Tournament overview
DreamLeague Season 28 ran online from February 16 to March 1 with 16 Dota 2 teams competing for $1 million and ESL Pro Tour points. The format was deliberately demanding: two round-robin group stages reduced the field to four teams, followed by a double-elimination playoff bracket. Every result mattered because the EPT standings also influenced qualification for the Esports World Cup.
Tundra Esports finished second in both group stages and reached the Grand Final by sweeping Team Liquid 2-0 in the upper final. Liquid had entered the playoffs after a perfect 7-0 record in Group Stage 2, which made that result one of the biggest bracket surprises. Aurora Gaming took the longer path, recovering from a lost opening map to beat Xtreme Gaming 2-1 and then defeating Liquid 2-0 in the lower final.
Tundra won the first two games of the Grand Final, including a 28-minute stomp in Game 2. Aurora answered with a dominant third map, but Game 4 became the real test. Aurora held the gold advantage for much of the 47-minute match before bzm’s Tinker helped Tundra turn the late fights and close the series 3-1. Bzm was the standout player of the final, while Tundra secured $250,000 in player prize money, a $40,000 club reward and 5,010 EPT points.
Results
Final standings
Champion: Tundra Esports, $250,000 player prize, $40,000 club reward, 5,010 EPT points
Runner-up: Aurora Gaming, $100,000 player prize, $30,000 club reward, 4,420 EPT points
Third place: Team Liquid, $80,000 player prize, $25,000 club reward
Fourth place: Xtreme Gaming, $60,000 player prize, $20,000 club reward
Grand Final: Tundra Esports 3-1 Aurora Gaming
Game 1: Tundra won in 42 minutes
Game 2: Tundra won in 28 minutes
Game 3: Aurora won in 32 minutes
Game 4: Tundra won in 47 minutes
Grand Final standout: Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov
Key result: Tundra stopped Team Liquid’s perfect second-stage run and then held off Aurora in the final.
