teams

• Prize pool: $1,000,000

• Format: Mixed (Round-Robin in group stage, Double-elimination in play-offs)

• Type of tournament: Online.

• Tournament series: Riyadh Masters 2023

Selection rules for DreamLeague S19

The $1,000,000 tournament will feature 16 teams from 6 different regions, again similar to the upcoming ESL One Berlin Major which we have covered in a separate article, but with a small adjustment to the method used to select the participants. ESL's ranking system is the basis for selecting the participants.

ESL's ranking system works

All regions and teams have their Elo Ranking, which is updated after every game played in the Dota 2 ecosystem. A team's Elo score is determined by the strength of the region and the success of that particular team in a tournament where teams from multiple regions play.

It is important to understand that DreamLeague organizers reserve the right to exclude events from the Elo count. Under the "soft ban" may fall championships of different scale, up to Major tournaments.

Basically, it's as simple as that. The better teams from a region play at high level tournaments, the more slots they have at DreamLeague. Initially, each region has 1 slot to participate in the championship.

Slots allocation among regions in DreamLeague S19

Among the 16 participants of DreamLeague S19, the highest number of participants is from Europe. The title region has received 5 slots due to the success of the region in the past The International and Lima Major 2023. The full list of seat allocations for the regions is as follows:

• 5 slots for Western Europe.
• 3 slots for North America.
• 2 slots for China, Eastern Europe, South East Asia and South America.

Thus, the most "populated" region within DreamLeague S19 remains Western Europe, which has dominated the international scene for almost a year. Here's a closer look at the team members.

List of DreamLeague Season 19 participants and substitutions in the tournament

According to the aforementioned parameters, 16 teams qualified for the tournament. Originally scheduled to play: Gaimin Gladiators, Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, Entity, OG, Shopify Rebellion, nouns, TSM, Talon Esports, Execration, Evil Geniuses, beastcoast, Team Spirit, ex-HellRaisers, Team Aster, PSG.LGD.

However, the participants will not play in the original line-up. PSG.LGD, who have not managed to resolve visa problems, will not make it to the tournament.

In addition, similar problems have appeared with Shopify Rebellion's centerline player Abed. He will be replaced by Mikey in the tournament.

Returning to PSG.LGD and the vacant spot vacated by his removal from the tournament, there are rumours of a possible replacement online. Nigma Galaxy is being cited as the most likely option. The former Maincast Storm talent is hinting at it.

While DreamLeague S19's entry list can't be called a stable value, the tournament's prize pool hasn't changed. The big prizes and the top competitors contributed to a branched format of the championship. Read more about it below.

DreamLeague S19 format

The Riyadh Masters 2023 series will debut in 3 phases - two group stages and play-offs. The system is as follows:

• Stage 1: two baskets of 8 teams in a Round-Robin format, with 8 teams advancing to the next stage.

• Stage 2: one group with 8 teams, Single-Round Robin with bog 3 matches, after which 4 teams advance to the play-offs.

• Play-offs: Double-Elimination grid of 4 teams with bo3 matches and bo5.

Teams will battle it out for $1,000,000 with $300,000 for the winner of the championship. In addition, the DreamLeague S19 champion will receive a slot in the final round of the Riyadh Masters series, the Riyadh Masters 2023 tournament with a prize pool of $15,000,000.