A complete guide to the Dota 2 Champions League

The Dota 2 Champions League is approaching its 10^th anniversary. For almost a decade, the league has been a proving ground for up-and-coming talent among Dota 2 professional gamers in mainland Europe. As we prepare to enter the eighth season, we look back at the history of the Dota 2 Champions League so far, and the teams that have reigned supreme from the event’s formation up to the present day.

The Dota 2 Champions League acts as the premier competition for the top tier Dota 2 teams based in Eastern and Western Europe. Many teams entered use this event as essential preparation for Tour 2 of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) which commences in earnest in March. It is an 18-team tournament, featuring ten invited teams, four teams battling through to play via the open qualifiers, and an additional four teams invited directly through to the playoff stage. Over the years, the tournaments of Dota 2 and other eSports games have become increasingly popular, resulting in a presence across different types of media. These mentions range from traditional TV reports and news articles to the possibility of watching a Twitch stream or placing a Betway bet on event winners. eSports is certainly cementing its place in popular culture today.

How it all began for the Dota 2 Champions League

The event was officially launched in the fall of 2013. Season 1 commenced in October 2013, bringing together some of the best emerging eSports teams in Europe and North America. Team Liquid were one of the headline entrants into the inaugural competition. 2013 was the year that this team cemented itself as one of the premier eSports organizations across Europe and the US. Swedish professional team Alliance were another entry who have since become a staple in the major Dota 2 events throughout Europe.

The inaugural Dota 2 Champions League carried a prize purse worth $50,000, with the event’s winner bagging $25,000 of that amount. Both Team Liquid and Alliance reached the knockout stages, with the two teams eventually locking horns in the semi-finals which Alliance comfortably won 3-0. Alliance maintained their supreme form in the final to brush aside Speed Gaming 3-0 and grab that first prize pay-out.

Such was the success of Season 1 of the Dota 2 Champions League that the prize purse of Season 2 was more than doubled to $124,165. Season 2 attracted a host of additional eSports teams that have since gone on to become household names in the league. Natus Vincere (NaVi) and Team Empire were some of the newest additions, with NaVi one of the seven invited teams and Russia-based Team Empire one of the two teams to qualify for the competition. Both NaVi and Team Empire would go on to lay down a marker by winning their respective groups, with the former going all the way to the final where they would overcome Cloud9 3-1 to win the $62,500 first prize.

The tournament was in its 13^th season when the event underwent a rebrand in 2018. Under the sponsorship of MegaFon, the Dota 2 Champions League was rebooted by organizers EPIC Esports Events. Over the next two seasons, this event was once again a success. It then took a break and didn’t return to action until 2021, when it reappeared with a $25,000 prize pool before being restored to a $50,000 prize purse in subsequent seasons. Of course, this is still a drop in the ocean compared with the $45,000,000 prize purse up for grabs at The International 11 later this year.

Looking at Season 8 of the Dota 2 Champions League

On March 1^st, Swedish team Alliance withdrew from Season 8 midway through the group stages. The tournament remains ongoing, with the qualification for the knockout stages still yet to be decided.

In Group A, both HYDRA and Nemiga Gaming have 100% win records as of March 2^nd, while Gambit Esports and No Monkey Business – the latter of which were a late replacement for Lilgun – lead the way in Group B. Both HYDRA and Nemiga Gaming are chasing their first Dota 2 Champions League titles.