It’s time for Dota 2 to start a new year of play, but more importantly, a new DPC season is upon us! With changes to the rules and regulations it will look a bit different than previously, but all in all it’s quite simple - perform well in regional leagues like DL14, and qualify for majors. Long story short, minors have been replaced by these regional leagues to qualify teams through to bigger events, including The International. We will first focus on the betting portion of DL14, but further down you can find an explanation to the format of this first regional league season. From this preview you find the teams that are attending, full tournament schedule, prize pool and distribution, betting predictions and tips, favourites and dark horses plus much more!

Why bet on DreamLeague Season 14? And especially the European region? Well, the current situation in Dota 2 is something of a double-edged sword, as there has been a long break between games. The negative obviously comes through limited data and statistics to work with, even more so as Dota 2 has received a new patch (7.28). This has introduced new items, hero changes etc, and as always that will shake the esports scene up quite a bit. Now, all of that might sound like a big negative, but it could instead be a huge positive.

Keeping track of the early stages of the tournament will give good chances to find excellent betting opportunities. Expected top teams will not perform on their level from 2020, as they haven’t had enough time to explore the patch, or simply have not practiced enough. Likewise, previous lower level teams might have put in a ton of work, and will be ready to upset the big boys. All of this usually shows itself very fast in a tournament such as DreamLeague 14, where all teams will play each other in a round-robin format. The bookmakers usually aren’t as fast with adjusting esports odds, as with more traditional sports, and we can use this to our advantage. Be careful though - strong starts by lower tier teams might work out in the short run, but as the tournament progresses the world class teams more often than not will adjust to the current meta. DreamLeague 14 is a very long tournament, and it’s important to judge teams on a week-by-week basis and not as a whole.

Always keep in mind that data is key, researching and comparing odds properly before placing your bets is what will make you a winning punter!

We will now have a look at our picks for the DreamLeague 14 favourite, challengers, and an interesting dark horse to keep in mind. As the outright odds for the tournament have not been published we will only discuss our initial thoughts to give an overview of teams strengths. The match schedule has not been released at the time of writing this article, which makes it a bit harder, and we can’t speculate for individual matchup odds. However when the odds come live we will start doing individual game previews and betting tips for them, and you can find them from our free betting tips page.

So make sure you read this one with a proper thought, and then follow the betting tips page to ensure that you don’t miss any of the juice that we are providing for you!

Favourite for DreamLeague Season 14

Team Secret

The story continues to be the same - if Secret is part of a tournament or league, they are the favourite to win it all. During 2020 Puppey led his men to one of the most dominating Dota 2 seasons we have ever seen, arguably the best of them all. The only missing part was to be crowned TI champions, but that could also act as the extra fire the team needs to keep up the domination for another year. From spring to summer we saw Secret win eight tournaments in a row, with all finals being conquered with crushing 3-0 wins. It’s hard to imagine they will go on a run like that again, but they also can’t be anything else than the favourite.

The players in Secret are all considered some of the best, if not the best, in their respective positions. Puppey himself is the genius mastermind who leads his squad with an iron first, enough said. Zai and YapzOr create one of the most deadly interchangeable positions 3, and 4 in the world. Matumbaman has proven himself with his resurrection in Secret, even if he joined after a weaker time in Team Liquid beforehand. Maybe the biggest asset of them all is the Polish youngster in the mid lane however - Nisha has bloomed into an absolute world class level mid player, and he could arguably be crowned the best overall player in the world right now.

The only question mark for Secret entering DreamLeague Season 14, is how hard the team has worked during the Christmas break. It would honestly not be a huge shock to see the team kick the new DPC season off rather slow. Pay close attention to how well the team does in the first few series. There are going to be good value betting opportunities, no matter if they come in swinging with full momentum, or if they are starting slow.

