An unfortunate event for Aurora as they dropped from DreamLeague Season 23

A 70-minute game with a 50-minute pause sealed the unfortunate fate for Aurora, dropping them from the event and chances for a direct invite to Riyadh Masters. 

If you are feeling overwhelmed with Dota 2 patch 7.36 and approximately 365 new skills in the game (with 124 heroes and each getting an Innate Ability and two Facets) don't worry, you are in good company. We've been learning along with the pros running it live in competitive and, more importantly, elimination games at DreamLeague Season 23.

• Read Dota 2 patch 7.36 brings Innate Abilities and Facets to all heroes in the game

AuroravsBetBoom Team 1:2

Take for example Aurora with Nuengnara "23" Teeramahanon's Wraith King taking on a completely new direction that he couldn't quite adjust to in Game 1. It isn't the mid-lane, mid-game dominant hero he once knew and struggled immensely with. In the end, he ended up 0:5 in stark contrast to BetBoom's Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko's Juggernaut which he thrived on with a 11:0:8 record. The whole game looked so bad for Auror that they didn't even get to the late game before losing. 

Despite his struggles with Wraith King, Aurora and 23 went with the hero once again. At least this time he did much better in the laning stage. Aurora took a substantial lead early on with a 15k gold 12:1 kill score advantage 22 minutes in. With lots more lane shove, taking towers fast and a fantastic game from Anucha "Jabz" Jirawong things were executed much better as they shut down BetBoom hard. The victory pushed the series into a deciding third game. 

The third game felt quite slow. Lots of farming and little fighting. After 60+ mins, BetBoom gifted Aurora a big chance with a series of costly mistakes. 

However, a pause in the game due to internet issues with Aurora made this match even longer, extending the tension of elimination further. Fate could only be delayed so long and not avoided. 

After at least 50 minutes of pause time due to the ISP down, the win was finally awarded to BetBoom, forcing Auroa's elimination. 

BetBoom was the first team to lock in their spot for Riyadh Masters. They will continue in the lower brackets to face Tundra later today. 

• Read BetBoom Team are first Dota 2 team locked in for Esports World Cup

Aurora will now need to go through qualifiers for Riyadh Masters and take home a 7-8th place finish and $47,500 at DreamLeague Season 23. 

This was just the first series of the day. The action continues with two more lower-bracket elimination series. Up next:

Azure RayvsHeroic

Both of these teams need to win, not just to stay alive at DreamLeague Season 23, but to keep their hopes for a direct invite to Riyadh Masters alive. 

DreamLeague Season 23

DreamLeague Season 23 Playoff Teams

•  BetBoom Team (EPT Leaderboard)
• Xtreme Gaming (EPT Leaderboard)
• Gaimin Gladiators (EPT Leaderboard)
• Team Falcons (EPT Leaderboard)
• Tundra Esports (Western Europe)
•   Azure Ray (China)
•  Aurora Gaming (Southeast Asia) eliminated
•  Heroic (South America)

DreamLeague Season 23 Playoffs Format

• Playoffs - May 23 - May 26, 2024
  • Double-elimination bracket
  • All matches are Bo3
  • Grand Final is Bo5

DreamLeague Season 23 Tournament Prize Pool

• Prize pool: $1,000,000
• Total EPT Points: 26,100

DreamLeague Season 23

Twelve teams gathered in boot camps in Europe to compete for a share of the $1,000,000 prize pool and 26,100 EPT points. At this point with no DPC, many expect that the EPT points will be critical for participating in ESL's LANs and might be the biggest factor in determining The International 2024 invites. 

DreamLeague Season 23 will be followed by Riyadh Masters. This will be the least DreamLeague Season before The International 2024. Check out the ESL EPT Pathing and results so far:

• Read ESL Pro Tour 2024: A midway snapshot