Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 21: Team Spirit, Shopify Rebellion take lead while EG eliminated

Things are heating up in DreamLeague Season 21, the last Dota 2 tournament of the year before The International (TI) 2023, as the second day of the Group Stage drew to a close.

TI 2021 champions and Riyadh Masters 2023 winners Team Spirit as well as North American powerhouse Shopify Rebellion now hold the top spots in both groups while South America's Evil Geniuses (EG) became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament.

Meanwhile, three-time Major champions and DreamLeague Seasons 19 and 20 winners Gaimin Gladiators, three-time Major finalist Team Liquid, and Southeast Asia's Talon Esports are fighting to avoid elimination.

Here's how all the action in day two of DreamLeague Season 21 went down:

Group A

After a 3-1 outing in the opening day of the Group Stage, Shopify Rebellion climbed to the top of the standings of Group A with a 6-2 record. The North American powerhouse dealt Eastern Europe's 9Pandas their first losses in a 2-0 sweep before splitting their series against Liquid.

Despite enjoying a perfect 4-0 start in day one, 9Pandas stumbled and are now tied for second place in Group A with Tundra with 5-3 records apiece. Tundra swept Entity in their first match before drawing 1-1 against 9Pandas.

Entity are still in position to make the Playoffs with a 4-4 record while Liquid and Talon are squarely in the bottom two spots after both squads only managed 2-6 records.

It will be an uphill battle for Liquid and Talon to get into the Playoffs, as their last matches in day three will be against Tundra and Shopify Rebellion, respectively. Group A's bottom feeders will need to sweep their own matches and hope Entity gets swept by 9Pandas in order to force tiebreakers.

Group B

Over in Group B, Spirit claimed the top seed with a 7-1 record, the best showing of any team in the Group Stage so far. After a solid 3-1 outing in day one, Spirit scored back-to-back sweeps over EG and Quest Esports to all but guarantee themselves an upper bracket berth in the Playoffs.

Group B's other Eastern European powerhouse, BetBoom Team, sit in second place with a 6-2 record after scoring a 2-0 sweep over Gaimin Gladiators and being forced to a 1-1 draw by OG.

OG, despite being the only team in DreamLeague Season 21 that will not be playing in TI 2023, have shown they can still hang with the best of them. In day two, OG drew against both Quest and BetBoom to get a 5-3 record and get in good position to make the Playoffs.

Despite a rough 1-3 start, Gaimin Gladiators are still showing signs of life in day two. The three-time Major champions managed to bounce back from their 0-2 loss to BetBoom by knocking out EG in a 2-0 sweep.

With EG getting eliminated with an abysmal 1-7 record so far, Quest will be looking to avoid the same fate.

The last set of matches for Group B will see Quest take on Gaimin Gladiators in a win or go home showdown while OG will look to score an upper bracket berth against Spirit. Meanwhile, BetBoom will play a mostly inconsequential match against EG to try and wrest the top seed of Group B away from Spirit.

Here's how all the matches in day two of the DreamLeague Season 21 Group Stage went down:

Group A:

• Team Liquid 1-1 Talon Esports

• Tundra Esports 2-0 Entity

• 9Pandas 0-2 Shopify Rebellion

• Team Liquid 1-1 Shopify Rebellion

• 9Pandas 1-1 Tundra Esports

• Entity 1-1 Talon Esports

Group B:

• Gaimin Gladiators 0-2 BetBoom Team

• Quest Esports 1-1 OG

• Team Spirit 2-0 Evil Geniuses

• Team Spirit 2-0 Quest Esports

• BetBoom Team 1-1 OG

• Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 Evil Geniuses

Here are the standings after day two of the DreamLeague Season 21 Group Stage:

Group A:

1. Shopify Rebellion: 6-2

2. 9Pandas: 5-3

3. Tundra Esports: 5-3

4. Entity: 4-4

5. Talon Esports: 2-6

6. Team Liquid: 2-6

Group B:

1. Team Spirit: 7-1

2. BetBoom Team: 6-2

3. OG: 5-3

4. Gaimin Gladiators: 3-5

5. Quest Esports: 2-6

6. Evil Geniuses: 1-7

DreamLeague Season 21 is split into two phases: the Group Stage, taking place from 18 to 20 September, and the Playoffs, scheduled from 21 to 24 September.

The Group Stage will split the 12 participating teams into two single round-robin groups of six teams each, where they will be fighting to be among the eight squads advancing into the Playoffs. All matches in the Group Stage will be a best-of-two.

The Top 4 teams in each group will advance to the Playoffs, with the Top 2 teams earning an upper bracket berth while the third to fourth-placed teams will have to start in the lower bracket. Meanwhile, the bottom two teams of each group will be eliminated early.

The DreamLeague Season 21 Playoffs will follow a double-elimination bracket format, with four teams starting in the upper bracket while four others will be seeded into the lower bracket. All matches in the Playoffs will be a best-of-three except for the Grand Finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.

With almost all of the participating teams in DreamLeague Season 21 set to play in TI 2023, it will also serve as the undercard event to this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament.

TI 2023 will be hosted across multiple weekends from 12 to 29 October in Seattle, the United States. This year's tournament also features a revamped format split into two distinct phases, called 'The Road to The International' and 'The International' itself.

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