The Challengers for DreamLeague Season 14

OG

The story of OG is a swingy one, and 2020 presented many different story lines. Player changes, up- and downswings in their form, and just overall quite a chaotic season. The level of play did however stabilize towards the end of the year, and it would be no surprise to see the two time TI winners come fully prepared from the get-go here. The ability to become a triple TI winner looms for the team, and motivation somehow seems to be on a high, even with all that success in their backpacks. The big positive for OG is that they managed to end 2020 with two straight second placings in EPIC League and OGA Dota Pit.

One thing is for sure - OG is always a team to count on. Ceb, N0tail and Topson are all players who like to experiment, and bring out surprising hero picks and strategies. A new patch might just suit the team like a glove, even if it could also work out as the opposite. OG is most definitely a team that should grab a top placing, but they are still a bit of a wild card. Total domination could be mixed with lukewarm performances depending on how they find themselves in the latest Dota 2 patch. Follow them closely from a betting standpoint. Are they experimenting with heroes every game? Probably play against them. Does it early seem they got a good grasp of what to play? Probably time to cash in and back the two timers.

Vikin.GG

Vikin.GG has come a long way in a short span of time. If this preview was written a year ago the team would have been considered a team who could get upsets in a game here or there, but times have changed. At this point Vikin.GG should be considered a top tier team with fantastic consistency. The Vikin.GG captain, Seleri, and his men finally got to celebrate a tournament win last year, as they hoisted the Dota Summit 13 trophy. They still are aiming higher than that though, as a premier title is still missing.

Close to unknown names such as Tobi, Shad, Aramis and BOOM have grown up to be staples in the tier one Dota 2 scene, and they are now looking to take yet another step. The team has consistently improved together and stayed under the same organisation. It truly is something remarkable in a world where we don’t see much of that trait, and it’s simply hard not to cheer for the boys. If 2020 was the year when Vikin.GG established themselves on the tier one scene, 2021 could be the year when they become a fully fledged world class team.

The Potential Dark Horse

Chicken Fighters

Let us be clear - Chicken Fighters are far from a favourite team to place high in DreamLeague Season 14, but there is a big potential upside from a betting perspective. The former NiP squad is without an organisation behind their back, but they managed to qualify for the highest division by beating Spider Pigz, and losing a close 1-2 to Vikin.GG. The fact that the team has gotten to already play competitive games in the new patch, and also stuck together even with some tough blows their way is a strength.

I would not be surprised to see CF take maps off any top level teams as DL14 gets underway. The team has a lot of skill through players like Era, Chessie and Supream, that makes them a threat against anyone. They have shown it in the past, and there is a whole lot of experience in the lineup. Simply, do not underestimate CF, especially early on. There could be great betting spots on the team as others are experimenting and finding their place in the new meta.

We have a total of eight teams participating in DreamLeague Season 14: Europe, and it’s highest division. Four teams got an invite, and another four grabbed their spot through a qualifier.

Direct invites

• Team Secret
• Team Nigma
• Team Liquid
• OG

Qualified

• Alliance
• Chicken Fighters
• mudgolems
• Vikin.GG

The total prize pool for DreamLeague Season 14: Europe is $205,000 and is divided close to evenly between all eight teams, spanning from $30,000 to the winner and $22,000 to the last place finisher. Instead of money the aim is to qualify to the Major from the top spots, and also start earning highly important DPC Points. These points will later in the year decide the 12 out of the 18 total spots to The International 10.

• 1 - Major Playoffs + 500 DPC Points
• 2 - Major Group Stage + 300 DPC Points
• 3 - Major Wildcard + 200 DPC Points
• 4 - Major Wildcard + 100 DPC Points
• 5 - 50 DPC Points
• 6 -
• 7 - Relegated to Lower Division
• 8 - Relegated to Lower Division

DL14 is played with a group stage format, and no playoff will be played.

• Single round-robin.
• All teams face each other once, all eight teams in one group.
• All matches are played Best of Three.
• Bottom two teams relegated to Lower Division.
• Remaining teams placings awarded as seen under format section.