The preview of DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major 2020

The brief information

DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major 2020 will be hosted in Leipzig, Germany on January 18-26. 16 teams, 15 of which have passed qualifiers in their regions, will divide the prize pool of $1,000,000 and 15,000 DPC points, which are required to advance to The International 2020 directly.

The format

The competition had received the Major status from Valve, so the organizers have hosted qualifiers in six main regions, on the outcome of which we found out 15 participants:

• Europe - 3 slots
• North America - 2 slots
• China - 3 slots
• Southeast Asia - 3 slots
• CIS - 2 slots
• South America - 2 slots

The last slot was taken by the team Nigma, which became the winner of WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020.

All participants were put in four groups where they will have to fight in bo3 matches by the GSL format. By the way, the final position in a group only influences the playoff seeding - two worst rosters from each quartet will start their way from the lower part of the bracket.

In the playoffs, all main matches will be played in a bo3 format, only the first round of the loser’s bracket is set to be hosted in a bo1 format and the grand final will be carried out in a bo3 format.

The distribution of power

Group A

• Nigma - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 2.75
• Fnatic - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 4.2
• Aster - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 5.55
• TNC Predator - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 3

Group A is pretty equal, however, bookmakers consider Nigma to be the main favorite to prevail in the group and it’s not surprising because the guys have recently achieved victory at WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020. The roster started the event pretty badly, however, it gained a good shape and beat Royal Never Give Up in the final with a score of 3:1. W33 and the company are unlikely to lose the shape in the past few days, so they will have to advance to the playoffs.

TNC Predator are the second but everything is not that obvious - the team won MDL Chengdu Major 2019 and has already guaranteed itself a spot in The International 2020, so it’s not worth to doubt their power, however, the guys were not able to advance higher than 7th-8th at ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore. The new matches might make its impact or the team might not want to do their best at the non-rating tournament, however, it will be difficult for Armel and the company to find the motivation to do as much as possible, considering that they have already achieved the main objective of the season.

Two remaining participants in the face of Aster and Fnatic are almost equal in terms of power, however, they play in different regions. It’s way easier for the representatives of Southeast Asia to make it to the rating championship due to the fact that there are very few strong teams in their region, however, both rosters have placed 9th-12th at the last Major in China. It’s worth to notice that the representatives of the Celestial and the team headed by Jabz might surprise because both of them consist of experienced players, so it’s not worth to write them off.

Group B

• beastcoast - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 28
• Chaos - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 30
• Team Secret - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 1.9
• Vici Gaming - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 1.85

We see two obvious favorites in the second four - Team Secret and Vici Gaming, which are almost equal, and two rosters in the face of beastcoast and chaos, which will likely start their way from the lower part of the bracket.

Vici Gaming replaced one player in the mid-season and placed second at MDL Chengdu Major 2020 and won ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore, which reflects their good shape. Ori and the company, in our opinion, will place first in the group and will advance to the upper bracket with the 100% possibility.

In its turn, Team Secret replaced MidOne on MATUMBAMAN in the transfer window and took a long break from the competitive scene. The event in Singapore was the only championship, in which Puppey and the company took part. There, Secret placed 5th-6th, however, the team was playing with MidOne on the fourth position because Yapzor was not able to receive a visa. Despite all the above-mentioned, there is no reason to doubt in the team with Puppey, so the guys will definitely perform pretty well and start their way to the championship from the upper bracket too.

The team beastcoast began the season 2019/2020 with the fourth place at ESL One Hamburg 2019, after which there was the 7th-8th place at MDL Chengdu Major 2020, so we can say that the Peruvians haven’t lost their skill and might create problems to some obvious favorites, however, it’s not worth to expect them to enter the top two in their group and you should forget the idea of their victory at this event.

The representatives of Chaos advanced to the grand final of DOTA Summit 11 at the beginning of November and placed first in the North American qualification to DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major 2020 without special issues, having overcome even Evil Geniuses. That’s why we think that these guys are too underestimated and they will make a couple of sensations in the lower part of the playoff bracket.

Group C

• Alliance - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 2.75
• Invictus Gaming - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 2.35
• Reality Rift - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 25
• Virtus.Pro - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 3.45

Group C is the most equal among all the represented ones, however, bookmakers don’t believe in Reality Rift and that’s not an accident because the guys don’t have achievements not just in the international arena but in Southeast Asia. At the moment, it looks like the team will not win a map at the event and will not make it to any rating event with this roster.

In its turn, this tournament will be the first serious test for Virtus.Pro because the guys haven’t played at rating championships since the moment of creation and they didn’t deny at ESL One Hamburg 2019 and ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore that they were simply trying to create synergy and get used to each other. By the way, Solo and the company placed 5th-6th at both championships.

Invictus Gaming and Alliance have the biggest chances to advance to the upper bracket, according to bookmakers, and that’s not surprising because these two teams have achieved the biggest success over the past four months. The representatives of the Swedish organization won DreamLeague Season 12 and entered the top four at ESL One Hamburg 2019 and ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore and IG appeared to be the strongest at DOTA Summit 11 and placed 3rd at the past Major.

Group D

• Evil Geniuses - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 1.4
• Natus Vincere - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 7
• Team Liquid - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 5.55
• paiN Gaming - odds on a victory in the group are equal to 15

The situation is pretty complicated in the last quartet too because only Evil Geniuses stand out compared to the other teams and will likely make it to the upper part of the bracket. Evil Geniuses placed fourth at the past Major without a big practice and made it to the grand final of ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore a month later.

Bookmakers don’t believe in paiN Gaming at all but the guys defeated beastcoast in the match for a spot in the event and everyone knows the Peruvians’ power, so the experienced Kingrd and the company might become “the dark horses” and make a lot of problems to Natus Vincere and Team Liquid.

By the way, Liquid looks like the second team, which will place second in the group. The European team has been playing together for a pretty long time and has pretty stable results at rating tournaments - the team hasn’t placed lower than 5th-6th at a Major since April (the team was playing for Alliance in the past season). It’s worth to notice that Boxi and the company won the qualifiers to this Major, having overcome Team Secret, Nigma, and Alliance.

Natus Vincere is the last and most unstable participant in the group. The guys showed themselves well at the end of the season, however, they failed The International 2019, after which made a replacement and was not able to quality even to the Minor. There was the second replacement in the team and the guys looked pretty decent at the past ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore, despite they were not able to get higher than the 7th-8th place. 9pasha and the company can beat even Evil Geniuses, which they have done at the above-mentioned event, however, as the practice shows, they might even lose to paiN Gaming.