posted by Meliora.Infinitum,
Phase one of the DreamLeague Season 2 has all but come to close with only two matches left to played. 6 out of the total of 8 teams have already secured their place in the phase two of the biannual tournament that - despite the extremely shaky start - now finally seems to be on the right track.


The start of the DreamLeague Season 2 could only be described as catastrophic, as the management was not prepared for the chaos that ensued. Ultimately they made the right decision in handing the reins back to GD Studio, who had previously done a splendid job at managing the tournament. With the GD Studio back at the helm of the DreamLeague and its second season, the remainder of the phase one of the three-stage tournament went through without major hiccups.

In Europe East, ru Team Empire cleaned house with their perfect run through the group stage. Their clear 9-0 record left no room for questions as the Russian squad dominated their way to the phase two of the biannual tournament. The second slot from the “group A” was ultimately decided in a matchup between the two Virtus Pro teams. ru VP Polar took the important 2-1 victory and with that sealed their place in the second phase of the DreamLeague Season 2.



Empire on form...


Although ph Rave put up a good show overall and even kr MVP Phoenix took a game off iG, the Asian group was all about the Chinese duo cn Invictus Gaming and cn LGD. Both of the Chinese juggernauts performed brilliantly and despite dropping a game each against Rave and MVP, they were able to secure their places in the next phase of the tournament. Their recent performances though leave lot in question as they move on to face some of the best teams of the west in just under two weeks’ time.

In Europe West we saw perhaps the biggest upset of the phase one as the Finnish team fi 4ASC was able to edge se Alliance 2 to 1 in their head-to-head matchup. This proved to be crucial as Alliance eventually finished third with 4-5 record, just below 4ASC (5-4) and were knocked out of the tournament. Alongside the Finnish team, world Team Tinker proved once again to be in top form as they swept through the “group C” all the way to the next phase with a great record of 8 to 1, dropping their only game against eu Fnatic.



Team Tinker looking ahead to phase two.


The American group is still anyone's game as the top three of the “group D” - world Cloud 9, us EG & us SNA - all have a chance to qualify for the phase two of the tournament. Cloud 9 clings tightly to their number one seed with 5-1 record, but could still end up on the wrong side of a three-way or a two-way tie, whereas EG and SNA could still topple one another for the second ticket to the next phase. With two games left to played and two slots still wide open, it’s the crunch time for the top three teams of the last remaining group.

The phase two and the offline portion of the tournament is set to begin in just a little over a week on November 17th. The eight best teams of the phase one battle against each other in a Bo2 round robin group stage, from which the top six will move on to the LAN final at Dreamhack Winter 2014 on November 27th to 29th.



Qualified teams:

cn LGD
fi 4ASC
ru VP Polar
world Team Tinker
ru Team Empire
cn Invictus Gaming

world Cloud 9/us EG/us SNA
world Cloud 9/us EG/us SNA






This article was written by fi Teemu Ikonen, joinDOTA's Senior Writer. Meliora.Infinitum got absorbed into Dota during a LAN party between TI and TI2, and has been captivated ever since. Spends his spare time outdoors taking photos and writing a book. Believer of alternate universes, no legs strat and Half Life 3. Location: Espoo, FinlandFollow him on @MelioraInf.

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