Five Dota 2 Teams to Look Out for in 2025

Now that we are in the new year, it’s time to have a look at which professional Dota 2 teams are likely to make a big splash for the 2024-2025 season. We’re actually already about two and a half months into the new season, with a somewhat established pecking order already in place.

This list will take into account a few factors, such as the teams’ recent performances, the level of talent present in their respective rosters, and what their motivations will be coming from the previous season, if any.

#5: Tundra Esports

What a huge surprise Tundra Esports was last year. With both Oliver “skiter” Lepko and Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun leaving for Team Falcons in late 2023, many including myself wondered what would become of the TI11 champions without two of their most important pieces.

So what happened after? Well, they signed Pure on loan as mentioned in the section concerning BetBoom, but also added Edgar “9Class” Naltakian and Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon to fill out the support slots. These three signings helped them skyrocket through the ranks, thanks in no small part to the incredible contributions of the latter two. And while 9Class had not yet morphed into the absolute monster that he is now with PARIVISION, he still helped keep them afloat throughout the year.

Sadly for 9Class in particular, visa issues prevented him from participating at TI13. But amazingly, things actually got better for them as a result, with longtime member Martin “Saksa” Sazdov stepping into his shoes for the world championship tournament. Tundra then blazed a trail through the upper bracket, stopping short of the grand finals only because Gaimin Gladiators were better on that final day.

Truly, this was the farewell tour that Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen deserved. Though he wasn’t able to etch himself in Dota history anew as the first player to ever win three International titles, third place at TI13 was absolutely nothing to scoff at.

Tundra have retooled their roster, most notably adding Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov, formerly of Gaimin Gladiators, to replace Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko — who is now on their inactive list. They’ve also signed Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov, in place of the departing Artem “lorenof” Melnick. These two signings come as a bit of a surprise considering that they had just placed second at BLAST Slam 1 some weeks ago with Nightfall and lorenof, so whether or not these lineup decisions will work out remains to be seen.

#4: Team Liquid

Okay, I realize that Team Liquid won TI13, which in another timeline would be enough for me to place them at the top of this list.

But this is not one of those timelines. Truth be told, they were only a middling team for most of the 2023-2024 season, with the latter half of their campaign being less than inspiring. They had a great start to the year, but couldn’t keep it up closer to TI13. They peaked at exactly the right time, though, and hit their final gear at the Riyadh Masters right before The International.

They carried this momentum into TI and blitzed through the upper bracket, dropping not even a single map on their way to the grand finals. And even there, they went completely undefeated. Dota is a game played between whomever is better on any given day and any given match, and Liquid was just that to a tee in every single set that they played at TI13.

As for the new season, it’s a been a bit messy for them. It took them almost two months to get back onto the podium at a major LAN, that being ESL One Bangkok. Liquid fans will be familiar with this kind of up and down trajectory by now, though, so I don’t think they should be worrying too much just yet. There’s still plenty of time left in the season for them to hit their stride.

#3: PARIVISION

This is the only team on this list that won’t have much to go on when it comes to the 2023-2024 season, as this current PARIVISION roster didn’t even exist until October of last year. But ever since forming in the wake of TI13, these guys have been on an absolute tear. It took them some time to finally put it all together after a few podium finishes early in the season, but given how new this lineup is, the pace at which they’ve settled into their groove as a squad has been unbelievably fast, to say the least.

Winning ESL One Bangkok could very well be just the beginning for this burgeoning team. They’re already this good so soon, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that they are likely to stay on this path for a while unless something catastrophic happens to their chemistry and synergy. They’ve got the talent in place; they just need to keep their cool and keep playing their brand of Dota for them to find continued success this season.

#2: Team Falcons

Falcons crushed it in their debut year, and well, how could they not? This team is loaded to the gills with talent. We mentioned skiter and Sneyking earlier — but when you add Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen, Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak, and Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf the best player of 2024, into the mix, you get a nigh unstoppable squad.

Yeah, it’s true that they fell short of the Aegis of Champions at TI13, but that only takes away a little from their overall campaign in 2024. When they weren’t finishing first, they were finishing second. And when they weren’t finishing second, they were finishing third. The sheer consistency that these guys displayed over the course of an entire season was simply astounding, and it’s unfortunate that they couldn’t close the deal with an International title.

But again, fourth place at The International shouldn’t distract you, me, or anyone else from the fact that they destroyed everyone wherever they went. I know someone else ended up bagging the Aegis, but I don’t care. Team Falcons was my best team of 2024.

They’ve since continued their romp through the competitive scene in the 2024-2025 season, winning both BetBoom Dacha Belgrade and DreamLeague Season 24 to start off the new year. They have been slumping more recently, though, such as at BLAST Slam 1 where they finished just eighth and ESL One Bangkok where they dropped out in 6th.

Still, everyone knows what this team is capable of. It could very well only be a matter of time until we see them at the top again.

#1: BetBoom Team

BetBoom Team personified the “always around but not quite there” kind of team in 2024. They posted some fantastic results throughout the year in major LANs, but never managed to break through and win something like everyone knew they eventually would. Losing to Falcons for a top 8 finish at TI13 was even more proof that they were talented and consistent enough to stick around, which they did as we know now.

After toiling for so long over the previous season, they’ve finally broken through with a major LAN victory. BLAST Slam 1 was the culmination of years of hard work for some of these players, and their coordination as a team overall combined with their individual talent levels will take them places in this new year.

Who knows, they could even go all the way at The International this time — if they don’t tilt each other off the face of the earth first.