Dota 2's DreamLeague returning for a seventh season

DreamLeague, the Dota 2 tournament run by DreamHack, has announced its return for a seventh season, and there are some changes since the sixth season concluded at DreamHack Winter 2016.

"Season 7 will continue to carry the DreamLeague concept with prize money connected to each map win during the season," the announcement started. "This way we can make sure that every broadcasted game still packs a lot of excitement even though any team in the series might not be able to qualify for the playoffs."

A change that's coming this season, however, is that DreamLeague will expand its league to North America, as they recognise the "Dota 2 talent in the NA region and want to give them a chance to prove themselves in DreamLeague without having to deal with latency issues." This NA division for the DreamLeague will have four teams, then, who will compete for one playoff spot.

Another big change is that the playoffs for the seventh season will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, during DreamHack Atlanta from July 21 to 22.

Qualifiers are returning too, and DreamLeague are applying this to both divisions. The qualifiers will be run via FaceIT, and more information is promised in the coming weeks. In short, though, eight teams will compete in the EU division, with seven invites and one qualifier spot. There'll be three playoff spots in this division, and the format will be round robin best of two, with one point per map, with $56,000 USD in prize money, $1,000 a map. The NA division follows the same format, except with $12,000 in prize money, as there's only four team, three of which are invites, one is a qualifier spot, and only one gets into the playoffs.

Tickets for DreamHack Atlanta can be purchased here, where four teams will compete in a double elimination best of three format, with the grand final hosting a best of five without an upper bracket advantage. $175,000 will be at stake too, with $80,000 going to first place, and all teams attending will have their full travel support.

As if that wasn't enough, it was also announced that a bootcamp will be available in the time between DreamHack Atlanta and T17, so any teams that are playing at both events can "have the best possible preparations."

The full list of teams will be announced tomorrow. Is DreamLeague among the best Dota 2 competitions?