DreamLeague Season 29 Survival Guide: Teams, format, schedule, prize pool

DreamLeague Season 29 is finally here. Like Season 28, the event returns with a 16-team format and a $1,000,000 prize pool — but this time, the pressure feels heavier. This is the final ESL Pro Tour event before EWC invites are decided, turning every series into more than just a fight for placement or prize money.

That makes the EPT standings the biggest storyline of the tournament. While some teams have already secured their place at the 2026 Esports World Cup, others are arriving in DreamLeague needing points desperately to avoid the uncertainty of regional qualifiers. So far, five teams have locked in their EWC spots through the ESL Pro Tour, while Team Spirit received a direct invitation as defending champions. That leaves seven places still up for grabs — and very little room for mistakes.

• Read DreamLeague Season 29: The last chance for an EWC 2026 direct invite

DreamLeague Season 29 opens with a packed day starting at 12:00 CET with the following four matches:

• Aurora Gaming takes on Team Liquid
• Team Spirit goes head-to-head with ViCi Gaming
• Falcons will face Virtus.pro
• Ex-HEROIC will battle against GamerLegion

DreamLeague Season 29 Teams

• Tundra Esports (EPT Leaderboard)
• Xtreme Gaming (EPT Leaderboard)
• Aurora Gaming (EPT LeaderBoard)
• PARIVISION (EPT LeaderBoard)
• Team Spirit (EPT Leaderboard)
• Team Falcons (EPT Leaderboard)
• NAVI (EU qualifier)
• Team Liquid (EU qualifier)
• Virtus.Pro (EU qualifier)
• BetBoom Team (EEU qualifier)
• Rekonix(SEA qualifier)
• GamerLegion (NA qualifier)
• ex-HEROIC (SA qualifier)
• ViCi Gaming (ESL China Challenger)
• Playtime (Division 2 Season 4)
• Nigma Gaming (Division 2 Season 4)

DreamLeague Season 29 Format

Group Stage

• May 13-17th
• Two single round-robin groups of eight teams each
• All series are Bo3
• Top four teams from each group advance to upper bracket playoffs
• 5th and 6th place teams from each group advance to lower bracket playoffs
• Remaining teams are eliminated

Playoffs

• May 19-24th
• Double-elimination bracket
• All matches are Bo3
• Grand Final is Bo5

DreamLeague Sesaon 29 Prize Pool

The $1,000,000 prize pool will be split as below. Note that just like previously, $750,000 are awarded as Prize Money while $250,000 USD are awarded as Club Reward. The 28,300 EPT Points will be spread among the participants.

• 1st place $250,000/$40,000/ 6,000 base EPT points
• 2nd place $100,000/$30,000/5,000 base EPT points
• 3rd place $80,000/$25,000/4,000 base EPT points
• 4th place $60,000/$20,000/3,200 base EPT points
• 5-6th place $45,000/$15,000/2,200 base EPT points
• 7-8th place $27,000/$12,500/1000 base EPT points
• 9-12th place $20,000/$10,000/375 total EPT points
• 13-14th place $12,500/$10,000/140 total EPT points
• 15-16th place $10,000/$10,000/60 total EPT points

DreamLeague Season 29 Broadcasts

DreamLeague Season 29 will be broadcast over multiple channels, with the chance of overlapping series. You can find your favourite way to watch on any of the platforms listed below:

Meanwhile, catch up on what happened in DreamLeague Season 28!